Kate

Typical Hendrix student: there is none. Seriously. Think of every college stereotype and I can think of a face to match. To better explain… I had three roommates my freshman year, and two girls who practically lived in my room. Memphis, New Orleans, upstate New York, California-turned-Arkansas, St. Louis and Philadelphia were represented geographically. Dance, band, tennis, arts-and-crafter-extraordinaire, Ultimate Frisbee and swimming were our ‘main’ extra-curriculars. Stereotypes: brainy future politician, stoner bisexual, intensely competitive blonde athlete, goofy band geek, hot-lesbian-next-door, über-busy Mom-type. We all got along and still have dinner together every Saturday night. Now expand that out campus-wide and you’ll better understand why there’s not a “typical” Hendrix student. The most commonly shared characteristic of the student body is that some freakishly large percentage of the campus voted for Obama; democratic bastion in Arkansas, I guess (even so, my roommate is a die-hard Republican… go figure).

What I hear from kids at the AR state schools who come to our rockin' parties, we're the "smart rich kids who party hard" (rich because it's a private school). Stereotype accuracy: low. Let's break this down. "Smart rich kids who party hard." Smart? Yeah. You don't come to Hendrix unless you want to learn. We work hard. Rich? Not so much. 100% of current students get some kind of financial aid. Kids? Well, yeah, we're still kids. But we're in college. As for the partying, I'll say this: we work hard enough that we need time off. In that time off some people hang out with friends, others work out, others enjoy the insane outdoor activities that Arkansas has to offer (this IS the natural state... hiking, canoeing, spelunking, we've got it all), and others party. This is a college campus after all. That being said, partying and drinking is an individual decision; you won't be pressured. Hendrix is big on making your own decisions and taking responsibility for them... that attitude is found in our student body as well.

Hendrix is my dream school. Being from the north, I wouldn't deal with all the hassles of travelling to Arkansas if I didn't want to be here. It's small, so don't come here if you're looking to hide out in the back of your classrooms and sleep, or if you don't want people to know your name (and when I say people, I mean everyone from the people in your dorm, to your profs, to the cafeteria ladies). It's a half hour outside of Little Rock, so, suffice to say, the town we're in doesn't exactly offer a cosmopolitan experience. If being in a small town in Middle-of-Nowhere, Arkansas doesn't work for you, re-think it. But seriously, there's so much going on here that I don't like to leave campus; you miss things if you leave. Example: Girl Talk came my sophomore year. Sweet? I think so. Most frequent student complaint is that the cafeteria only serves Honolulu Chicken (BEST. MEAL.) on specialty days. Luckily we have those every three weeks or so.

You will work your butt off as a student here. Hendrix is an academic institution, and our workload is reflective of that. We only take four classes per semester because the load is so heavy. Professors know your name, so it's really awkward when you're in a class with just 7 other people and haven't done the reading. Thus, you do the reading. Students are driven to succeed, but not at each other's expense; pressure to succeed comes from yourself, so we aren't constantly trying to academically out-do each other. We study in groups and individually, and we're big on helping each other out when we don't understand something in class. That notwithstanding, there's free tutoring offered by the school, and many classes have tutors assigned just for those students. Sweet!

Hendrix is an incredibly accepting environment, and it asks that each of its students maintain that level of acceptance. True, it's a mostly vanilla school, but Hendrix is diverse in the truest sense of the word: Students from across the country and around the world study here, so it's not like we're all middle class suburban white kids. My roommate this year is from Iceland, and one of my favorite new friends from working Orientation is from China. I had never met so many LGBT people before I came to school, NOT something that you might expect from a small school in the middle of Arkansas. So if you're closed-off to people of different beliefs and lifestyles, don't come here expecting to find people with that same mindset. A religiously-pushy, collar-popping racist would feel out of place at Hendrix. Don't worry if you're just a collar-popper like me, you'll only get a little bit of grief about it!

If I am awake at 2am on a Tuesday I am either wishing I'm asleep but can't because I've GOT to finish more homework before I call it quits, or am stubbornly refusing to end a fantastic discussion about something that could easily be discussed at a normal hour. A lot of people are involved with sports, either for the school or in intramurals, but there are plenty of non-athletes. Environmental awareness is big (we've got a fairly large hipster population, especially for central Arkansas), but mostly people just kinda do their own thing. Parties are mostly in the Hendrix-owned apartments that border campus (We don't have Greek life so parties don't ever turn into those raucous keg parties that movies love to show). Work hard, play hard. And if your version of "play" involves alcohol, just don't be an idiot about it.

Typical Hendrix student: there is none. Seriously. Think of every college stereotype and I can think of a face to match. To better explain… I had three roommates my freshman year, and two girls who practically lived in my room. Memphis, New Orleans, upstate New York, California-turned-Arkansas, St. Louis and Philadelphia were represented geographically. Dance, band, tennis, arts-and-crafter-extraordinaire, Ultimate Frisbee and swimming were our ‘main’ extra-curriculars. Stereotypes: brainy future politician, stoner sex kitten, intensely competitive blonde athlete, goofy-but-lovable girl, hot-bisexual-next-door, über-busy Mom-type. We all got along and still have dinner together every Saturday night. Now expand that out campus-wide and you’ll better understand why there’s not a “typical” Hendrix student. The most commonly shared characteristic of the student body is that some freakishly large percentage of the campus voted for Obama; democratic bastion in Arkansas, I guess (even so, my roommate is a die-hard Republican… go figure).

What I hear from kids at the AR state schools who come to our rockin' parties, we're the "smart rich kids who party hard" (rich because it's a private school).

Stereotype accuracy: low. Let's break this down. "Smart rich kids who party hard." Smart? Yeah. You don't come to Hendrix unless you want to learn. We work hard. Rich? Not so much. 100% of current students get some kind of financial aid. Kids? Well, yeah, we're still kids. But we're in college. As for the partying, I'll say this: we work hard enough that we need time off. In that time off some people hang out with friends, others work out, others enjoy the insane outdoor activities that Arkansas has to offer (this IS the natural state, after all... hiking, canoeing, spelunking, we've got it all), and others party. This is a college campus after all. That being said, partying and drinking is an individual decision; you won't be pressured. Hendrix is big on making your own decisions and taking responsibility for them... that attitude is found in our student body as well.

Don't come to Hendrix if you don't like to meet people who are different from you. Don't come here if you don't like grandmotherly cafeteria ladies who know your name and ask about your day when you go through the food lines. Don't come if you don't want to learn something along the way. If none of those apply to you, you should come visit and see where you would fit into the school fabric.