Actual post about something real
Okay, so I just remembeered this and wanted to write it down.
Yesterday afternoon I was walking across Foss Hill and stopped to watch the baseball game that was going on. As I was standing there, I overheard two girls standing near me, one of whom was on a cellphone. I caught fragments of the conversation, and the one on the phone seemed to be a freshman talking to her mother.
At first it sounded like a fairly standard rant about how expensive Wesleyan is, so I kind of tuned it out. (Although it should be noted that I immediately assumed she was not on financial aid, since people who are on financial aid usually don't complain about tuition hikes since they don't affect us much). But, she kept ranting and it soon became apparent that she was mad about the fact that Wesleyan has students living next to public housing projects. She was saying things like, "it's ridiculous that we pay so much and they can't do anything about this! I mean, twice in one month! They should have thought about this and tried to build the school closer to, you know, the nicer neighborhoods! Well, I know, but eventually I will be a junior and I'll have to live there too!".
Frankly, I was stunned. I was so mad I almost went up and confronted her about it when she hung up, but realized that would be completely pointless. But seriously, I thought almost everyone at this school had the sense not to miss the point so completely as she did. I thought, during the debates about the relationship between Wesleyan and Traverse Square, that the students were at least mindful of how our neighbors perceived us and it was the administration that was the problem. But maybe it's the students (or the parents) who are the problem too.
Yesterday afternoon I was walking across Foss Hill and stopped to watch the baseball game that was going on. As I was standing there, I overheard two girls standing near me, one of whom was on a cellphone. I caught fragments of the conversation, and the one on the phone seemed to be a freshman talking to her mother.
At first it sounded like a fairly standard rant about how expensive Wesleyan is, so I kind of tuned it out. (Although it should be noted that I immediately assumed she was not on financial aid, since people who are on financial aid usually don't complain about tuition hikes since they don't affect us much). But, she kept ranting and it soon became apparent that she was mad about the fact that Wesleyan has students living next to public housing projects. She was saying things like, "it's ridiculous that we pay so much and they can't do anything about this! I mean, twice in one month! They should have thought about this and tried to build the school closer to, you know, the nicer neighborhoods! Well, I know, but eventually I will be a junior and I'll have to live there too!".
Frankly, I was stunned. I was so mad I almost went up and confronted her about it when she hung up, but realized that would be completely pointless. But seriously, I thought almost everyone at this school had the sense not to miss the point so completely as she did. I thought, during the debates about the relationship between Wesleyan and Traverse Square, that the students were at least mindful of how our neighbors perceived us and it was the administration that was the problem. But maybe it's the students (or the parents) who are the problem too.