Kevin Marshall's America
Welcome back, college kids!
First, I want to point you all to a resource known as “This is College?!” Also, when you say it, you have to say it with the punctuation (like this).
Secondly, I want to point you all to J. Eric Smith. He just wrote a blog post about students going back to school that I’m shamelessly piggy-backing on. But, hey, at least I’m giving credit, right? He also has better taste in music than most of your friends to. So check him out. He’s a cool old guy, promise.
Thirdly, welcome back!
Fourthly, for you first-year and new graduate students out there, welcome to the Capital Region.
This area has a lot to offer you. There’s a lot of great music to be heard (Rest Fest this weekend was off the chain) and no shortage of things to do. If you ever find yourself bored or unable to experience something both entertaining and culturally enriching, then not only are you not trying hard enough, you’re not even trying.
Which brings me to my next point. We’re in this together, you guys. By “we” I mean you college kids and us townies. Some townies around the area adopt the attitude that you aren’t anything more than visitors, which is unfortunate. Sure, you’re only scheduled to be here for about nine months out of the year and only for four or more years at a time, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a part of our city, and it certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t contribute and make a difference, either. You invest your time, your money, and share our concerns.
That said, there’s also a lot of college students who really do treat the area with no respect. I don’t just mean the kids that slam downtown areas and make fun of poor people (which is just such a cool thing to do; you’re so awesome even though you haven’t left your dorm room yet). I mean the ones who get unbelievably wasted and trash local neighborhoods, wake up newborn infants, and scare my elderly neighbors half to death with their shenanigans.
Don’t be those kids.
Instead, be a different kind of kid. Be the kids like TU interns and TiC?! contributors Erin Morelli, KC Orcutt and Charlie Vella. Go out and experience the world. Become a part of the scene that you’re into, whether it’s the local arts scene or the local music scene or the local Meatstick scene. The important thing is that every once in a while, you switch it up and go out for something other than just to get wasted.
You have quite an adventure ahead of you. Let’s have it together.
Note – the subject line is a reference to the old show “Welcome Back, Kotter” that old people like me used to watch. You might be interested in checking it out. Don’t. It’s terrible. But what a great theme song.
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10 Responses to Welcome Back, College
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STALK ME
Yep, I officially feel old now…ooOHHH to be back in college *off daydreaming* :-P
Hopefully you were just catching reruns of “Welcome Back, Kotter” or you may be older than you say you are!
Yeah, if you were old like me, and watching “Kotter” when it first aired, you’d feel differently . . .
Thanks for the link and the plug!
Getting involved is great advice for college kids and I wish the SUNY students that live near me would participate more in the community. I hope they also get the much more subtle message in this post that reads “don’t mess with Kevin’s beauty sleep”.
I enjoy the term “meatstick” which should be paired with the word “slampig” for the meatsticks on the prowl. For a slampiece (which can be summized as a classier slampig) one would simply have to stumble across the street to find.
Kevin,
I think a blog that overview’s the particular nightlife sections of Albany paired with their stereotypical personality would be helpful, especially to first time grad students in the area. What I mean is, maybe a quick write up about what type of people you’ll find on lark st. vs. downtown vs. college ghetto vs. “townie neighborhoods vs. whatever else you can think of.
That would have not only helped me when I first moved here. On second thought, sometimes it’s a better story when you go in blindly.
Kudos Kevin, from an old student turned townie (who now has townie offspring someday soon to turn into college kids) and who now works at a college.
Oh what joyfully tangled webs we weave!
At the end of the day, we need to be one big happy…
I always enjoyed this time of year – everyone was happy to be at their respected college – the new student, and the returning – something about the positive vibe/feelings.
Faculty and staff are happy to see students again – really, trust me on that – it’s busy, but then is when you remember what business you are in
See you at the chopper
Can’t address the mouth harp sound at the beginning of the clip, but the combination of question mark and exclamation point is called an interrobang?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang
Didn’t know that, did you, Mr. Shamelessly Piggybacking? Alright, maybe you did.
I did NOT know that, Daniel Nester. You’re a lock for the Capital Region’s most Educational Educator.
Thanks for the mention! I feel bad, though, because I fully intend on scaring elderly folk.