As an upperclassman, it seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my dorm room trying to register for as many Monday and Wednesday classes as I could. It’s hard to imagine that so much has changed in just three short years, most notably our switch from quarters to semesters … and the fact that I have Friday classes.
The past couple of years have been some of Ohio University’s most memorable, with lots of changes and firsts. It saddens me to think numerous, deep-rooted Bobcat traditions might one day become just distant memories of the past.
A part of me feels bad for the freshmen that will never experience a Court Street Homecoming parade or the “luxury” of having their shoes grace the sticky Junction floor.
Twenty years from now, will Hilton Head weekend simply become an urban myth? Will students speak of it only as a legendary pastime?
My heart goes out to the future Bobcats that might never experience a semester without Friday classes and the thrill of a constant four-day weekend. I wish so badly that they could feel the late-May warmth in Athens partnered with a continuous spring fest lineup every weekend.
Will the early summer halt South Green’s favorite sunbathing tradition? Truth is, I never minded being in Athens until June — I’m not sure anyone did.
There was something about the excitement of rushing out of the class in mid-afternoon to be greeted by hundreds of your fellow students in their bathing suits soaking up the Appalachian rays.
Passerby or participant, it was impossible to ignore the loud music coupled with competitive volleyball and basketball. And if you were just a passerby, you always wished you could drop everything and join in the fun.
Sure, South Beach is no Panama Beach, but my biased opinion believes it’s better. And although these might seem like trivial and meaningless things, they are some of my fondest memories here. Much of the material I spent all-nighters studying for is lost from my memory, but the smell of a GoodFella’s pizza will forever be ingrained.
I wonder how different OU will be when I have kids of my own, and if family tradition repeats itself, attend college here. My dad, an alumnus himself, always tells stories about the days when 18-year-olds could drink and gas wasn’t almost four bucks.
I know some of these sacred traditions eventually may end, but I know they will be replaced by new ones — hopefully even better ones. Because even after being surrounded by so much change, still, nothing has really changed.
Court Street on a Friday night is still better than Disneyland, fall is still beautiful as ever and being a Bobcat is still the most exhilarating feeling in the world.
I know even if I return after a 20-year hiatus, I’ll still be greeted with these beautiful bricks and that same Athens feeling.
Casey Compernolle is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. What will Ohio University be like in 20 years? Email Casey at cc150709@ohiou.edu.
