When I was in high school, college students just seemed so old.
Not oatmeal-eating and unable-to-use-technology old, though. They seemed cool, mature— sophisticated even. Even as a high school senior, anybody who had graduated appeared as if they were on an entirely different level than I was, despite the mere year difference between us.
Now that I actually am a college student, I’ve realized the error of my high school ways. College students are not, in fact, sophisticated. In actuality, we’re all running around confused, needing a nap and a snack, and probably in tears, just like we’re in Kindergarten again.
But when I see students from K-12 touring UNC’s campus, I can’t help but feel like I should try and give off that same air of sophistication I once admired so much.
Source: UNC Admissions
When I first visited the school in the spring of my senior year, the image of students in the quad relaxing in the sun, walking dogs and playing catch in front of Wilson Library was what drew me in and made me feel like Carolina truly was the place for me. Secretly, they were all nearly brain-dead from the stress of midterms, but they sure looked like they were having a good time.
So now when I notice a tour group walking across the quad, I feel like it’s my duty as a Tar Heel to look like I’m having the time of my life at UNC. I’ll proudly walk with a pep in my step and grin as they pass, despite the thirty-pound backpack on my back and the fact that I was almost just plowed down by a biker.
Source: UNC Reslife
When tour groups are in the Pit, I feel like I should strut dramatically out of the Student Stores, coated from head to toe in Carolina gear, maybe with my face painted blue/wearing a Ramses head. After all, for many students, attending school here is their dream. I see so many touring students arrive already dressed in Carolina Blue, so I want them to feel like they’re going to get all the school spirit they’ve been looking forward to.
Source: UNC-CH BGPSA
When I see future Heels sipping from the Old Well, grinning and imagining a college life in which they maintain a 4.0 GPA thanks to its enchantment, I can’t help but to smile softly and sigh with nostalgia. Oh, to be young and believe in magic again! Ah, yes, those were the days.
The best moments are definitely when I see elementary school-age children here on field trips. I look at their excited little faces and feel proud to know that we are the students they’re being told to look up to and to be like someday. I also always assume that the group’s troublemakers who look like they steal people’s lunch money will end up at Duke. Naturally.
Anytime I notice younger students touring the university, I realize how wild it is that they were me not too long ago and I’m instantly reminded of how awesome and fortunate and lucky I am to be here now. It’s a feeling that really hits home and makes me love going to school here a million times more, particularly if I get to share that love for my school with others who want to come here one day.
In fact, I’d say that the only time I’m not happy to see younger kids on campus is when they’re in the dining hall, hovering near my Lenoir cookies.
Actually—scratch that.
I’m not happy to see anybody hovering near my Lenoir cookies.
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