An Alumnus Returns to Campus

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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Part 1:

The Background:
For those who don’t remember, I attended UA between August 2009 and May 2013. I graduated summa cum laude with a triple major in finance, economics, and mathematics and earned a master’s degree in economics through the University Scholars Program. I lived on campus all four years and was involved in a variety of organizations.

After graduation, I returned home to the Seattle area unsure of when I would have the opportunity to return to Tuscaloosa. I really enjoyed my time as a student and wasn’t sure how I would feel returning as an alumnus. Over the course of my post-college job search, I applied to a few positions in the southeast and had interest from a few. This past November, I received very strong interest from a company near Atlanta and decided to visit the area in early December. Seeing as Tuscaloosa is only 3 hours away from Atlanta, I figured that it would also be a great time to visit my old stomping ground. I decided to take my mother and my 17 year old brother along with me as they both enjoyed visiting Alabama.

The Visit:
From Seattle, there are numerous one connection options to Birmingham. I was reminded of this my multiple agents at the airport as I checked in for my trip with connections in Las Vegas and Atlanta. I needed the extra flight miles to keep my airline elite status, the flight times worked for our busy schedules, and it was significantly cheaper than other redeye flights. By virtue of my elite status, I was upgraded to first class on the SEA-LAS and ATL-BHM segments and everyone in my party had exit row seats with lots of legroom if seated in coach. As early December is a quiet time for travel, the flights had plenty of open seats. Coach on the SEA-LAS and ATL-BHM segments was about 25% full.

Despite a minor flight delay on the first leg which would have allowed us to switch flights and spend the night in Las Vegas, we decided to keep our original flights after my mom and I won $85 on a Dolly Parton slot machine in the Las Vegas airport.

After landing in Birmingham a few minutes early, we picked up our luggage and went to pick up our rental car. I rented with National as I had a corporate account which waived the young (age 21-24) driver fee and our free Emerald Club membership allowed us to choose almost any size vehicle form a Fiat 500 to a Ford Expedition for the price of a midsize car ($14 per day plus taxes and fees). We chose an IL-plated GMC Terrain as it was painted dark red. If this was solely a leisure visit, we would’ve rented a pickup truck with a crew cab. After stopping for a photo op at the heavy equipment dealer near the airport and buying Christmas gifts at the TJ Maxx and Costco in Hoover, we were on our way to Tuscaloosa.

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Welcome back, Sea_Tide!!

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WELCOME!!!

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Part 2:

As McFarland Boulevard (Exit 73) typically has a lot of traffic, we decided to take the US-11/AL-215 shortcut to campus at Exit 79. Much to my surprise, the bridge from Alberta City to campus was in the process of being replaced, so there was a 3 mile detour to campus. Some shortcut.

As I had a lot of things to do on campus and the rate was very good, I booked a one night stay at the Hotel Capstone which is right on campus. I paid $86 plus tax for a one night stay after a 20% promo code from Orbitz. The hotel wanted at least $120 plus tax if booking directly. This was more expensive than the Groupon or Priceline deals available earlier, but I didn’t know if I was going to Tuscaloosa when they were offered. Amazingly, our room was available at 10:00 am, even though we didn’t arrive until 11:30 am. The room was very nice. My family stayed there for my graduation because I had gotten club level rooms for $99 per night when most people were paying $300+.

After settling in, I contacted a few friends. As it was dead week (the week before finals), many were busy. i did get to see a couple friends, which was very good. Even with technology, it’s had keeping up with people when everyone’s very busy and lives 2000+ miles away.

One of the main things I wanted to do when on campus was to visit my former coworkers and professors and see what was new. I worked 20 hours per week for 3 years in two different departments and got to know everyone really well. Sadly, my favorite professor had died just after I graduated, so it was very surreal walking into the building and seeing someone else in his office. Otherwise, it was great seeing everyone and hearing what had changed in the last 18 months. I asked about coming back for a PhD program and despite some professors being very interested in me returning, I decided that I wasn’t going to pursue a PhD at this time.

After visiting, I decided to drive around campus to see what had changed. The NOAA National Water Center Building had just started construction when I graduated and was now complete. There were a bunch of new fraternity and sorority houses as well as a new dormitory (Presidential II). They all looked very nice, though I do miss the some of the buildings they replaced.

What’s most interesting is that I missed the turnoff to my former dorm (Ridgecrest West). Despite turning there hundreds of times, I passed right by because what was once a lively dorm (Palmer Hall) was now a bunch of grass blocked by a short fence. I did end up driving by Ridgecrest, but as there was no parking, I wasn’t able to visit the ducks at Palmer Lake.

As my traveling companions and I had been up for 36 hours with maybe a 2 hour nap, we headed to bed early. The next day, we shopped at the newly renovated and expanded Supe Store, I visited more professors and UA staff, and then we did more shopping in town where I was also able to see a close friend. At 1 PM, we left for Atlanta, making a few stops along the way to purchase UA Clothing and souvenirs. We didn’t check into our hotel until 11:00 pm.

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Part 3:

Overall, I was very impressed with what UA has become. If I was a high school senior, I would definitely choose to attend there again. The only thing I didn’t like is that many of the nice buildings are replacing some of the more quirky UA buildings. When I started at UA, it was much more a hidden gem and I had to do a lot of things for myself. Many of the major annoyances I had as a student have since been fixed. What this means though is that I have grown up and am ready for other adventures in other places. I eventually plan on visiting UA again, maybe for a football game with many of my college friends.

I didn’t end up taking the job near Atlanta for a number of reasons. Amazingly, I booked a flight back to Seattle 25 hours prior to departure for $388. It would’ve been $258 if I had used my travel agent skills and had 3 connections in various parts of the country, but the fare didn’t earn miles in my preferred program. For future reference, the nonstop Miami-Seattle flight takes at least 7 hours from gate to gate. Cafe Versailles at the Miami airport is not a French fafe as the name suggests; instead, it’s a Cuban restaurant with good, inexpensive food.

Feel free to ask for clarification or if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to respond. Condensing 4 years of experience into a one night visit was hard. I only got to eat at Publix and O’Charley’s when I was in Tuscaloosa and both were very good. One is allowed to combine happy hour and Free Pie Wednesday at O’Charley’s, which gives one a lot of food for a very good price. Publix now has raspberry lemonade in the deli.

As the country group Alabama first sang in their 1980 hit; my home’s in Alabama, no matter where I lay my head.

Roll Tide!

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Welcome back. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself.

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@SEA_tide thanks for the report but most of all thanks for all the great information you have shared in this forum over the past few years.

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Thanks for your post SEA_tide. You and mom2collegekids are great ambassadors for University of Alabama.

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So glad you were able to make the trip. Keeping in touch is good for the soul. Thanks for the update, and best of wishes to you as you pursue your dreams.

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Have you looked into being a recruiter for Alabama? You have provided this forum so much. Best wishes for your future.