MADI MCGUIRE | OPINION COLUMNIST

I transitioned from a school with 40,000 students and 2,468 acres to Butler, which has about 4,000 students and 290 acres.

To put this into perspective, the acreage of Purdue’s campus is equal to a little over 3 laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Butler’s acreage is about half of a lap.

Piece of cake, right?

If I can navigate Purdue then I can take on Butler, right?

If you thought yes, you were wrong.

As a mid-year transfer in Indiana, you miss the advantage of sunny, not-so-cold tours around the campus. My tour was snowy—just like my first day of class. The signs were covered in powdery substance and the hood of my winter coat combined with snowflakes hitting my face obstructed my view of the landscape. I had no idea where I was.

I wandered into Atherton Union expecting to find Starbucks. I walked up some stairs, down some stairs, and did a few semi-circles before the Indy Blue Car guy handing out t-shirts asked if I was lost.

No thanks to my fellow students who looked at me like I was crazy, the guy who doesn’t even go here had me covered! Who knew that there was another side to the bookstore?

Butler is within the borders of a beautiful, large city with almost 900,000 residents, whereas Purdue is in a small town of about 30,000 and a vast cornfield aesthetic.

But despite the staggering difference, the bus system at Purdue was more difficult to navigate than the whole city of Indianapolis.

I am also pleased with my change in walking distance. I walked 15 minutes to my classes at Purdue and if I woke up late, there was no chance to even making it to class. Here, I have been waking up 10 minutes before my classes and I have time to throw some clothes on and stroll to Jordan Hall.

I also always manage to get a seat in the dining court—out of the five dining courts at Purdue, you would have to sprint to an open seat before someone else took it from you.

I never realized how much space a college student could have after being surrounded by 40,000 other people all day at Purdue. My professors at Purdue had to wear microphones in order for the entirety of the lecture hall to hear the lesson. However, I feel much less cramped here.

When I arrived to my first class at Butler with about 15 people, I was wondering where everyone else was. I felt the same way when I was going down sorority row, thinking, “Where are all of the sororities?”

As blatant as these differences are, there are many similarities between the two schools.

For instance, Greek life is a large part of the college experience. And basketball is a large part of the culture and glory at both Purdue and Butler.

In fact, I stood in the middle of a room of Purdue students with my pointer finger raised high as the Bulldogs defeated Purdue in basketball. I received endless criticism, but hey, I was proud of where I was going.

Needless to say, I am also proud of where I came from.

Both schools have their own perks and flaws in many different aspects, but I found myself realizing that I am not an engineer; I am no Neil Armstrong—yeah, he went to Purdue. And I chose that school based off of my decision to sing with the Purduettes, not the academia.

I decided that studying to become a journalist and an artsy communications student was my calling.  I may be like Janet Langhart—yeah, she went here—I found myself and my passions at Purdue and now I will live out my dreams at Butler.

It is safe to say that I am a BoilerDawg.