Hudson High Hawks vs. Babson College Beavers: It's Alma Mater Madness BABY!

Me & a group of friends at Babson (2006)
(CEB II)

Throughout the year, I've made many cameos at the old stomping grounds. Last Friday night, I made yet another cameo at another SODA party (Seniors Out Drinking Again) at my alma mater, THE Babson College. Yeah, that school who recently made some headlines because of a random norovirus appearance that brought probably brought the school's 1st quarantine ever, going out on a limb there on that one. Anyway, it was just another day of me hanging out with old friends, enjoying my status as a "super senior" for a lack of a better term. SODAs are known to get crazy-packed at their peak, which is usually my cue to go out in the hall and get some air, which I heard is important. While I was conversing with some friends (some more affected by the happy juice than others), I overheard another one of my friends describe my many returns to the scene as "living the dream." At the time, I thought that it was nothing more than some tipsy hyperbole. However, the more I started to examine that quote more, I've been flashbacking about my experiences from the last four to eight years. I think one thing that makes my Babson weekends more appealing is that I get all the freedom and fun while receiving none of the work that comes from an action-packed college lifestyle. But I got to thinking.... even with all the 15 pagers, all-nighters in a river of assorted energy drinks, and the 8 AM classes that let's just say I was a little under the weather for, what experience tops the college experience? What makes the college experience exceptional is not just the parties or the nights in the city, but it's the perfect mix of freedom and responsibility you will ever have.

Van Winkle, A.K.A. 'The Winks'. My old home.
(CEB II)

In order to understand why I enjoyed my 4 years at Beaver Nation headquarters (yea, our mascot is a beaver, no comment), I had to understand my previous experiences, including one period of time that some consider their best 4 year experience, good ole high school. While high school had its classic moments and educational experiences, and that I'm a proud alum of both schools, college beats that experience badly, like UNC did to Michigan State several days back. Not that Michigan State or high school were awful, but they just didn't have a chance to contend with what they were up against. In high school, a lot of the experience is determined mostly by the administrative powers, which limits a lot of the expression and the enjoyment. Many of these decisions are based primarily on protecting the reputation of that particular institution. My high school (Hudson High, home of the Hawks), was no exception. One thing I vividly remember was not being allowed to throw my cap after graduation, a basic informal staple of many new graduates' symbolizing their entrance into a new era. What was that about? Were they afraid that someone's eye would be poked out with a cap, or that a bunch of teenagers throwing hats around would send the message of hooliganism aorund Central Mass? Meanwhile me and about 120 of us had to sit through 4 hour ceremony that included a senator (trying to get votes, hate graduating on an election year), a bajillion scholarship presentations, and a suprise apperance by a stuffed Kermit the Frog (I'm serious!). It was moments like this that made me question whether the administration was really trying to improve our high school lives, or trying to present themselves in a better light. Don't get me wrong, colleges are also concerned about their reputations and do a lot to protect it, but do a better job in allowing the students to create their own individual and communal experiences.

Represent!
(babson.edu)

In Groundhog Day......errrr...high school, every day started at 7:30 in the morning, you had basically the same classes, and had the same after-school routine. I went back to the house with my parents there, and I probably went to bed at around 10 every night, rinse and repeat. On top of that, I went to to school with pretty much the same people for 6-12 years in a relatively small town, which becomes a detriment to personal growth. In short, there is sort of an unbreakable monotony, almost like Jacob Silj's voice on SNL. Everyone has a general idea of who you are, and there is almost no way to escape that perception. In high school culture, the emphasis is more leaned to depending on others to shape you. School clubs are usually headed by a teacher or an administrator, which eliminates the student voice in a way. I remember later in my high school days, there was this concept called clustering, which clumped a bunch of students once a week based on the fields in which students planned to pursue. There were two problems with this. One was that the clusters, which were to differentiate the student interests, had so many fields within them. How do you support everyone in that? Another was that the program was developed to promote the 1st Amendment and democracy amongst students, yet administrators pushed this on us to begin with, and were the only ones that really enjoyed the system (thinkin' there's some money involved). Apparently, this is now worth a credit in my high school, which means you're forced to take something that is supposed to be "democratic." That's what I call a Soviet Union democracy. All of the control and expectations create a hyperbole in high school life that every moment is the biggest moment ever (for some reason, some Simple Plan songs are coming to mind right now). It seems that who you are now is the person you're going to be for the rest of your life. It not just the expectations, but you just don't know anything else yet. You don't know the freedom of your next experience that is to come, you're not able to see the trees in the forest...or something like that. In my senior year of high school, I sort of realized that college wasn't just the best opportunity in which I could meet new people and experience new things, but also the stage in which I could break that monotony and use those experiences to see who I really was, to shape myself, to create a clean slate.

The Hudson Hawk (Expecting a bad Bruce Willis movie?)
(highschools.usatoday.com)

On the other hand, college has a more customizable experience, which is helpful in the personal growth process. For example, after my freshmen year of college, I only had one 8 AM class in the remaining 3 years (core class of my concentration, kinda had to), allowing me to become the night-owl I already was. This allowed me to easily create my own experience. Along with that, there were the late-night fast food runs, the journeys to IHOP, bar-hopping in the city, the drunken Mario Kart tourneys that start at midnight, indoor wiffleball, having a mini locker room celebration at my dorm after my favorite team wins the championship (can't do that at work).....I can go on all day. All of this, and I probably had big assignments due just about all of the time. However, that was never an excuse for me, because everyone else had the same problem. Just about every student club and organization has more power (within reason of course) and just about everything that's advertised around campus is more emphasized on student-promoted content. That kind of freedom is contagious, like norovirus (har, har, har), and it promotes students to become more creative individually and as a community.

So there you have it. That's my non-psychology/social science expertise way of explaining not only the differences of the high school and college experience, but also why I'm subconsciously reliving my senior year this year. I'm not going through the Rick Rosner route with this, because that's just borderline creepy (click link, look for Podcasts: The BS Report). I had all the wild times and the funny bits of randomness in a school that was surrounded by a dry town, that didn't exactly have the party life of Arizona State. I guess what I'm trying to explain is that college life isn't just what you make of it, but college is all about the moment you figure out that you can have the ability to make the most of it. Once that happens, you appreciate the experience later on, trust me!

(i2.cdn.turner.com)

(allaroundphilly.com)

(makli.com)

In Honor of

Nick Adenhart (Aug 24, 1986 - Apr. 9th, 2009)
Harry Kalas (Mar. 26, 1936 - Apr. 13th, 2009)
Mark "The Bird" Fidrych (Aug. 14th 1954 - Apr. 13th, 2009)