My reaction to the American Life podcast was a laughable
one. It was like they purposely went out
and looked for the most handicapped drunkards they could find and interviewed
them. I mean, don’t get me wrong. Everything they were saying was pretty much
true and it did enhance the reputation of Penn State of being a party school,
but there is so much more than just drinking here at Penn State. The reason why
I became part of the PSU community was 1. My friends go here so it made living
arrangements easy and 2. They are number one school for the Kinesology program
in the country which is the major I chose. 3. it’s an overall fun and relatively
safe environment.
The podcast also brought up a good point on the interviewer’s
part. In the beginning when they saw kids walking by yelling at 2 or 3 am in
the morning they also recalled doing that when they were in college. I’m
guessing they didn’t go to Penn State, so it’s not like it just happens here. I’ve
been to some tail gates, parties, bashes the whole shabang and its downright
fun. I don’t think drinking will ever go away from PSU anytime soon. To me it’s
just a silly notion to even think it and probably a waste of time on the other side’s
part. Though the podcast did make some good explanations on why they should ban
or cut alcohol consumption. It also made Penn State look like a bunch of
douches too. I now see where GQ magazine got there information…
Podcast showed one side of Penn State, the drinking side. It
didn’t talk about all the research and effort of different fields that students
study or all the hard work people put into studying to make this world a better
safer place. None of that was included and if students are going to get drunk,
well they’re going to get drunk. Until they reach my age and realize that it
just starts to hurt and gets really expensive.
I totally agree with you. If they had shown both sides,everyone would see that the students get their work done regardless of being named the #1 party school. The party life is a way for the students to let loose and relax after spending so many hours studying and getting work done during the week.
ReplyDeleteThe podcast made me laugh too. And although it was for the most part true, i agree with you that there is a lot more to Penn State than just partying and athletics. A lot of programs here other than the Kines program are also rated very high in the nation. And the school is in the top 50 colleges in America.
ReplyDeleteI had the same feelings as you in regards to them interviewing the drunk students. Obviously if you interview someone who is completely wasted they are going to sound like a moron, no matter who they are. And you are definitely right that the podcast failed to talk about any of Penn State's prestigious academic programs. The students here work hard and party hard, just like every other school in the country.
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