The best thing is not a thing. It is three things. Firstly, the people. Secondly, the food. And thirdly, the scenery. Because Virginia Tech is such a large school, it can be difficult to make friends immediately. The dorms are a meeting place for many, but for some, involvement in organizations is the best way to meet friends. It can be overwhelming being such a tiny dot on a huge campus, but once you find your niche, the size of the campus becomes an advantage rather than an obstacle. The community is so large and diverse that I truly believe anyone can find friendship. Joining a sorority opens lots of doors, but it's not the only way. Other organizations such as the Student Alumni Association is a great resume builder as well as a way to meet other people trying to get involved. Depending on were your interests lie, academic related organizations are also very social, like the school newspaper or the business fraternities. Moving along, the food is amazing. I believe it's rated among the best in the entire country. Lets face it, food is good. And good food is great. There are so many options, ranging from ABP to a home cooked meal from Westend. And for all the health fanatics, it's very easy to be healthy on campus. It truly is like dining out at a restaurant for every meal. So if you're imagining soggy grilled cheeses and a highschool-ish cafeteria, you're in for something delightful. School pride pervades campus. That's one of the things I love the most about being here. Coming from suburbia in Northern Virginia, there isn't really much pride. Just a bunch of houses. Here, being a Hokie is a way of life. It doesn't stop after graduation either. Hokies are a close knit community despite the large size. It's a very unique dynamic attending a school in such a small town, but with so many students. A small town feel jam packed with diversity. The best of both worlds if you ask me. On to the scenery. There are so many beautiful places. I enjoy taking out the trash from my apartment because as I walk down the stairs I have a beautiful view of mountains. It's breathtaking; definitely better than suburbia. There are also many places to hike in the area, such as my personal favorite, the Cascades. It's a 2 mile hike each way and at the end there's a very large waterfall. When it's warm, you can even get in the water. Speaking of when it's warm- I guess I should mention some downsides of VaTech. It's really not that warm that often. The winter months are tough, lots of gray skies and at least one month of bitter bitter cold. Things are definitely more exciting on campus when the cold subsides. Another downside, though seemingly trivial, is parking. On average, every single student at Virginia Tech gets at least one 30 dollar parking ticket at some point in their college career. Many people get many, many, more. Allow me to introduce exhibit A, my roommate who's gotten 16. Personally I've only gotten one. "Parking services" is ruthless. There's a definite lack of parking on campus, and the guidelines are very vague in many cases- in my view in attempt to give out more tickets. You also have to pay 80 dollars to even be able to park on campus at all during the year. Even having paid your money, you'll spend lots of your time driving in circles trying to get a spot competing against other vultures and slowly driving you mad. My advice is take the bus to class. The Blacksburg Transit can be crowded and annoying, but at least you don't have to fight to the death to park. All in all, freshman year can be tough getting used to the swing of things. But that's true almost anywhere. This school's truly exceeded my expectations for the "college experience".