Ranting to /dev/null

Culture Shock

Orientation for my program at Columbia was today. Culture shock doesn't begin to describe it.

Covenant students, now hear this: the place is pretty unprofessional. Some of that's to be expected, as Covenant's budget would probably be insufficient to cover one department in the undergraduate college at Columbia. That's not what I'm getting at. Though a certain amount of nepotism is to be expected at any institution of high er learning, at Covenant it felt like a rather small group of pretty metaphorically (but sometimes less metaphorically) inbred people were kind of making things up as they went along. The people running Student Development were spouses to people in Records and Physical Plant. One of the registrars used to be an athletic coach. An RD is the son of one of the profs. And the protocols for doing things seem almost prototypical, like it isn't something they've had much practice with.

At Columbia, the opposite is true. Sure it's still political and rather ruthless in its politics, but it doesn't feel inbred. The staff isn't mostly Columbia grads who are there so their kids get a discount. It's very business-like, as efficient as an institution of higher learning is likely to get, and every procedure has the feel of being well practiced. I never got the impression that I ever asked anyone a question they hadn't heard before. In fact, if you simply read all the literature they hand out, you pretty much know everything you need to know to be at school. I'm not worried about whether or not they processed a payment. I'm not worried about whether or not transfer credits would be accurately allocated. I'm not worried about whether or not they're going to charge me a late fee for missing a payment because they didn't process my loan in time (they didn't, but they understand that as long as I've done everything I'm supposed to do, it's their responsibility to certify my loan). At Covenant, all of these were an issue. Columbia has been around for over five times as long as Covenant, and it shows.

That being said, I really miss Covenant. For one thing, as pretentious as it tries to be (anyone who tells you that classes at Covenant are harder than the Ivy Leagues is smoking some pretty sweet goods, let me tell you), it's kind of sweet. They're obviously trying to be something they're not, but everyone can have a dream you know? It's hard to dislike someone for being arrogant about something they're obviously more embarrassed than proud of. But up here, people actually can look down on others, so it's a lot less pleasant when they do it.

For starters, I've heard a significant chunk of my entering class - about 180 people - tell where they earned their BA/BS. We're talking Princeton, Cornell, Harvard, Brown, Wellesley, Berkeley, Yale, NYU, Michigan, Columbia, etc. A lot if Ivy League schools, plus a smattering of high-powered research institutions. The one of the least impressive schools I heard was University of Wisconsin, Madison. I ran into one person from Wheaton, a girl who majored in philosophy (and didn't really want to talk to me). So immediately I feel like the least qualified person in the room. I didn't always say where I went to school, because I got blank stares most of the time.

I've never really associated with people from this walk of life before. We're talking upper-crust blue-blooded WASPs here. I have been accused by various people of being an elitist, classist, and cultural snob. Today I felt downright plebian. Not that this was entirely a bad thing. The Premedical Association (PMA) held a reception at The West End (a pub across from campus on Broadway), and I wound up sitting at a table with a bunch of girls who had gone to school at either Wellesley, Brown, Smith, or some combination of those three places. They spent a while reminiscing about various "traditions" at their school. Umm. "Men behaving badly" does not begin to describe it. There is apparently a bus route that on certain evenings is known as the "F--- Bus" after hours. It basically dumps loads of drunken guys from area co-ed colleges (Harvard, Amherst, MIT, etc.) off at places like Brown and Wellesley where they proceed to puke, screw co-eds, and generally make a nuiscence of themselves, though not necessarily in that order.

I don't feel indimidated by these people. I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on anything (though I do feel that given the kind of thing that goes on at the Ivys that President Nielson urgently needs to reconsider his priorities). I do, however, feel kind of out of place and somewhat discouraged. I do not want to be like these people, even though I want what their school has to offer.

(One thing I won't miss about Covenant is its utter lack of prestige. This isn't me being a snob, this is me understanding that if I want a decent shot at getting into a decent med school, a good-but-not-stellar GPA from an obscure, Southern, Christian liberal arts college ain't cutting any mustard. Columbia does not suffer this particular problem.)

Then there's InterVarsity. I haven't had much opportunity to get involved. Actually, all I've done so far is stop by their table near St. Paul's Chapel, pick up a flyer, and say hi to a few people. But frankly, ice cream socials and giving away lemonade doesn't somehow strike me as being massively fun for extended periods of time. Granted, the table was targeted to freshmen, who I will be avoiding as much as I can, but I'm not getting the impression that InterVarsity does much more than that level of engagement.

In short, the people I've met and talked with so far - not huge amounts of them, but more than a dozen - here are massively impressive and unbelievably uninterested/ing in any kind of significant personal interaction. They're also almost entirely pagans, which may have something to do with that. As much as I'm going to enjoy living in the city with all of its cultural opporunities, I can see myself getting sick of these people really fast. I don't like their values, I don't like their attitudes, and I don't like their morals. The concept of a "F--- Bus" isn't funny, it's disgusting. And as much as people who know me will recongize that I appreciate being cultured and enjoying a few of life's finer pleasures, there's a time and place for meat and potatoes, you know? Especially when simple fare is made rich by the company of good friends. Obviously I'd prefer fine food and good friends, but if I have to pick one, the choice is easy.

I'm exhausted. This has far more to do with the fact that I didn't get home until 1:00 AM last night than with being discouraged or worn out, but either way, I'm tired. I'm still excited, though. I did meet a few people today which will at least give me someone to say hi to on campus, but I'm not predicting much more than that from my current acquaintences. The way people relate to each other up here (speaking both geographically and academically) is dramatically different from what I'm used to. As much as I want to get to know people and make new friends, I'm not willing to give up real interaction for partying.

So for all you Covenanters reading this, or friends I've made elsewhere along the line (you know who you are), I miss you. I need to be where I am, and I'm glad I'm here, and I'm excited about what I'm doing, but this isn't just costing me money. Keep in touch. I'm gonna need that.

Posted by ryan at August 30, 2004 07:58 PM | TrackBack