Disclaimer Number One: "I'm better than you" refers to the "I" in the collective sense, not in the "I, Clare Ondrey, am better than you, general Cavalier Daily reader."
Disclaimer Number Two: The title of this piece is actually a phrase meant to question, and not state, the idea of the normalcy of our community and how we fit into the population of the world.
Maybe I should have titled this, "Are we Normal?" but I thought it was too obvious. You readers are smarter than that.
Or are you?
Here at the University, we pride ourselves on being better than a lot of other schools, which by the commutative property of seventh grade algebra says that we individually are better than the individuals at these other schools. Logic tells me though that this may not be completely, utterly and totally true.
Lately ESPN's college review quotation has been popping up on everyone's profile. If you haven't read it, get on AIM and start looking. Someone has it. It says, if I may paraphrase, that we are the s***. Literally: it uses asterisks and everything. And before I get reamed out for not bleeding orange and blue, let me explain something.
Being great is good, being humble is great.
I know it boils our insides when someone from another college actually thinks his school has a better social life or more beautiful campus or harder class work. I know this is the happiest place on Earth, even if Walt Disney himself were to disagree with me. However, that's just it. We have to allow others to disagree with us.
I have this little brother Joe, and I've mentioned him before. What I haven't mentioned is that the two of us are night and day, stiletto and sneaker, Clemons and the Law Library. We are as different as two people spawned from the same genes can be.
Joe will be going to college and I would love for him to be as happy as I am. I know, though, that he will not be as happy as I am here. As college acceptances roll in and little brothers and sisters everywhere are excited about a school other than the University, we are blown away.
But we are not always the s***. We have our own problems here that sometimes get swept under the rug. Overfilled classes, drugs, an honor system in turmoil, racial intolerance and no Olive Garden anywhere in the greater Charlottesville area.
We do have an extremely intelligent student body, we do have a history that blows other schools away and we do have very attractive students here -- for instance, the columnists for the Life section. We're a hot bunch. This does not make perfection.
Instead of bragging about how awesome we already are, we should focus on how we can become even awesomer. Yes, awesomer. If our heads get too big ... well, remember what happened to Caesar. Beware the Ides of March! I don't want Tech stabbing us while we're at a toga party. That would be very uncool.
Yes, we are very kick-ass. I shall defend U.Va.'s honor to the day I die. I shall do so while helping everything I am involved with to be better than before and to be the best person I can be. Your mom said it -- actions speak louder than words.
So next time some JMU kid insinuates that they have a hard class load, don't laugh in their face. Chuckle inwardly, but remember he or she really does feel that way, and it is not nice to laugh at people, especially if they are in the middle of a conversation with you. What is normal for them is not for us, and what may be hard for us sometimes may be simple for them. It's all a factor of what you're used to.
Think about it, you're all reading a column right now that used the word "awesomer" and meant to do it. Obviously we do a have some low points then.
Yes. Awesomer.
Clare's column runs biweekly on Mondays. She can be reached at ondrey@cavalierdaily.com.
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