by Chandler Eckert

This is probably the first time any of you have heard about me, Chandler. I am a freshman going for a sociology and philosophy major and am originally from Montague, New Jersey. That is at very tippy top of the state—I grew up about an hour from New York City and the Jersey Shore. Moving down here for college was a big adjustment, with the biggest and by far the most jarring difference being the heat; 80 and 90 degree highs as the norm, even for summer, is hot, hot weather. The weirdest thing of all is that at night it does not get any colder. Back home, we could have an 87-degree day, and the second the sun goes down, it drops to about 63 degrees. It could be the hottest day of the year, but the second the sun goes down, you will need something to cover your arms. Because of this, I stupidly brought down a load of pants and little to no shorts. It is safe to say I went on a big shopping trip in my first week here.  

Although I do not have a car with me down in North Carolina, I have been driving in my home state enough to tell you that the drivers here suck. Do not get me wrong, the people here are extremely safe drivers compared to New Jersey; we are jerks on the road, but at least we use our blinkers. Every turn I have witnessed from the North Carolina state line to Greensboro College has been, by Jersey standards, horridly short. I mean, the whole point of a blinker is to let the car behind you know where you are turning; it does not work if you use it as you turn. That was not much of a shock, but an observation. What was a shock was the wildlife. I am on my way to class the first week here, and suddenly, this cat-sized lizard sprints across in front of me into the bushes. A lizard? My first thought was, “No way, someone lost their lizard!” A few hours later I told my friends this and they all laughed at me. We do not have lizards running around in New England, so how was I supposed to know?  

We also do not have “the-ate-er” in New England; we have the “thee-ter.” I cannot take any of my friends seriously when they say they are a “the-ate-er” major. Like sure man, and I am a “so-chi- ology” major. I better not hear any of you laughing when I say “caw-fee” though, because that is completely different. Anyway, coming down here was a big deal for my parents. They joked about the niceness of the South so much that it got old real fast, but their over-exaggeration was not very exaggerated at all. Southern hospitality is real and a lot stronger than I originally thought. Whether it is a cashier, waitress or stranger, all the people down here treat you like an acquaintance. It is not that everyone in Jersey treats you horribly—only most do, but the south has a lot more patience than those back north. 

My roommate and I decided to go look for the pool in Reynolds Center before our classes officially started. We found it no problem and walked around the entire building before coming in through the back directly to the pool. A few students were swimming while the swim coach, Jim Sheridan, immediately asked us questions about our intentions. I was positive we were in serious trouble. Trespassing on private property is not something you get away with where I am from. I was expecting the police to escort us out and make us face some sort of punishment via the school. Instead, he gave us a whole tour of the Reynolds Center.  

While it was only a few days before the Reynolds Center opened, I was still shocked at the hospitality of Coach Sheridan. Back in my old town, it did not matter how long it took until it opened—if you were there when you were not supposed to be, the police showed up. Long story short, Greensboro is way more different from Montague than I thought it would be. Going from high school to college is easy compared to going from NYC to NC. The culture shock of the South is something I was not expecting, but I am glad I am getting to experience it.