Blog Post 2
Birmingham-Southern College is a remarkable college and should be treated as such. If you remember correctly, I was talking about the lack of funds at the Division III level, especially colleges that aren’t huge and get state funding, along with being a university. I will continue to trace back to the idea of funds throughout all my blog posts, because it is what makes a school run smoothly at any level. Therefore, if you have no money, you have no college. With that, there is a lot more to have at a smaller school, such as professors that have a close relationship with their students. On campus, there are a lot more super tight relationships between many students. At a large state school, such as Alabama, that is hard to find. Therefore, that should mean something not to just future employers, but to everyone that is applying for schools in high school. When I was getting recruited in high school, I was being recruited my smaller schools, while others were applying for large state schools or even community colleges. However, I was the only one in my entire class that was even thinking about going to a small, division III, liberal arts college. I didn’t even understand what I was doing; I was just coming to school here because of football. Why was that? If I had higher offers to play Division-I ball, would I have taken it instead of going to a school like Birmingham-Southern? If I’m being honest, I most definitely would. The reason is because I would have got my school entirely paid for, but also because of the experience. Everyone likes to go to the big popular schools, because of the experience. If you could combine the small-net, tight relationships we are able to gather here at Birmingham-Southern and add it to the experience you gain at a large popular school like Alabama, Georgia, or Auburn. Most people would say that is impossible, because everyone loves large schools because there are more people; I would disagree with that statement. However, we need more students on this campus; it is too small. At the same time, what is a great way for all kinds of people to meet up in a big night scene like we see at big-time state schools, I believe offer more outreach opportunities and events. When I say more events, I am not disregarding all of the outreach opportunities and events we have now. I am just saying have more “public social” events opposed to bean bag toss during common hour. I think it would be nice if every social event wasn’t surrounded around or supported by fraternities. I feel like it was more of a school social event at a good time, such as 6 or 7 on a Friday night, it could give a small campus like this a big-school atmosphere look to it. I think intramural sports are along those lines of a great atmosphere, and I think it allows everyone a place to hang out and have fun together. Big-state schools do these as well, and this leads to even stronger relationships while having opportunities to have somewhere to hang out. I understand why schools don’t allow huge school events, because this could lead to students getting hurt and large events usually cost a lot. Though, it doesn’t have to be much. I think if students had somewhere to hang out like a lounge of some sort or even kickbacks by the academic quad would suffice. It would be nice to have somewhere to hang out besides the cafeteria. Another way to help with the experience of the college experience at Birmingham-Southern would be making all the games more known for every sport. I feel if there were announcements it would get more people talking opposed to seeing a reminder on BSC Sports’ Instagram. The more people hear about something, the more they tend to go to it, leading to a more filled stadiums and a much livelier experience. For me, this college is like an extension from high school. Coming from a large high school, I think since we are as small as we are in a lot of ways it could and should be treated like a high school with college perks, such not having to go to class from 7-3. There have been numerous studies that have shown that if you have a great time and experience with good relationships your work level and grades can and do improve; I see it as fulfillment. Everyone complains about how fun high school was. Although, if you add the principles of high school, relationships between teachers and students at a school like Birmingham-Southern and match it or even come close to an experience at a school like Alabama then nobody will want to leave. Then more and more students will want to come here, which will improve the funds issue I talked about on Blog Post 1.
In Conclusion, BSC is a great school but unfortunately, we must abide by the small school rule book as of now. I think we give more students opportunities in a relaxed setting; we would not only have a greater experience out on the hilltop, but I also believe we would meet even more people.