The end is near – take cover

After four years, I’m a senior and I’m finally leaving. When I had my portfolio review, I got the feeling that the school had prepared me to leave and was pushing me out the door. After all the papers, presentations, hastily thrown together reflections and meaningless PowerPoints, it’s really almost over. I think I will miss this place.

And here’s where I make my big confession: I really do like Seton Hill. It’s just that over the past few years, the minor things that shouldn’t normally get to a person have begun to itch at the back of my brain. Every place has a tendency to do that when you live, work, eat and exist all in the same acre. This place has been my home, but it becomes frustrating when Seton Hill seems like it’s growing uncontrollably.

By Andrea Perkins,
Senior Staff Writer

After four years, I’m a senior and I’m finally leaving. When I had my portfolio review, I got the feeling that the school had prepared me to leave and was pushing me out the door. After all the papers, presentations, hastily thrown together reflections and meaningless PowerPoints, it’s really almost over. I think I will miss this place.

And here’s where I make my big confession: I really do like Seton Hill. It’s just that over the past few years, the minor things that shouldn’t normally get to a person have begun to itch at the back of my brain. Every place has a tendency to do that when you live, work, eat and exist all in the same acre. This place has been my home, but it becomes frustrating when Seton Hill seems like it’s growing uncontrollably.

I apologize to some of my readers, who unfortunately missed the seemingly obvious point of my last column, but the general idea is that the school is growing too big, too fast, and no one with the power to do anything is paying attention. I think the growth wouldn’t be such a problem if the school would give some time to adapt before continuing to grow. Before allowing more students to enroll, find living spaces for them, and let the students in Canevin/Lowe have their lounges back.

Build more parking spots; update the classrooms, and complete projects such as the University Center for Performing Arts before space runs out to accommodate the students. What happens when people see our commercials that feature a student running up steps of a stadium, and then realize there is no such stadium?

The school should also take care of what we have before we start building. For instance, the chapel has thankfully been renovated—and I’ve been wondering when that was going to happen ever since construction started in the name of Seton Hill.

But, despite all these things, I’m still glad I came here. I chose this place. If I didn’t like it, and if didn’t like the program I was in, I would have transferred.

After all, I was the Griffin’s mascot my junior year, and yes, I danced the “Macarena” to the Black Eyed Peas because I liked being the essence of school spirit. And I’d do it again if I could.

I love the rustic, old look of the school’s façade, the beautiful foliage on campus, and the tree-lined winding drive up the hill, even though it blew out one of my tires last week.

I’m still proud that I’m getting a top-notch degree, which I earned from some of the best professors I’ve ever had…even if I earned it while being uncomfortable in those wooden chairs. And when I’ve graduated I’ll probably buy one of those “Alumni” license plate holders that declare where I’ve spent the last four years of my life.

One of the times I enjoy being here the most is when I look at student life. It’s not necessarily about the classes, living in a dorm, eating in the dining hall or watching the Maura women’s bathroom flood yet—it’s when I cross Sullivan lawn on a nice day and see kids playing Frisbee or throwing a football.

It’s when I see people hidden in the parlors and in Cecilian hall late at night playing the piano, and when I watch students swinging on the covered swings. It’s not really the classes or the buildings or the parking lots that make Seton Hill what it is—we students make Seton Hill what it is. We are the reason why the school needs to improve. Without us, Seton Hill wouldn’t exist.