Starting from roughly our junior and senior years of high school – pun intended with “roughly” – our counselors, teachers, parents, and sometimes our own ambition pulls us towards pamphlets, walking shoes, and color coded maps with a “you are here” star. Choosing the fairytale university where you will hopefully make an Elle Woods of yourself begins with road trips to distant lands with “open house” calling your name. Hopefully, you get a hot chocolate in your hands, an excused absence on your high school attendance list, a rad new t shirt, and an accurate dose of what a certain school you’ve been eyeing’s atmosphere tastes like. As a supplement, I have constructed a list of all the things I love most about DePaul that I only learned from being here for a while:
1. The Quad is Basically a Dog Park. No – The Whole LPC Is
DePaul University is located within the museum of corporate offices with very classy architecture that is Chicago, Illinois. Scattered amongst the skyscrapers are a vast array of parks and playgrounds and gardens and courtyards to add some green spice to life (and oxygen and somewhere for the squirrels to live). One of these designated O2 wilderness spaces is the Quad in LPC, where the cutest dogs in the entire city love to frolic through. I have pet so many fantastically friendly puppies on my way to class, I think I could add it to my list of extracurricular activities for my college resume. We even have a dog spotting page on Facebook where we post photographs of the lil’ fluffers we meet around campus.
2. Bunnies. Are. Everywhere.
Chicagoland bunnies also have an affinity for flourishing within designated city wilderness places, particularly residential courtyards, and DePaul is no stranger to these gated habitats with the occasional statue or two. You can find the little critters throughout the day, but especially around dinner time.
3. Who the Greatest People You Will Ever Meet Are
As Janis from Mean Girls so famously lists the type of people one will meet in her school to her newfound friend, she ends her list by depicting who “the greatest people you will ever meet” are. In terms of DePaul University, I think the staff of the SAC Bean most definitely makes this list. They genuinely care about the students and staff of DePaul and their warmth always brightens everyone’s day. You cannot feel sad near the SAC Bean staff; it’s completely impossible. Another group that must be included are the staff of the Richardson Library’s Research Help Desk. They’re basically a club of library gods and goddesses that help you navigate the seemingly never-ending and easily overwhelming black hole of the reserves and databases. Frustrated because you need to access a scholarly journal that DePaul subscribes to that includes text relevant to antebellum period partisanship in journalism outside the United States written by a non-American historian and are having absolutely no luck? Say no more, DePaulians. Moreover, they don’t just find it for you and shoo you away; they take the time to explain what they’re doing so you can grasp more efficient ways to navigate the databases for future projects. Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless you tell everyone (in regards to correctly keyword searching in historical databases).
4. Let It Snow – For 6 Weeks Straight
Winter break at DePaul University lasts from Turkey Day till after the ball drops in Times Square NYC at the stroke of midnight; for 6 weeks, the wintery world is your oyster. You can catch up on all Harry Potter movies and novels, build as many snowmen you and your childhood friends can come up with scarves for, punch in some volunteer hours to help spread holiday cheer, or maybe summon the bravery to work during the holiday rush. You have 6 whole weeks to unwind from the first quarter of the year, and then come back ready to whistle while you hustle in two more.
5. Our French Fries Are the Bomb Dot Com
The STU serves a wide variety of these lovely potato based sides, and they are open late because everything tastes better after midnight, especially after a long night in the library with only coffee in your stomach.
6. A Ferris-Bueller Day Off is Free with Your School ID
Originally built for the 1893 World’s Fair and Columbian Exposition as the World’s Congress Auxiliary Building, The Art Institute of Chicago has delighted and inspired citizens of this planet and the city of Chicago for more than a century. In fact, my first career choice as a kindergartener was to paint more paintings of ballerinas for the museum.
7. So is Second City at The Merle Reskin Theatre
Originally known as the Blackstone Theatre, the Merle Reskin was founded in 1910 and eventually acquired and renamed by DePaul University. The theatre currently serves as the main performance space for TTS students, and hosts Second City performances for free with a valid DePaul ID. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Halle Berry, Steve Carell, and a plethora of other favorites are all alumni of the beloved improvisational comedy enterprise, which means the actors currently in Second City are pretty much as cool as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.