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I hope I don’t make any enemies from this, but I almost went to the University of Virginia.
After a long battle of never-ending pros and cons, of extensive soul searching and Internet browsing, I had that deposit signed, sealed and ready to go on May 1, anxiety raging. Was I a Cavalier or a Hokie?
I looked at my pile of Virginia Tech paraphernalia that had accumulated over my 18 years of being a fan, assuming I had been forced into maroon and orange at birth and thought, well I guess I’m a Cavalier now. I was relieved to finally have made a real decision, after such a long agonizing month of uncertainty. On my way to school that morning, decked in my lone orange and blue T-shirt, I pulled into a parking lot, made a frantic call to my mother and changed my mind.
The response was overwhelming. My changing Facebook status brought on a firestorm of hate, and although I had many fellow Tech supporters, the general consensus was “why?” My parents certainly didn’t jump on the bandwagon. They were overjoyed and made no attempt at trying to hide it like they had a day earlier when they thought their daughter was a traitor. They raised a Tech flag like the Fourth of July and notified all their family and friends as if I had just gotten engaged.
The fact of the matter is I chose Tech because I just felt I fit in a little better. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t the food or the football games or specifically the dress code at said football games, but something about it just seemed a little more realistic, a little bit more fun. The fact that I made my decision and immediately felt a twinge of regret may have also had something to do with it. They say panic attacks aren’t necessarily good signs.
My best friend gave me a really hard time about it, though I’d like to think it was because I had chosen a school further away from her. She printed out statistics and rankings and newspaper articles with comments from the mighty Princeton Review saying what I knew all along, and I could care less. Who cares if it’s the best value school, do you even know how much an apartment costs in Charlottesville?
A version of this article appeared in the Mar 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 11 Comments Write a letter to the editor
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It's not hate, it's a rivalry. Sure we argue about sports and our standing in the public school rankings but after April 16, UVA was the first school supporting us. relax, we settle our differences when they need to be.
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I would rather VT play for the Black Diamond Trophy every year then play UVa, but that is just me
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I'd rather they do both. At least we get to hold onto it for the time being.
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Thank you oh so much for the story on your life.
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The notion that it doesn't matter whether you go to UVa of Virginia Tech in the job market couldn't be more false, especially for the sciences. I have talked to many recruiters(Tech grads and non Tech grads) and all of them prefer Tech students because of their ability to assimilate into the workforce and their ability to apply the knowledge that they have accrued over there time at tech.
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...and THEIR understanding of the English language, too right? I guess that doesn't matter so much in science or engineering. I can speak to that personally.
Your assertion that Tech has programs that are better than UVA is completely true. However, it is also conversely true. If you want to go to law school, med school, or go into politics, you go to UVA. Med school may slowly change, now that we have options at Tech as well. However, you could easily find a senator/representative or partner at a law firm that will take a UVA grad hands down over a Tech grad.
Each industry prefers students from particular institutions, all for good reasons. We are lucky in the Commonwealth to have the options we do.
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The Virginia Tech-UVA rivalry is good natured. If you want to see nasty, anxiety ridden collegiate rivalry, Auburn and Alabama is the quintessential example. The entire state population, regardless of whether they set foot in (much less graduated from) either institution, takes a side of allegiance.
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It's not all good-natured. There are certainly a good number of UVa folks who readily turn their nose up at the commoners who attend Tech.
Their football fans refuse to scalp tickets to VT fans at Scott Stadium, for instance, while I will gladly sell any extras at a high markup to a Cavalier that wants to come see his team get stomped in Lane Stadium. While this is, in principle, a noble display of solidarity, the comments that I got when I inquired about buying tickets were about as classless as I can imagine. There is some borderline hatred, and the combo of drinking + sports tends to fuel the fire. It's not a general problem, but I've definitely seen folks on both sides of the aisle get pretty worked up. You know the rest: insults start flying, people get in each other's faces, security/police start to gete involved...
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