Moravian's
sort of a depressing place to live. I can't recall
upon how many occasions I've felt like I just wanted
to quit it all and go home. Perhaps that notion
is just a part of my personality, but my time
here sure hasn't deterred it. Upon arriving at Moravian, one
will notice how many jocks and meathead types there are.
With this, comes a certain level of stupidity I strove
to avoid in high school and imagined I'd be getting
away from once attending a private college. No, to be
honest, I feel as if I am among the only
students here with any intelligence whatsoever, and this is a
strange remark coming from someone like myself who has always
felt an air of discontent with whatever it is he
does. Believe me when I say that I tried to
make friends with these people, but the whole small school
thing made it incredibly difficult. It's especially hard considering the
high number of athletes. It's just like high school stereotypically
is—jocks run the place, and everyone else is left in
the dust. Rigid cliques formed literally within days of move-in.
As an example, it's early December already, and nine times
out of ten I am still hanging out with the
same people I did three months ago. While they are
good friends, my social life is not blossoming at all
like it did in high school, much less like I
thought it would here.
So let's say one does make
a whole slew of friends at Moravian. There are parties
usually every weekend, and sometimes during the week, but they
are almost always in small, cramped, crowded rooms. If one
doesn't prefer the alcohol, then their options are pretty much
limited to sitting around in someone's room watching movies since
the town itself is not that great either (as described
below.)
Bethlehem itself is an absolutely beautiful town, especially now
during the holiday season. By no means does this imply
that it is an exciting town to be in. Moravian's
northern campus (where I live) is a fairly long walk
away from Historic Bethlehem or where the “action” is. Once
one makes that trek, they will come across a variety
of shops and restaurants that are all very aesthetically charming
and quaint but not in the average college student's budget.
To actually have a good time, one must find a
way to get to the Lehigh Valley Mall in Allentown
or stretch the journey out even further with a trip
to Philly.
The Liberal Arts curriculum that this institution so
excessively reveres is a complete joke. This Spring semester, I
am required to take five classes that have absolutely no
relevance to my intended International Business major. They will say
this is “to build a well-rounded individual.” Maybe so, but
consider this: non-Liberal Arts institutions suggest a variety of
classes within a student's major. With that in mind, if
one is to graduate from Moravian or another Liberal Arts
school, they will have mediocre aptitude and knowledge in an
array of subjects, whereas everyone else will be thoroughly prepared
to pursue a career in the field in which they
came to school for in the first place and plan
on MAKING A LIVING.
As my first semester draws to
an end, I'm trying to find a way out of
here. I'll probably just suck it up until the end
of the school-year, but I definitely need to find a
more exciting and self-enhancing place to be.
Oh, and the
food is shit too.