The Coker Experience...My Point of View

Coker College....Small. Liberal arts. Round-table learning. Small community. Like a family. All of these are such over-used words, statements, year after year that people reuse and recycle like memorizing lines to play your part. But Coker is more than that. After four years of this place I finally realize just how much this place has changed me. I'm a senior. I'm 22 years old...wow that's the first time I've seen my age in writing and it looks old. It's scary. I was born just outside of Philly, P.A. and spent 15 years of my life living in Myrtle Beach, S.C. So for me to come to Hartsville, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Hartsville has a population the size of my left thumb, and the entertainment value to match. But it is here at Coker in Hartsville that I have done the most growing up and self discovery. I thought Coker and Hartsville would become my second home. Freshmen year I drove home to Myrtle beach every single weekend. To be home. To be with my friends. To be where I fit it. A few years later Hartsville is not my second home. It is my first home, it is where I live. It is the place I find comfort in. It is where I have made some of the most influential friends of my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Coker is not simply "a small liberal arts college located in Hartsville, SC..." It is home. I lived for the busy fast-paced world i grew up in all the while secretly longing to know what the small town life is like. Coker gives you just that. It gives you the freedom to be yourself and discover things you didn't know about yourself. It gives you the chance to befriend others who share your passions and dreams. Coker is a place where everyone knows your face. or your name. You can't walk from one end of campus to the other without seeing at least one person you know. It can be a comforting feeling, and sometimes it can be scary. Everyone knows you. And if you live on campus, everyone knows your business.

I lived on campus freshmen year and half of sophomore year. I went through 4 roommates. The roommate situation can tricky. My advice: Don't room with your best friend because by the end of the semester she will be your worse enemy. Girls are vindictive. They're scary. I miss the atmosphere of living on campus sometimes, but I enjoy Coker so much more without the drama.
If you do not enjoy the occasional drama, then Coker is not the right place for you. Seriously.

I wrote this blog during class. My favorite thing to do, and I actually got to do it in class. But the sad thing is that class is over and I have work and my thoughts are not yet complete on this topic. So this is it for now.