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I had something really good written for this piece. It was cutting and witty and poignant. But somehow it wasn’t right. So instead, I decided to write a letter. It’s a letter to Georgia Southern—to the Blue and White, south Georgia, get-after-their-asses university that has been a part of me for the past three-and-a-half years. And this is how it goes.
Dear Georgia Southern,
When I first met you, I loved you. I really did. I felt comfortable and safe and confident that I had made the perfect choice for me. I had found a place that got me involved, gave me a challenge, and taught me what to say when people asked me why I chose such a party school. This school taught me to take opportunities head on and how to drink beer from a keg. It taught me that the best professors are the ones who really like what they do and that with the right friends, Statesboro doesn’t feel so small. This is the place that has taught me so much more than anything you’ll find in a textbook.
But the fact is, this started out as a letter to explain how disappointed I have become with the place that I love so much. But then, as I wrote, I found that I’m not disappointed at all. Actually, quite the opposite. I am proud to go to a university that puts its students first, a university that holds out hope for a better football season—every season, a university that has taught me to give everything I’ve got.
But there’s got to be a change. Growth is happening— fast, but just because we are growing should not mean that we begin to make excuses. When I first came here, I was told that Georgia Southern didn’t want to become the next UGA. Now I’m not so sure. While we can’t cap enrollment—no public institution can in Georgia—the university needs to realize that it can’t compromise the quality of education for more numbers on its stat sheet. GSU began as a student-centered teaching university and that should remain the top priority.
The administration needs to remember that numbers are not the only thing that will bring more funding—a better school breeds better graduates, and better graduates will give back to the place that helped them become who they are. Average SAT scores have made leaps and bounds in the past three years alone—they’re almost at 1200—and the average GPA of incoming freshmen is consistently over a 3.0. What people—students included—need to realize is that we are no longer a second choice university. We have created our own category: a category for students who want all the resources and opportunities of a big state school but also want a school that doesn’t overwhelm them and treat them like a number.
So my hope for this school, this university, this experience, is that when the administration looks at the facts and figures, the balance books, the numbers, and the board, that instead of making the easy choice it makes the right one. The one that bleeds blue and white, the one that looks at the long term, the one that doesn’t just say it puts students first but one that actually does.
Don’t forget where you came from while you become more than we could have ever hoped for.
GATA, Ally
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