What would you CC’ers have advised me to do?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>As I sit here, with some free time in between helping pack up my children for the trip back to Bama, I was wondering what the CC advice for me would be if there was a CC site back in the mid 70’s when I was contemplating attending UA. There have been too many threads questioning the merits of attending UA because of its past history and former reputation, and I am hoping that my story would put some of the prospective student’s fears to rest.</p>

<p>Here is my story:</p>

<p>Hi, I was wondering if you guys could give me a little advice. I am an Italian from Brooklyn and was thinking about applying to the University of Alabama. Would I fit in if I applied and were accepted? I am very much into disco (ala Saturday Night Fever), my clothing is typical NY (leather jacket, and shirt usually open in the front to show off my gold crucifix), hairstyle is longish but very neat and well maintained (and please don’t touch my hair), I have a strong Brooklynese accent, and I attend Catholic services every Sunday. I have good grades and test scores, and go to an elite public high school. To date I have never been arrested (at least up until now have never been caught) and drive a 1968 Oldsmobile 442 with air shocks, chrome wheels, requisite fuzzy dice and the garter belt that I caught at my cousin Vinny’s wedding hanging from the rear view mirror. Do you all think that the students will be accepting of me? I have been accepted to all the other colleges that I applied to (Brooklyn College, Wagner College, Queens College) and since I have not visited nor applied to UA, I was hoping to get some advice. </p>

<p>I have worked at Tony’s Meat Market, Joe’s Pizzeria, and Eddies Gas Station since I was 13 to earn some cash for my college education and for spending money, so I don’t think that I am eligible for financial aid. But should I apply for it? Or will having financial aid make me look like a loser to all those sorority and fraternity types, who I have heard are big on campus.</p>

<p>Are the professors strict at UA? I went to Catholic elementary school and the nuns were very strict. I am hoping to get away from that. My knuckles can’t take any more ruler shots to them. </p>

<p>That is my story, and if I was posting back in the 70’s, those would be my questions. </p>

<p>Seriously…the world was a lot different then. Saturday Night Fever era New York had little in common with post Civil Rights era Alabama…and yet this Brooklyn kid managed just fine. Had I spent time complaining that I couldn’t find decent pizza I would have missed out on Dreamland, Archibald’s, etc. I still have my Brooklyn accent, but I’m happy to say that my southern born son (UA '14) and daughter (UA '12) are much more comfortable with y’all than youse guys. The experiences I had enriched my life…they didn’t change it. I’m still the same guy, and I stayed true to myself…I just developed a love of barbeque, Johnny Cash, and NASCAR. My UA friends learned a little about good pizza, the BeeGees and the NY Mets. The question is not IF you’ll fit in, but are you WILLING to try to fit in. Here in North Carolina, and especially when we go up north to visit friends and family, we are always getting the question of why did your children choose to go to Alabama? There is a narrow minded slant to this question that forces me to defend both my choice and my children’s choice. But as I tell my wife, I always like to defend the choices because I get to extol the virtues of my great University. Just maybe I am looking at things through rose (crimson) colored glasses, but they were the second best years of my life. I had to say that since my wife is looking over my shoulder as I write this.</p>

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<p>From one Brooklynite to another, maybe you helped assuage the fears of what New Yorkers’ were like. (then again, maybe not) Just kidding…about the maybe not part :)</p>

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<p>BB, thank you so much for this!! I confess that I do keep worrying whether DS will fit in at Bama. He’s NC-born-and-bred, so he’s got the Southern Thing down pat. :slight_smile: But he’s not the least bit fratty, and he wouldn’t know a North Face jacket or an Izod polo if it bit him. He’s not from an upper-income family, so he won’t be bringing piles of expensive stuff to school with him. He’s very creative and imaginative and a bit nerdy…will he find kindred spirits?</p>

<p>It seems that the answer is YES. Thank God!! (And might I add, as an Irish-Italian from Bah-ston, Mass., thank the BVM, too. My fellow Irish and Italians will know what that means, LOL.)</p>

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<p>BTW, BB, I think I had the same nuns you had for elementary school, LOL.</p>

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<p>Love it, BB! You captured a big part of what college life is like IMHO. Growing, stretching, being exposed to new ideas, and yes, new foods, new accents and new fashions. I have two degrees from Bama and one from Columbia. I love those institutions and their respective cities both dearly.</p>

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<p>Hey Lady Dianeski we are a lot alike, except I am from Chicago…I am exactly 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Italian! My dad would tell you that the Italian side is definately dominate. LOL
Those same nuns bled my knuckles raw in grammar school and HS. </p>

<p>BB I love your story - especially the part about being willing to fit in. College is a time to spread wings and try new things. Kids are so much more open to new experiences and cultures. I know that if my DD is accepted and attends she will grow in so many wonderful ways.</p>

<p>Gotta ask BB: Who is your favorite driver? we are huge NASCAR fans!!</p>

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<p>I’d have advised you to keep your yankee ass home, you damn carpetbagger.</p>

<p>Good thing I don’t take my own advice :-)</p>

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<p>Dear BB! Wonderful! You are so very right. I actually enjoyed your story. Your point is so very important for those who will function in our ever-more global civilization. We go places and do things to grow, not to stay the same.</p>

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<p>I am giving you a “standing ovation” from my den in Kansas City :). Addendum to Catholic school education…nuns…yardstick broken over my head because the boy in front of me was talking to the boy behind me…kindergarten no less! Knuckles came out of school unscathed…ended up locking the dear “sister” in the coat closet…opps!!! Redemption is a wonderful thing! Thanks so much for the great post :)!</p>

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<p>Great post BB!</p>

<p>I think that experiencing different areas/cultures makes for a more well rounded person who loses much of the “i is the best because I have always been around it and never heard about choice ii,” especially when i isn’t viewed as a choice, but rather as the only option.</p>

<p>I’m surprised that it hasn’t been mentioned yet, but Roll Tide!!!</p>

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<p>thank the BVM, too. My fellow Irish and Italians will know what that means, LOL.</p>

<p>Oh yes, Italian/French here…and the Italian side totally trumps the French side. ;)</p>

<p>We were lucky, our nuns never used corporal punishment at either of my K-12 schools…but we would lose recess or art class. :(</p>

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<p>^^^^Same here. The good Benedictines out of Cullman at St. Paul’s and John Carroll HS did not use corporal punishment, but a look could stop you in your tracks!</p>

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<p>Fahhgetabout it! You would never fit in! Not because you’re from Brooklyn but because you’re a Mets fan!! Even in Alabama they know that there is only one team to root for – the NY Yankees : )</p>

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<p>Mits, you need to post more often. Outstanding post!!</p>

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<p>To quote from the movie “My Cousin Vinny”, Mr. Tipton upon being cross examined on the stand stated, “No self-respecting southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits”.
The same can be said about rooting for the Yankees, “No self-respecting southerner would root for a baseball team with the word YANKEES in it. I take pride in my baseball”.</p>

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<p>lol, I love that movie.</p>

<p>As I’m sure you’re aware. Mel Allen was a Bama grad. And apparently Coach Bryant and Steinbrenner were friends. The Yankees actually played a couple exhibition games against UA in the late 70’s.</p>

<p>Not to mention the Yankees currently feature former UA and current all star relief pitcher Dave Robertson on their team :-)</p>

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<p>@buzymom3, I have a T-shirt that says: “WARNING: Irish Temper. Italian Attitude.” LOL! Got it at the local Celtic Festival. Must admit that my Irish side sometimes predominates. But then, I’m pretty schizoid – one minute I’m humming a Celtic ballad and the next minute I’m humming “la donna e mobile.” ;)</p>

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<p>BBfrom NC, LOL!! (DS loves his instant grits, though. And we-uns root for the Red Sox, of course.)</p>

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<p>Great post, BB. I’d have advised you to go to my alma mater, Cal, that bastion of tolerance where you would have been embraced for your long hair and crucified for your crucifix.</p>

<p>And as for the Yankees, I hate 'em! Rooting for them is like rooting for inevitability. Like rooting for . . . for . . . for . . . Bama? </p>

<p>Oh, dear. Roll Tide.</p>

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<p>You’ll forgive me for being a Yankees fan, but you see I’m a transplant from NYC, and its still a bad habit that I brought with me…To repeat the famous Monty Python line…“I’m getting better!”</p>