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<p>Argue? Us?</p>
<p>Nah. That’s so . . . East Coast.</p>
<p>I’m from the land of aloha via Berkeley via L.A. </p>
<p>We were sharing. :)</p>
<p>Casino! lol!</p>
<p>Arguement or not, the BIG WINNERS were my DD and BCBG after we did a “little” shopping therapy yesterday afternoon. lol</p>
<p>^^ I hope you consulted the “What Not to Wear at Bama” thread before you headed out!</p>
<p>Well, just this morning I did have to explain to DD why the “Honey Badger Don’t Care” case she was considering for her Iphone4s MIGHT not be the best choice for our tour of 'Bama next week…</p>
<p>This has been a really long thread – but I will weigh in as the parent of a NMF rising sophomore who ended up fulfilling that stereotype of the serious high school student and athlete who went a little wild her first year of college. First semester went great. We’ll leave it at the fact that she’ll be retaking Biology this summer. Don’t count on the NMF label meaning a kid won’t do some experimenting with living a different kind of life in college. And for the record, her dad and I are beginning to understand that it’s been very mentally healthy for her to do so.</p>
<p>Any kid can go a little wild once they leave home and go to college (I DID), and most do learn a bit about themselves and life from that experience, I agree with you. </p>
<p>I was really just looking for a pool of potential roommates who would likely stay in the honors dorms for all four years because they had the housing scholarship…and I was unaware that any other readily-identifiable group had that same incentive to stay in the dorms and not move off-campus.</p>
<p>Um. Wow. I have never seen parents quite so into micro-managing the roommate situation. Suffice to say that part of the wonderful experience of college is learning to deal with people unlike yourself. Also, the idea that you would even WANT to select roommates who were only National Merit kids is kind of odd. </p>
<p>Take a step back already. Geez.</p>
<p>^^^Well, that’s one way to look at it. I see it as some earnest folks working their way through a process.</p>
<p>Which reminds me of some apropos lines from the movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: </p>
<p>“In India we have a saying, ‘Everything will be all right in the end.’ So if it’s not all right, then it’s not yet the end.”</p>
<p>Just when things were getting calmed down we get an outsider jumping in and fanning the flames. You stick to giving Southern Cal parents your advice and we’ll take care of our Alabama parents on here.</p>
<p>Amen to that, Casino!</p>
<p>Casino, that was very east coast blunt of you!!! Calmom- we may be a little helicopterish, but txarch did have a good reason for the question. It just took a few posts for us to get to her reason of wanting her dhtr to meet others that were likely to stay on campus all 4 years. Its a huge school, finding a small group of people is not that easy. And nmf students wont have “nmf” tattooed on their forehead to be identified.</p>
<p>And in the end, they all lived happily ever after. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>We’ve moved on…The end.</p>
<p>In defense of the original poster it may help others to know that in navigating the UA Housing selection process following Freshman year there is a significant advantage in room selection date (you will pick sooner) if you are “staying put”. Those who “stay put” –meaning they will remain in their same dorm, suite/room will have a pick date that will be ahead of those who move to a different dorm-suite/or room. If one was fortunate to have a housing scholarship (they know they will stay on campus all 4 years) and lucky enough to land (or organize ahead of time as OP was thinking) with 3 other roommates Freshman year that also have the 4-year housing scholarship, and they do end up all working well together they could be set for the long run to just “stay put” and reduce a lot of the stress of finding new rooms, getting pulled in by someone else etc., etc., come housing selection time in future years.</p>
<p>Our D and roommate for next year both have housing scholarships (non-NMF) and were very fortunate to get a 2-BR honors suite for next year; they plan if all goes well to “stay put” the remaining/Jr. & Sr.years. For anyone who thinks the girls may limit themselves in terms of getting to know others by choosing to stay with the same roommate the next 3 years, they have different majors and minors and belong to different groups etc., /not the clingy it’s just the two of us type. With each being involved in different things they will have the advantage of expanding both of their friend bases.</p>
<p>^^^^^right up there in the running for “BEST POST OF THE THREAD” ^^^^^</p>
<p>And I learned that there are students other than NMFs who have housing scholarships…didn’t know that.</p>
<p>I’m about to make another statement here that will likely not be popular with some, but here goes. I don’t think it is right to jump on westcoastmom’s back either. I’ve moved past this debate, but the OP’s initial reasons for looking for NMF as roommates did not include anything about the staying on campus. I found the posted reasoning exclusionary. I for one responded with public posts that I do not believe were offensive but expressed my opinion which I stand behind. I also exchanged a few PM’s on this subject. While I think it isn’t necessary to continue the debate now since a NEW and and more reasonable reason was given, I’m not prepared to be critical of another poster for putting in her two cents. I don’t know whether they have an interest in the UA or not or if they were fanning flames. If westcoastmom has no interest in the UA and posted to fan flames then shame on her, if not, I think she has every right. We all need to remember what we post here may be seen by anyone and our posts ultimately reflect upon us as individuals and on the UA community. The great thing about this forum is that we are all free to express our views and discuss them. Sometimes we end up seeing things differently, sometimes we don’t. The bad thing about this forum is that sometimes it can become cliquish if someone has a different view and I don’t think it reflects well when that happens either. The point of this board is to provide knowledge to those who are seeking answers and to exchange ideas even when we don’t agree. No hard feelings here. Roll Tide.</p>
<p>Memo to self:</p>
<p>Oh no, I’m back on this thread!
Someone examine my head.
It’s run its full course,
(The poor horse is a corpse),
I just whipped her and yup, she’s still dead.</p>
<p>Roll Tide :)</p>
<p>TXArchitect: One of my son’s roommates is a Crimson scholar. They, too, receive a housing scholarship. Perhaps your daughter will meet one on the various boards and room with her?</p>
<p>A “girl” one, of course! I’ll ask her to keep a look out…Thank you. Didn’t know that…</p>
<p>I don’t know if you were responding to my post, Malani, but for the record, I am NOT the one who revived this thread either. Either way, I am not offended. Frankly, it was over in my mind. I had even considered not posting on the UA forum again at all. In defense of all who posted here and for what its worth, the OP never mentioned the housing scholarship or need to find roommates who would remain on campus all four years until one of her last posts. Several others were offended by the other reasons as was I. She APOLOGIZED. It was over. Then along came another poster who commented. Others shamed her and I responded that we shouldn’t be so quick to judge her motives which may or may not have been malicious. I don’t know him/her, but it appears he/she has posted in other school forums, so I can’t tell what his/her motives might be. That was my point.</p>
<p>Having been born and raised in Tuscaloosa, one of the things that drew me back was my love of the people and their acceptance and welcoming and inclusive spirt…within the community and on campus. I love Tuscaloosa as much as I love the UA. One of the bright spots of the tornado were the stories told by the victims of how inclusive and loved they felt by others who may have been of different faiths, race, socioeconomic backgrounds, and yes, education. This is why I was initially offended by the OP’s comments and posted in the first place and really didn’t feel I attacked anyone and I said many times that she may not have meant to be offensive. Again, she apologized. Apology accepted and moving on. I hope she enjoys her visit and feels the inclusive and welcoming spirit of the UA family while she is on campus and loves the UA as much as I. Roll Tide!</p>