Before I get started, I’d like to update you on a few things after being here for over two months now.

1. I killed my midterms which has made me one happy scholar. The midterm stress is real and something I wasn’t sure how to handle. After patiently waiting to see my results, I can finally say I do know how to handle them. I’m glad they are over for now, because me oh my, it was a struggle.
2. My Rec-League basketball record has a lot more losses than wins. But, unlike some people, I can make it both ends of the court without gasping for air like a fish out of water. So that is the most important thing, in my book at least.
3. I’m still really loving it here. Fall in Iowa City is truly mesmerizing. Almost all of the trees on campus have a yellow tint to them now. I’m starting to think it is on purpose, hence our main school color being yellow. Hoodie weather is among us and I am more than thrilled about it. The only con to that is, however, more laundry for me.

Alright, enough about me. Let me keep blabbing on about how amazing this campus/university/community is. Well, I guess one huge factor that really makes me proud to be here is the fact that it is a Big 10 school.

The Big 10 is mostly known for it’s great athletic performances in almost every sport. A lot of schools can’t say they are solid in almost every athletic event they offer. Most Big 10 schools can say that.

The conference has a lot of schools with history as well. Lots of national championships have been awarded to many Big 10 schools. Sports aren’t the only thing that Big 10 schools are known for, however.

Every Big 10 school is part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Big 10 schools educate over 520,000 students a year and have over 5.7 MILLION alumni. Talk about a big amount of people. The Big 10 schools partake in research, with funds that total to almost 9.3 BILLION dollars each year. EACH YEAR. The Big 10 really does live by that motto of go big or go home.

The Big 10 has even gotten bigger since it started. It now has 14 universities (Big 10 just sounds better than Big 14) which originally started out with nine (Formerly known as the Western Conference or the Big 9).

Long story made short, the Big 10 is one of the most, if not the most dynamic conference in all of higher level education. Students receive not only a ‘first-class’ education, but receive a connection that is shared by over 5.7 million people: The Big 10 Connection.

Those numbers may be overwhelming. I know they overwhelmed me when I was looking into coming here. Something about the history of the Big 10 really did lure me into coming here. I’ve always respected the other schools in the conference. They all share that historical bond thanks to the schools they attended. You are bound to find a Big 10 alumni anywhere you go, and I find that super awesome.

The average enrollment at a Big 10 school is 41,995 students. The University of Iowa is at the smaller end of the spectrum, with a total enrollment of 33,334 students. Think about it. Thirty-three thousand, three hundred thirty-four students attend this school, and it is considered one of the smaller ones. WOW. That was one thing that did worry me before coming here. Were there going to be so many people that I wouldn’t know how to handle it? Well, you’d be surprised, it doesn’t feel that big at all.

Even though I go to school with 33,333 people, it sure doesn’t feel like it. As I walk to class I see many new faces, but I see just as many familiar ones. I always get a couple waves or a friendly ‘hello’ while I’m walking across campus.

You find your people, too. Don’t think that you have to be friends with all of the other people on campus because that is most likely impossible. If you can be friends with 33,333 more people, I will forever envy you. And don’t let them intimidate you, either. The term ‘Iowa Nice’ is real. Everyone (well, mostly everyone. I can’t speak for the whole student body but I can say 95% of us are super nice and helpful.) is in the same boat, so why not be nice to a fellow Hawkeye? The people make the campus feel big, but at the end of the day, it is really up to how you look at things.

Don’t let a fear of a big school like Iowa drive you away from going here. I was pretty close on not coming here, but when I saw that people, the campus, and the community I knew that there was something here for me. The best part about it, is that 5.7 million people feel the same way, all thanks to that ‘Big 10 Connection’.