Hopeful 2011 SEC PNM from "The North"

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by blondieee3

Hahaha nope! When I visited Tennesse, Alabama, and Georgia recently I realized wherever I go there's gonna be a little bit of culture shock. But I'm ready for the transformation! Lol Did you graduate from Mason? I live about 15 minutes from the campus and it's absolutely blowing up! Sometimes I wish it just wasn't in my backyard. Also from what I've heard from friends at GMU, since it's such a commuter campus, either participating in athletics or going greek are some of the only ways to get that "college experience". But obviously you chose the latter so I'm sure you enjoyed mason

I am a senior at Mason. While I agree that becoming involved in Fraternity & Sorority Life is one of the best ways to become involved at Mason, I do have one small issue here.

George Mason University is not a commuter school, and any current student that tells you that is bitter because Mason wasn't his or her first choice, or blind/stupid. As you noted Mason has been expanding rapidly and has left the majority commuter reputation behind for a few years. In fact, by 2012 we will be the largest residential campus in Virginia. Additionally, the majority of students who choose to live off campus live within a three mile radius of the university and are still very involved in campus life. Unfortunately this is a hard stereotype to break in NoVA, but I'm confident the days of Mason being known as a "commuter school" will soon be a distant memory.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by blondieee3

It's actually pretty crazy that within the same state, you can go from big city "yankee" life, to tiny little farms with confederate flags.

The presence of absence of Confederate flags (itself a misnomer) is what defines an area as Southern?

Originally Posted by SthrnZeta

Sorry, ask anyone who's actually from NoVa and they would never say they are southerners. That area is such a modge podge of people, it just can't be called southern. Now, pass over the beltway into Prince William County and beyond, and then maybe I'd believe you.

I know plenty of people from NoVA who readily say they are Southerners, and with good reason because they are. I'm even related to some of them. I know also know plenty of people who live there but are not from there (to use a good old Southernism), who rightly say they are not Southern.

NoVA is Southern, the presence of an at times overwhelming number of non-Southerners living there notwithstanding. And I'd say that whenever a Southerner says NoVA (or Florida) isn't really Southern, that's what they mean -- that "too many" of the people living there aren't Southern.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

The presence of absence of Confederate flags (itself a misnomer) is what defines an area as Southern?

That belief is one reason why some NoVA people are trying to pretend they aren't part of VA and aren't southern. Why be from VA if you only see VA as the home of the confederacy; and why be southern if you have a narrow vision of what the south represents.

It's cool because there are farms with confederate flags in NoVA. At the end of the day, it is all the south and there are different levels of "southerness" depending on where you are in the south and the people who live there. Yes, a NoVA young lady who goes through recruitment at a school in a deeper part of the south may be seen as northern because she is "not as southern as....".

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

That belief is one reason why some NoVA people are trying to pretend they aren't part of VA and aren't southern. Why be from VA if you only see VA as the home of the confederacy; and why be southern if you have a narrow vision of what the south represents.

It's cool because there are farms with confederate flags in NoVA. At the end of the day, it is all the south and there are different levels of "southerness" depending on where you are in the south and the people who live there. Yes, a NoVA young lady who goes through recruitment at a school in a deeper part of the south may be seen as northern because she is "not as southern as....".

I agree. It's kin to the syndrome we see here at GC from time to time, where "Southern" seems to mean "my experience of Southern." The South is no more a monolith than any other region of the country, and Southern culture takes a wide variety of forms.

[SthrnZeta]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

I am a senior at Mason. While I agree that becoming involved in Fraternity & Sorority Life is one of the best ways to become involved at Mason, I do have one small issue here.

George Mason University is not a commuter school, and any current student that tells you that is bitter because Mason wasn't his or her first choice, or blind/stupid. As you noted Mason has been expanding rapidly and has left the majority commuter reputation behind for a few years. In fact, by 2012 we will be the largest residential campus in Virginia. Additionally, the majority of students who choose to live off campus live within a three mile radius of the university and are still very involved in campus life. Unfortunately this is a hard stereotype to break in NoVA, but I'm confident the days of Mason being known as a "commuter school" will soon be a distant memory.

So happy to hear this from a current student. It certainly felt different when I visited campus a few weeks ago.

When I was there, it was still very much a commuter campus but I hear that our 2006 basketball season changed the campus vibe to a more traditional feel and I'm glad for that. Honestly, it was my safety school when I was applying but I know that mentality is definitely changing and that just adds more credit to my degree