Some of the uncommon, wonderful things about Brown

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I recently got a PM asking me about what I love about Brown. I sent back some typical features we talk about all the time on CC. The response I received was essentially, I know all of that, and all of those things are great, but what about the intangibles that you just don’t see in a brochure or understand until you’re at Brown.</p>

<p>Well, in case you want to get pumped up, or want to see some of the things I really find wonderful about Brown, here was my quickly formed list. I could probably go to 100, but I’ll let other students, current and past, add some of their own.</p>

<p>1) 100 plus new people showing up and wanting to be tour guides at the first Bruin Club meeting. We don’t pay our guides during the year.</p>

<p>2) Laying out on The Lower Green or in Patriot’s Court in the summer when very few people are around and just listening to the trees.</p>

<p>3) Going to the GCB (Grad Center Bar) and running into TAs and friends you haven’t seen since freshman year and bonding as though no time has past at all.</p>

<p>4) Finding a new restaurant even after 3.5 years that I’ve never even heard of.</p>

<p>5) Road trips to Misquamicut…</p>

<p>6) Spring Weekend, which almost always is magically 10 degrees warmer than it should be, when the barbecues are out at the frats, people are playing volleyball and wiffle ball and ultimate and playing crappy music and just enjoying being outside.</p>

<p>7) Antonio’s, drunk, at 1:45am.</p>

<p>8) Louis, drunk, at 5am (acceptable alternative to drunk at Louis is after pulling an all-nighter).</p>

<p>9) The Friedman Study Center or Sci Li Mezz, 4am before a take home final is due, collaboration not allowed, all the kids in the class sitting feet away from each other, and congratulating one another as we report on our progress.</p>

<p>10) My parents coming on Family Weekend, and despite being here a short while, realizing it’s been worth every dime.</p>

<p>11) Walking through the Van Wickle Gates during Convocation-- first time in my life I felt truly special and utterly humbled.</p>

<p>12) Del’s Frozen Lemonade</p>

<p>13) Keeney freshman year</p>

<p>14) Giving a tour when the weather is great to 100 people and having them erupt into applause and praise upon its completion, and seeing in the face of pre-frosh and parents that first ounce of excitement about Brown and knowing I brought a part of that to them.</p>

<p>15) Walking out the Van Wickle Gates during Commencement. May 24th this year is something I’m already beginning to swell with pride about. Brown really challenged me and I’ve gained so much here. Leaving, even though I’m really staying, is going to be the most bittersweet moment of my life. I really do find this entire tradition to be beautiful and powerful.</p>

2

<p>Modestmelody, are you graduating this year??? From undergrad or grad? You've been so helpful on the Brown board, and I hope you don't leave us. You kinda are the mascot of this whole board...</p>

3

<p>You just reinvigorated my desire to attend Brown.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
Modestmelody, are you graduating this year??? From undergrad or grad? You've been so helpful on the Brown board, and I hope you don't leave us. You kinda are the mascot of this whole board...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Graduating from undergrad this year, staying one more year for grad school, then out to the real world circa June 2010. Probably will not be on the boards as much next year except for breaks here and there, and probably will leave the boards for good after that. I may ask for a lock on my account or have someone change my password for me. I think my usefulness is how current I am, and I also am starting to think my willingness to help out on here has stopped the next version of me from coming along. I got involved here because of how helpful an, "Ask Me Anything" thread was in May of my senior year of high school that lasted until August that year where a current student, Moattomoat or something like that, told all of the matriculating students everything there was to know about Brown. It'll soon be time for someone else to be me, just like I decided to be him/her.</p>

<p>But don't worry, that's probably still one more year away, though I anticipate being on here less and less after this summer.</p>

5

<p>Ah yes, thanks for posting this mm. I hope more people respond to this. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that are just as interested and passionate (okay, probably in much mroe normal ways than I am) in Brown as I am, but what about the real deal? In practice **and not just **theory? What are some shining moments, any moments, in recent memory that just made you go "Man, I love Brown!"?</p>

6

<p>Del's is so good.
Oh my god.
I completely forgot about it.</p>

7

<ol>
<li>traying after the first snowfall</li>
<li>singing "we are ever true to Brown" -- both versions</li>
<li>watching the Brown band on ice skates.</li>
<li>the flowering trees on the Green in the spring</li>
<li>walking down the hill at graduation, seeing everyone in your class and all the alumni twice. Modestmelody, if you think you love things about Brown now, just wait until you do that. It is one of the most awesome, and truly unique, things about Brown -- and something you get to repeat every year you come back as an alum.</li>
</ol>

8

<p>Oh god. You make me want to go to Brown so bad. I didn't think I would but now I know I will cry if I don't get in.</p>

<p>:(</p>

9

<p>No better way to tease and tantalize a bunch of Brown hopefuls.</p>

10

<p>There truly is no school like Brown.</p>

11

<p>What I respect unbelievably is how dedicated and interested so many students are in Brown. People have a serious interest; not like some of the other ivy leagues where it's simply let me add another top twenty school to my list.</p>

12

<p>Jason: I just wanted to thank you for all that you've done for the Brown and Brown-hopeful community here on CC.

I agree 100%. Your "Brown Curriculum and University-College Explained" post is responsible for getting me interested in Brown. You showed me a place that embodies everything I want out of a college experience--a place I never thought even existed. Without your advice, I would have been missing out on so much that Brown has to offer. You can probably imagine how excited I am and how much I look forward to being at Brown next fall. In fact, I'm willing to attribute a significant proportion of this year's application increase to your service to the Brown boards on CC. </p>

<p>In case anyone wanted to check out modestmelody's predecessor, here's a link: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/77182-brown-student-taking-questions.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/77182-brown-student-taking-questions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>Very much. I'll probably write about the posts and the passionate people here for my "How did you get interested in Brown?" essay when I get started on them.</p>

14

<p>Wow.. CC generations are being created already....</p>

15

<p>...sigh.</p>

<p>The Van Winkle gates was one of the reasons I really wanted to go to Brown and now that I see it on your list, I know it's not just some romantic fairytale type thing. Agh, Brown is still my top choice (along with Stanford, but that's only cuz it's still on the West Coast where I live) and I'd love to stay at Brown for four years. <em>dreams</em></p>

<p>But yeah, modestmelody thanks for helping out all these years. I realize your post count, even though it's a huge 2000+, doesn't even match up to the number of people you've inspired and influenced with your first-hand accounts of Brown and truly modest perspective of what the Brown philosophy encapsulates. </p>

<p>Personally, I love helping people out on these boards too and I'm glad there's still people like you out there on CC. I'm sure even if you're posting less, fireandrain (if he/she still is planning to post) can cover for you. And maybe in a few years, if I do get into Brown this fall, I could possibly step in your shoes once I get to know Brown better.</p>

<p>Always looking forward to your posts and good luck with Commencement and grad,
CP</p>

16

<p>Well I'm just glad to have helped and hope that more people who get into Brown who were CC posters stick around to help the next round of folks-- we tend to have high attrition rates around here once students are in college and I think that sucks.</p>

17

<p>All I know is, if (when? <em>crossing fingers</em>) I get into Brown, I'll surf these parts like a half in my free time. The main thing I love about Brown is that there's people like modest and fireandrain that love it oh so much and most people don't get it, but it works and the people that do love it. I want, more than anything, to be a part of that experience. And to share that with others and get them to that experience, I hope, will be the utmost satisfying thing ever.</p>

18

<p>Yeah modest--I'm so grateful for all the advice you've posted on CC, and I can agree with wewet that is was posts of you and those like you that cemented by decision to ED at Brown. I agree with the logic of you easing yourself off the forum once you're no longer a day-to-day fixture on campus, though I doubt anyone will be able to take up your mantle as CC's foremost Brown authority (atleast in my opinion). I for one can only hope that I'll be marginally as helpful to high school CC'ers once I'm at Brown as you were to all of us as we decided between schools and worked on our Brown applications.</p>

19

<p>modest: When you said "It'll soon be time for someone else to be me, just like I decided to be him/her.", all I could think of was the Dread Pirate Roberts in "The Pricess Bride". lulz</p>

20

<p>wewet234 (#12); Thanks for that link. And it was kind of touching in that link to see what was probably one of modestmelody's first postings on CC (#83) from July 2005:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/77182-brown-student-taking-questions-6.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/77182-brown-student-taking-questions-6.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>