PBA,
where do I start? First of all I should say
that I am a small town guy from the Midwest.
When I visited I was enamored with the idea of
being in South Florida, near the beach and enjoying the
great weather. One should note, PBA does an absolute piss
poor job of giving a tour of the school. They
will walk you through about two areas (the Greene Complex
and Student Center, and one suite that has a view
of the Intercoastal Waterway). I recommend if you do visit
to look into things further, try and stay after and
talk to students because what PBA shows on a visit
is so sheltered and misleading its pathetic. After being
their for just a few months I realized what I
terrible choice I had made. If you are looking for
some nightlife, or any sort of social scene outside of
the campus you will have a very hard time. Once
the afternoon rolls around on a Friday night the majority
of the students head home and leave the campus abandoned.
If you insist on coming find a friend who is
a local. That way you can escape the boredom that
is PBA on a weekend. The sports teams that I
actually care to watch are downright horrible. Any teams that
are decent generate such little buzz that the campus is
dead when it comes to sports. Make sure you are
loud and obnoxious early on to gain the attention of
what I call “the God kids” at PBA. Essentially, the
kids who do nothing but worship Monday-Friday and then go
against everything they say when the weekend comes. Most of
the kids at PBA are very laid back, but open
minded and I have yet to find one guy who
would “straighten up” another guy. So essentially, feel free to
act like a jackass, nobody will do much about it,
if anything, you will become popular because of it. Also,
as a guy make sure you pack an excessive amount
of preppy Abercrombie/Polo shirts along with bottles of hair gel
to impress the ladies, or in some cases, the guys.
As for my experiences of nightlife in West Palm,
they were slim and dull to say the least. There
is Clematis Street nearby which has its good moments that
are far and few between. As I said earlier, the
nightlife sucks. I had never watched so many movies in
my life until I entered PBA. However, for some students,
their idea of a crazy night is staying up past
1 watching movies and then topping it off with a
7Eleven run for a Slurpie. Or maybe if everyone is
feeling dangerous a late night stop by the Marriot is
possible. When I asked if there were any parties, or
places to hang out I was immediately chastised and looked
down upon. Apparently, to some, simply saying the word party
insinuates that I am going to drink and not try
and socialize (without drinking), something that is nearly impossible to
do after class and off campus.
The campus security
is good but can get over the top at times.
They are visible at all times but the rent-a-cops as
I call them tend to take the job too seriously.
I remember a rap concert during mid March that had
to do with Spring Break. The PBA security office took
the liberty of posting warning signs throughout campus, even saying
they would be down at the event (which was way
off campus) patrolling, AND if they saw a PBA student
they would be asked to leave by PBA security. A
joke to say the least. To summarize, if you need
them they are there but for the most part they
seem to get in the way.
The rules at
PBA are a bit much if you ask me. Two
that stick out for any incoming freshman are these two:
1) Visitation - depending upon your hall you can only
have the opposite sex over on the weekends and one
day during the week. So if your busy during that
day during the week you are shot. No fear, however,
if you are from out of state you will have
endless time on the weekends to sit around and enjoy
your short and brief time with the opposite sex. Also,
keep in mind you will be checked on if you
do have someone from the opposite sex in your room
and your door MUST remain open at all times.
2) Curfew - Even more ridiculous than the visitation rules.
How old are we? I am 19, never had a
curfew in my high school days I enter college thinking
I am going to be free and do what I
what. Not quite. Every freshman will be required to be
in their room/suite by 11:30 on school nights and 1:30
on the weekends. Be prepared, also if you don't get
a GPA above 2.5 you will be on curfew for
the second semester.
The teachers come with the
territory. I recommend using ratemyprofessor.com for selecting your schedule. There
are some push overs, some that are great and others
that are just horrible. Most are pretty approachable and are
pretty straight forward with what they want.
Other tips,
make sure you stay on top of the required chapels.
Many students don't stay on top of it and if
you don't you will be fined and put on probation
at the end of the year. The same can be
said for the 45 hours of community service that are
required each year.
To conclude, I would NOT recommend
this school if you do not want to be oppressed
by the Christian faith. I believe in God, don't mind
going to church but it is just too much for
me. Any event around school is tied into the Christian
faith but that also comes with a Christian school I
guess. The fast paced lifestyle, along with the rude and
aggressive people of South Florida are too much for me.
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