As you probably know by now, I am a dork. I grew up in the city town big city with a small town feel city known as Fort Worth, and did not really leave the local area much. I have been to the Las Vegas area once, and to Marshall a few times as well. I had been to Dallas a few times as well, but not as much as Marshall.
When I traveled on the train to UT Dallas (probably more accurate to call it UT Richardson) to settle a financial aid issue, that marked the first time I had stopped in Dallas County in about one and a half years. It was when I stepped off the TRE train (the one that travels between Fort Worth and Dallas) to transfer to the northbound DART Red Line train at Union Station. The weird thing is, I count my stopping here as being Collin County (which I haven’t been to since I was like seven) because, well, it is. The campus is right on the county line of Dallas and Collin counties, Drive A on the south central part of the campus being a good comparison to where the actual line is, although it’s technically a bit further north of that. Anyway, the next time I traveled here was on the 5th of this month, for transfer orientation, and the couple times after that were to attend classes, as my room was not ready to move into until the Wednesday of the first week of classes (the 13th).
That brings me to the first thing I love about UTD – the fact I can travel between my home and the campus exclusively by bus and train. You see, I ain’t got my driver’s license yet, so I can’t drive between the two places; yet, even when I do start driving and get a car and all that, I will still be opting for public transport where viable, for several reasons: I am an environmentalist and prefer to minimize unneeded driving when taking the bus and/or train is a good option, I think it’s nice to be able to just sit and ride somewhere rather than being behind a wheel, and I also want to minimize costs. Hey, gas is expensive! It’s much cheaper to take public transport, and in my case there is almost no direct cost to me – UTD provides a regional transit pass service to students and staff here, meaning I can ride all of the Dallas buses and trains, the TRE between Dallas and Fort Worth, and all the Fort Worth buses all I want, with the cost of the pass being pretty much part of tuition (no extra fees on your tuition for the pass) – so it’s much better moneywise for me to take the train/bus.
When I was up at UNT (Denton) for the short time I was last semester, there was no real connection between there and home for me, as there is nothing, not even a bus, between Fort Worth and Denton. Sure, I could ride the Denton buses for free, but sheesh. UTD is much more public transport friendly.
I’ve also noticed the people are friendlier. When I was up at UNT, my hallway was full of jocks and jerks, with some general bad people thrown in. There were very few exceptions. My roommate was a frat boy, and college dorks’ social lives (if they get one) usually depends on roommates first, so having an undesirable roommate to start my college career was very bad luck on my part.
My first couple days were pretty much what you’d expect with college classes, just getting to know the curriculum and meeting the professors and such. I moved in on Wednesday and met my roommates, and they were friendly and all. I overall had a better feeling about here than UNT in terms of class quality and especially social progress. The latter is why I am not going to UNT anymore – there was too much resistance to a dork wanting to live missed youth and develop a good social circle.
The people I have talked to here have been much better at wanting to directly help me (rather than just giving out crappy ‘advice’ and not doing anything themselves) and progress has been made, and has gone fairly smoothly, with the exception of a small conflict with my roommates that has since been resolved. I’ve been included in things, and have been developing a healthy social life for the first time. My classes are going well, and I enjoy them, with the exception of college algebra. I am majoring in Emerging Media and Communication (basically internet media), and have three related classes which I enjoy very much. I feel that this is the place for me, and that I will make good grades and have fun here. My main goals, aside from education, are to finally have a group of close friends I fit in with along with a wider social network, and also to live the youth I missed out on by doing fun stuff (I actually have a list) and making memories. That kind of stuff I don’t really have much experience in, since I had pretty much no friends for the vast majority of my “childhood”.
Now, a couple details. The Monday of the long weekend, I went to Northpark for the first time, and just looked around. What I also did for the first time was step into some of them overhyped “cool kid” brand stores, because I have been curious as to how much that stuff costs. Let me put it this way: I could get an entire outfit at Burlington Coat Factory for over 25% less than the price of one average pair of jeans at that Abercrombie store I went into. Who on Earth pays 80 bucks for one pair of jeans? I mean come on now, is that really worth it? The only real difference between those and the discount jeans I find at Burlington is the design of and on the rear pockets, and maybe a couple other minor things as well. I guess the reason this stuff sells so well despite outrageous prices is because it has become a status symbol for the “popular” types. What’s really interesting is, the pair of jeans I saw the $80 price tag on were the exact same as the pair I saw this rich kid who sat next to me in my computer class wearing on regular occasions. Ain’t that quite a coincidence?
Most weekdays since then have been just the usual routine that has developed for me here – going to my classes, studying, and doing simple social things like eating with people and hanging out around the campus. Weekends have consisted of things like going to dinner and other nearby venues, as well as stuff on campus. It seems like I am making a lot of my social goals, which, in a nutshell, involve fitting in, feeling wanted, and recovering youth I missed out on. I’m looking forward to the likelihood of all that happening, and some more exciting stuff too.
Misfit Manor 