University of Arizona Snapshot

Written by Joe Dusbabek

Joe Dusbabek

Hometown

Scottsdale, Arizona

Major

French/Linguistics

Grad Year

2012

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I'm going to go ahead and tip my hat to the UA. It's a great school in a chill city that has nice weather and beautiful, beautiful people. This is my school, and I've become attached to it. Maybe it was the way cars splashed dirty street water into my face every time it rained, since there are practically no drainage systems in Tucson, and water just sits in dangerously deep pools along the sides of the road. Maybe it was all the construction that made me walk miles out of my way to get to early morning classes. Or, perhaps it was vying for couches to sleep on during class breaks. It may have even been getting my backpack stolen in the main library during my freshman year. Despite all of the hard times, the UA has become an endearing place that I'll always remember.

I've eaten so many meals in the Student Union Memorial that I see them in my dreams. I've walked the same sidewalks over and over in both the sunshine and in the rain. Once, I mistakenly asked for a triple-shot of cappuccino. I will always remember my hands shaking during the following chemistry lab and how I was so hyper, I ran around in my goggles with my lab apron flapping around my neck like a cape as I called myself "Chemistry Boy." I've had long talks with friends in parking lots. I read John Updike for the first time here, rediscovered Faulkner in the Modern Languages Building, and pulled an all-nighter in the library. I've spent the night on campus in a sleeping bag before a required marathon reading. I stumbled through Calculus with a teacher who hardly spoke English. How can I talk trash about my alma mater? Yeah, the UA has its problems, but I was never looking for perfection. I only wanted a decent education and an interesting experience, and I got them both at the UA.