Jessica

The University of Oregon has been stereotyped as being a "hippie" school for quite some time now. Hearing the terms "stoners", "granola munchers", and "tree huggers" was not uncommon for me to hear when people were describing the University to me when I first applied. However, I am from a small town in Idaho so most people there usually see every more liberal state as being this way. I am proud to say, however, that I believe the University of Oregon has a very diverse student body. Yes, it has its fair share of hippies, but along with these there are jocks (obviously, we are the Ducks after all), greek life members (including myself), punk rocker kids, etc. The diverse student body is great because it causes one to branch out of their normal group of friends. Within my sorority in itself there are many hippie girls, Asians, preppy girls, and more!

Overall, I love the University of Oregon. However, I did not come to this conclusion until my second year of school here. My freshman year was a struggle because I did not get put in a very social dorm, and I came to this University not knowing anybody. A mixture of home sickness and loneliness caused me to become distant from others. So if I would change anything at the school, it would be making sure all dorm experiences are favorable (having said that, the majority of my friends had better dorm experiences then I did). It wasn't until I went home for the summer before my sophomore year that I realized how much I missed the University. My favorite part about the University of Oregon is the athletic events. The town of Eugene is quite hippie-like, aka it has a lot of people who you would not expect would enjoy football games, track events, etc. However, it is quite the opposite. Everyone in the town of Eugene loves the Ducks and come game day (for football) the town goes absolutely nuts. If there is a five o'clock game, I will hear people yelling outside my window "Go Ducks!" at seven in the morning. The excitement is unbelievable and quite unique, making Eugene a great college town. I love the size of the school, it is large but not so large that you feel swarmed. Majority of the teachers that I have had here are passionate about their subjects, and love the ducks as well! The greek life here is just the right size in that it is large enough to be competitive but you will know many people in multiple houses. The campus has a wide variety of protests, public speakers, and events for many different subjects. I love my Ducks!

The academics at University of Oregon are great. I am in the School of Journalism and Communication, and the classes that I have taken are great at staying up to date with current social media outlets, events, teaching methods, and more. Some of the entry level classes can be quite large (I took an Anthropology class that was about 200 people), however the classes become smaller and more personal as you get to the higher divisions. I have found that the professors make good use of their office hours, and if a student feels they are not doing things fairly there is a good Student Services office that can assist with that. Class participation is common if the class takes attendance, and if not it starts to become less by the end of the term. The most unique class that I've taken was an Anthropology class called "Monkeys and Apes." We studied the different species of monkeys and it was quite astonishing to see the similarities between humans and monkeys. The schools academic requirements can be challenging, but whatever a student is willing to put into it they will get out of it. I believe the lower division classes are more aimed at learning for the sake of learning, and when graduation gets closer students learn more about how to enter into the job market.

The students at my school are very diverse and tend to be very passionate about different subjects that they believe in. There is many organizations on campus for different groups including LGBT, Fraternity and Sorority Life, different ethnic groups, intramural sports, etc. I can't think of any student I would see feeling out of place at this school because basically every different group and stereotype is represented. Most students tend to dress nicely for class at the beginning of the terms, wearing jeans or a nice top, but once the rain starts to fall students tend to wear sweats and Ugg boots. Different types of students interact when group projects are involved, people are involved in the same organizations, and people want study buddies. However, there is a slight division when it comes to choice of who people hang out with. Foreign students tend to display having a lot of money, for example driving around in Mercedes and BMWs, but most students tend to come from the suburban middle class. There is political activism on campus, predominantly for the left side. However, not so much that you feel overwhelmed. Overall, it is a very diverse and open campus!

In my opinion, one of the most popular student organizations is Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL), partially because I am in this organization. There are so many different student groups on campus that it is hard to distinguish one as being the most popular. But in terms of overall members, I believe FSL dominates this. The student government, ASUO, is also very popular. The dorms are popular for freshman, and students tend to leave their doors open and be social if they are in a freshman dorm. However, though I was freshman age I came to the University with credits so was put in an upper-division dorm. This was not a pleasant experience for myself because most the students within this dorm were not very social. Athletic events are extremely popular, particularly the football games. Getting student tickets tends to be quite challenging. The University of Oregon tends to be a party school, but not on the level of ASU or other Pac-12 Universities. On the weekends though that is the primary activity. If a student doesn't want to drink, there are many activities on campus or around Eugene to partake in, including shooting pool, bowling, etc. Being a member of a sorority, I usually end up going to parties on the weekends. If school is becoming more difficult, however, I'll do other sober activities with friends, like going to the movies.

When I think of the social scene, I'm thinking this question is aiming towards the party scene. The party scene at Oregon is great. Lot's of them on the weekends, many people go, etc. However, as a freshman who didn't know anyone when I came here it wasn't easy at first to find parties, which I would say is one of the worst parts, especially since you often have to walk far to find them in the rain. But joining an organization such as Greek Life of any other group where you get to know people helps.

Besides parties, the social scene is fun in the sense that there's a lot of things going on on campus. Including movie showings, different events, concerts, etc.