Home Sweet Home

 I grew up in a sweet little suburban town called Perry Hall. It is about 20 minutes outside of Baltimore City where the harbor is and about 35 minutes from the Loyola University of Maryland campus. I love being close to home so that I can commute back and forth to school. I love the comfort of being so close. However, LUM and Perry Hall could not be more different. 

Perry Hall is a small town where absolutely everybody knows everybody. It is one of the things that I love most about my town. It is really nice to know who is up to what, seeing familiar smiling faces any place that go, having connections to people of all types, and being such a close knit community. I still hang out with the same friends that I did in elementary school. We share comfort in being close. 

Since becoming a student at Loyola this past fall, I have noticed a lot of key differences that I encounter in day to day life that I have never encountered before. The biggest one being that I don't know a single person at my school. It is so incredibly uncomfortable walking through classes and not knowing a soul. People are not as friendly as my hometown. Saying hello or giving a smile to someone is a little bit discomforting.Granted, Loyola is a wonderful school with fantastic students, but everyone is just so different that it is very hard to make friends.

Another challenging detail that I fail to understand is the lack of school spirit that students at Loyola hold. When I was in high school, we took sports very seriously, we supported our community, and we loved to dress up in school spirit. My favorite past time is dressing up in the blue and gold to cheer on our sports teams at home games. Students at Loyola lack this type of spirit. Sports games are not promoted, Loyola apparel is rarely worn, and student moral just seems much lower. Students seem to enjoy the peace and quiet, so I can understand this decision. 

Professors are incredibly hands on at Loyola and I am very thankful. I have been to two colleges before Loyola. One being Towson University that I just didn't click with and the other being my local hometown community college. My old college in my hometown had very distant professors. I'm not sure if teachers were not into their jobs or the struggle of COVID, but I have had quite the different experience here at Loyola. 

I have received nothing but support from my professors thus far. If assignments are not up to par, professors reach out to point you in the right direction. The feedback given on assignments is so incredibly guiding and helpful. Professors at Loyola bring students a sense of comfort when they need it the most. A bit of pressure is taken off of students when the professors are there for them and show that they actually care. 

A major adjustment that I am going through is that I am now at a Jesuit school. In my hometown, public school is the way to go. Religion is not taught as well rounded as it should be and Sunday school wasn't much of a regular thing for children growing up in Perry Hall. I, for one, never got to experience those things. 

Arriving at Loyola, I had to learn the basics. I had never even heard of St. Ignatius until I stepped foot onto the LUM campus. The biggest class that I am finding myself struggling in is Theology because I have VERY little to no background information on any types of region at all. It has been a huge struggle for me and the biggest adjustment that I have tackled thus far. 

I like having new and challenging additions to my life. I plan to be an educator one day and feel as though diversity is very important. Students need to be able to step outside of comfort zones and explore life a little more.