I just spent my freshman year at Arizona State, but have decided to transfer up to Washington State instead (yeah, I have a thing for the state schools). So this fall I will be a WSU student, just to clarify.

I am really tired of hearing people trash Pullman for being a small town. Especially when they add that I am crazy for leaving ASU. I think you Boulderites can appreciate that a good percentage of YOUR transfer students are people like me, leaving ASU (reference: http://www.colorado.edu/prospective/transfer/admission/os.html). Let's examine this:

As a college town, Tempe really fails. It's not safe by any means. In fact, students are all required to go to campus safety classes to teach us how to avoid the prowlers. The public transportation is sketchy at best, and full of miscreants and undesirables. Meaning, I would not feel safe taking a bus alone. Yet you NEED to take a bus to get anywhere important, e.g. Target, the mall, the cinema, etc. And besides Arizona State's campus itself, there is not much worthwhile about Tempe.

So when people say things like, "Pullman is a po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere," I think, "Well, Tempe was a small city in the Phoenix metro area...but I still didn't take advantage of any city amenities (mainly because Phoenix is a crappy, ghetto city)." So I don't really see what the difference is going to be, except that I won't have as much of an opportunity to waste money buying things I don't need at an overpriced mall in Scottsdale.

Yesterday at the YMCA (where I work), a man came in wearing a WSU cap, so I commented about it. He said, "Yeah, my daughter went there. I am sure glad she graduated and is out of there." When asked why, he replied, "It's in the middle of nowhere! I had to go fix her bike and it was a 5-hour drive!"
So I mentioned that I went to ASU, but was transferring to WSU for next year, and he says, "Oh, you're going the wrong way! ASU, that's a beautiful college down there."

I have a few remarks to make here. So he doesn't like having to drive 5 hours across the state to help his daughter out, but he wouldn't mind FLYING down to Phoenix, Arizona. That makes sense. Plus, I think that maybe -just maybe- the point of a child going to school far from home is for them to gain some independence and learn to be on their own. So maybe she could have asked around in Pullman? I am sure there is a bike shop there. In fact, I believe we passed up the chance to go in one while there. Now, I realize I am totally not one to talk, because just the other day, my dad took my own bike in to get fixed. But it's a little different when you're asking your dad to drive 5+ hours to do the same thing. My point being, you go far away so that Dad is NOT able to do it all for you. You don't go far away so that Dad can just come over there to continue taking care of everything.

And then, for the beautiful campus part. I'll admit, ASU does have it's own beauty, and one can easily admire the many palm trees and the vast blue skies. However, I didn't know if his idea of beauty included the homeless people lying lazily about in the sun, asking students for money. Or maybe he was referring to the brown smog that is visibly impairing your view of the surrounding mountains. Pullman, on the other hand, does not have light pollution, so you can see stars. Nor does it have air pollution, so you can actually breathe fresh, clean air on a daily basis! Not to mention, no homeless people and relatively no traffic. A very safe, clean environment, with a booming university feel, uniting the whole town and bringing everyone closer together. ASU is huge and overcrowded, so you get to know .02% of the student population by the time you graduate. WSU is way more close-knit than that, which will make it easier for me to make friends when I arrive.

I would rather have snow in December when it's Christmastime, because in my mind, it is not supposed to be 75 degrees when Santa comes to town. I would rather not have to walk to class in 110 degree heat everyday for the first 3 months of school, winding up a puddle of sweat by the time I arrive. "Hey ladies, mind if I sit here and share my sweaty b.o. with you?" That's attractive.

I have never heard anything bad about WSU as a university. Only non-students talking about the smallness of Pullman. Well, I used to live in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where it was a big treat to go to the nearest Wal-Mart.. about an hour away. I think I can handle Pullman.


P.S. Huskies suck.