Get the Captain Crunch It’ll Make You Feel Better

I’m just now getting in the swing of this whole blogging for work thing. I mean I blog…just not for work, so this is pretty interesting. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing and saving it all only to re-read it and try to decide if it’s work blog-like or personal blog-like. Finally, I’ve just decided to say… “whatev.”

Recently some friends and I went to see slam poet Bassey Ikpi at Lodge 1 here on campus. I should start by saying I am probably Bassey’s hugest fan. Now with that being said, I should also say that in an effort to appear more “adult-like” and not as star struck, when I finally did meet her all I could think to say was “Guurrrlll, those boots are fierce!”

Right…I meet one of the most influential people in my spoken word world and of all the things I could have said, I come up with a half backwards compliment on her boots! Even with my very un-cool behavior I and the other staff who came out to support the event really enjoyed ourselves. Not only were her poems relevant, witty, and engaging, she was also so candid and open about herself, her issues, and her personal beliefs.

At the conclusion of Bassey’s set, there was an open mic portion of the show where attendees could cozy up to the mic and share their own work. Of course as fate would have it, I was the first on the list to share. One of our interns, who is also a member of UCAB (these are some super involved students, by the way) introduced me. All of a sudden, I hear what sounds like thunderous applause (of course that’s merely my perception). I look around and take in the admissions interns, students, and my admissions colleagues showing their support of me.

Now, I know you hear the terms “community” or “family” often when there is talk of William and Mary. But, I can certainly join in and concur. I’m still fairly new to William and Mary and I can already tell that the community here is unlike any other. The support and sociability cross student/faculty/staff lines. It’s normal to see students eating lunch with faculty or chatting on campus with staff about whatever.

I say all this to make a point. I know how intimidating college can be. I know that many times you may be the only one of your friends, or even the only person from your whole high school who attends a particular college. You may be afraid of feeling alone or disconnected. Now, of course I can’t speak for every college or university but through personal experience, I can speak for William and Mary. And, I can assure you that at our college you will not have that problem.

P.S….as for the title, I just like to use random statements. “Get the captain crunch it’ll make you feel better” was taken from one of Bassey’s poems.

– Tish Lyte