Traditions Abound

Many people ask me why I decided to come to Texas to do my graduate program. To get straight to the matter, the truth is that I get a free education for the program that I want to do, and that is a great reason to be here. But, beyond that, there are some things about Baylor that make it a rich experience.

First of all, coming from the background of Colorado State University and George Fox University, I have a fairly diverse background when it comes to university experience. On the one hand, Colorado State University is a huge school with potential for a lot of great things because of its size and the number of resources it has available to it. Unfortunately, I felt like CSU didn't have a lot of long-standing traditions in place anymore, and I really wanted to experience that in my higher ed. On the complete other side of the spectrum, George Fox University is a small school without the same resources, better traditions and stronger culture within the college, but the size is so small you can't develop the same kind of programming.

So, lucky for me, I find myself doing my graduate work at Baylor, which has more students, thus more money, and more traditions then I know what to do with. Every brick on campus has some sort of significance or story, so I feel like Baylor seems to mix the tradition of George Fox that I loved with the size and resources of Colorado State. Not a bad combo at all.

The traditions were at their height this weekend because of homecoming. Homecoming is a BIG deal here at Baylor, and for obvious reasons...they do it big and they do it well! (Everything's bigger in Texas!) Some of the activities included Pigskin which I could (and probably will) write an entire entry on, but it is basically a Broadway talent show put on by undergraduates (very elaborate), the Homecoming Parade (which is apparently the longest collegiate parade in the U.S.) which has the most elaborate floats, this year had 53 Homecoming royalty nominees, the live bear (just walking through campus as though it were not a wild animal), and huge parade balloons (like you see at Macy's parade...not even kiddin' you!). Our FCC group helped with the Baylor Bear Balloon and it was sweet...seriously sweet. They also have something called mass meeting on Friday night where all the freshman come together and they share the story of the immortal ten, and then the freshman are given the "eternal" flame which they have to keep lit (the upper classmen try to extinguish the flame) so that they can use it to light the bonfire on Friday night. And at the bonfire, they had a full carnival with rides. I was seriously amazed with the whole event...and I understood why Baylor alumni come back for Homecoming! (I guess there's a football game too...but noone really talks about that!)