The St Mary's College of Maryland

Date: May 12 2013
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
I was in quite a bad place senior year of high school, and couldn't put much energy into picking a school, so I chose St. Mary's mostly out of convenience. It was the best decision of my life. This school is perfect if you're looking for somewhere small with a tight-knit community of bright, interesting people. We have great professors who know their shit, and actually want you to succeed. Also, when I first came here I thought I was living at f**king Hogwarts because the campus is so magical. There's an unbelievable amount of wildlife—birds (including bald eagles,) snakes (if you look for them,) and small mammals. The river is warm enough to swim in for most of the fall semester—if you're not afraid of stinging jellyfish—and at night, there are bioluminescent protists and jellyfish that make the water sparkle when you move.

There's not much to do outside of campus except go to the Green Door (the community bar,) and go to the movies, but honestly, there's SO much going on on campus that I rarely leave. It's like a bubble. There's interesting talks to go to during the week, a million clubs to join (outdoor adventure, burlesque, dance, philosophy, etc.,) a great gym (with a good climbing wall,) sailing boats you can take out, varsity and club sports teams, and other stuff. On the weekends there are movie screenings, comedians (sometimes,) and on campus parties (usually, sometimes it's dead.) Most people will tell you they're super busy with demanding classes, a million extra curriculars and/or a campus job anyway.

Also, the people here are ridiculously friendly. When I first came here I thought they were all robots. Then after a while here I realized I had become one of those people, and decided they were human. As a freshman, I felt like I could go up to any random person on campus and start up a conversation, and they would talk to me like we were already acquaintances. Also, after you've been here for a while, you know/recognize a large chunk of the students, because it's such a smallish school. I like that about us.

Recently, enrollment has dropped at our school, and I have no idea why. I completely fell in love with St. Mary's, and if you're anything like me (kind of a dork, enjoys nature, wants a good education at a small school) I bet you'll fall for it too.