Author: Chelsey Anne Rodowicz (page 2 of 2)

Still UD

Originally, I was… speechless, about the events that took place on campus Monday night. Living on North campus and having most, if not all, of my time taken up that night by choir and homework, I wasn’t even aware something had happened until the next morning, when everything really broke loose.

There’s no use ignoring it. Monday night happened. The slew of Facebook messages and tweets happened, too; people asking what on Earth was going on at my school, paired with my absolute inability to fathom it myself.

But the more I heard, the more I thought that while we shouldn’t ignore what had happened, the amazing community of the University of Delaware and the city of Newark shouldn’t let it drag us down either. The group of students involved in the events of Monday night was a small number of the talented, compassionate campus we have at this school. And as the chatter started, and continued, what I found was that almost everyone I spoke with was feeling the same: disappointed, embarrassed, but, more than anything else, determined.

Let me put this in context. This week, I started my internship with the Office of Communications and Marketing, and my first assignment was covering and posting about the 9/11 Blood Drive held at Trabant on Wednesday.

And the number of students I saw, and heard about, was incredible. There were groups of students waiting to donate in almost every seat, and I was in Trabant at lunch. The woman running the event mentioned that that morning, there had been lines, and that there probably would be again that afternoon. Standing there, taking pictures for my post, I felt more than reassured.

Last week, the blog team here at 186 wrote about why we chose UD, and I explained that I hadn’t been sure about coming here. And that’s still true. But I also mentioned that I have come to love UD, and this week, even with all its challenges, is one of the reasons why.

We – UD, as a whole – we’re better than this. This campus is full of considerate, thoughtful people. People who take time out of their days to give blood in honour of 9/11 victims. People who hold fundraisers for children with cancer (seen outside Perkins this very same week, I might add). People who care.

Again: Monday night happened. It was an event, and we at UD are probably going to be hearing about it for a while. But it isn’t UD, and it will blow over. And when it does, what will still be standing is the campus, and the community, for which people love this university.

 

The Time UD Almost UDidn’t

Welcome, or welcome back, Blue Hens. For those readers new to the blog, my name is Claire Davanzo, and I’m the resident junior here at 186. In keeping with the theme of this week (that is, how the blog team arrived at UD), I almost wish I had some picture perfect college story of my arrival for you… Almost, because things around me are never picture perfect, and there wouldn’t be much of a college story if they were.

So I’m here to tell you about the time UD almost UDidn’t.

With the help and guidance of my remarkable mother, I applied and was accepted to nine different universities. I’d visited each one, and at the beginning, it seemed almost impossible to choose between them. A few difficult decisions later, and I had narrowed my way down to two.

The first was The College of New Jersey: a home favourite, it’s less than an hour from Parsippany, my home town, and boasts a notably intelligent, selective group of students on a beautiful campus. The second, as expected, was the University of Delaware: decidedly farther from home, with a much larger, though equally beautiful, campus and almost no one I knew attending.

To help make my decision, I visited both schools again. Again, it would be nice to tell you that I “felt it,” or “just knew” when I came back to UD, but I didn’t. I didn’t know at all. The one thing that could reassure me was, again, my mom, this time promising that with all the amazing choices on my list of schools, I’d be happy no matter where I chose.

I thought orientation would help me feel The Spark. However, what it did (and I’ve no shame in admitting this) was make me all the more nervous, all the more wary. And so with the rest of collegiate preparations. The closer the beginning of my freshman year came, the more and more nervous I was beginning to feel.

… And then Hurricane Irene happened.

Hopefully this will be the first year at UD where my class and I do not have to deal with a hurricane. But, my freshman year, Irene was what pushed my move-in back. It was just enough time for me to calm my nerves and brace myself for college.

And I’m going to be honest with you. I did not fit with UD right away. It took more or less a month for me to feel like this school is where I belong. For me to settle into my classes and the rhythms of campus. For me to start calling Russell home instead of the dorm.

But (my homesick freshman hens, this is for you) it did happen. And I do know now that I’ve chosen the right place. I hope UDidn’t give up on UD just yet, because it’s a wonderful place to be. I hope you come to love it here as much as I do.

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