A good way to describe students here at Illinois is driven. We all want to achieve great things in our lives and be successful. We also know this goal is attainable because we are getting an education from the U of I and it has been proved time and again that an education from the U of I can get you places. The creators of YouTube, the most acclaimed film critic of our time, and the CEO's of companies around the world, including McDonald's, all graduated from Illinois. So being a nerd here is embraced by all. Students are really friendly and interact all the time. When you have students from Germany, Turkey, China, and England, just to name a few, you want to ask and learn about these other cultures, especially when they're sitting across the dining hall table from you. Meeting people is a whole other adventure here at school. Everyone is really accepting of people of all races, social backgrounds, sexual orientation, and anything else you can think of, which is a really wonderful characteristic of this school that many are unaware about. There are clubs and organizations that promote all types of interests any student may have as well and all students embrace it. On the quad, there's always a club promoting pizza slices to support their group, or a group of students in a drum circle playing instruments from their home country. It is really beautiful. Most students here at Illinois seem to come from wealthy backgrounds, but I think that comes with the territory of being able to afford a $30,000 tuition. However, I have met so many students, myself included, that are here on a full scholarship, or partial scholarship and who without it would probably not be able to attend college. That's another great thing about Illinois is that they offer so much scholarship money and help for students to be able to earn their college degree. Sometimes in high school I would be embarrassed at the thought of financial assistance, but in college, the more you can get, the more people wish they could get the same as you- which is really nice.
If there were four tables of students in the dining hall, and I am choosing 4 totally different tables, I am guessing one table would be a group of oriental students from the region of Asia. Another table would probably be a table of guys who all met each other from being in the same dorm. Another table would be girls from the same floor. And the final table would be a mix of students who just met, boys and girls, and who are getting to know each other. I have slowly seen as the year has gone on that these lines have blurred and people sit together to learn about one another and make new friends. It's really easy here and you can probably never have to go a meal without eating with a friend, new or old, at any time of the day.