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Monday, January 23, 2006 Juxtapositions and Friendliness Students at the Eastern Michigan University are friendlier than their counterparts at the University of Michigan. As a U-M alum, it almost pains me to say that, but it's true. I worked a promotion for Court TV today at both schools (this primarily involved passing out scratch-off cards and wearing a slightly ridiculous smock advertising a new show--hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, this stuff pays well) and we started out in Ann Arbor. It was fun running into people I knew, especially since I tend to avoid campus these days, spending my time downtown instead, but U-Mers are so used to people promoting various products and events that we've perfected the art of walking by too quickly to grab a flyer and avoiding eye contact. Two other members of the promo team had studied at U-M, and we laughed about how cynical and jaded students can become (specific to this area, rather than in general). In contrast, the vast majority of students at EMU took the scratch-off cards and thanked us for them. A couple even came back and asked for more. I'm sure that Eastern has fewer marketing efforts aimed at its students, but the juxtaposition was quite stark. It reminds me of going to a band clinic day at EMU when I was a senior in high school and all the Eastern students looking somewhat horrified that I was planning to go to Michigan--"they're so competitive!" "they aren't very friendly," and "they don't help each other in classes!" Which isn't entirely true--some concentrations are more competitive than others, but I never experienced problems finding or providing help. I guess the "friendly" criticism is founded to some degree though, at least in regard to outsiders. But on an individual level, we're friendly, fun people. ^ Top | 9:01 PM | | | 
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