This past weekend me and a few friends did a community service project working on this old lady's house. It wasn't that bad we just had to do some yard work and it was a nice day to be outside and to get some sun. The best part of this experience though was where the house was located. We were doing community service projects roughly one and a half hours east of SMU and I saw some of the most "southern" people I have seen in my life. I really got a kick out of it.
After working around the house my friends and I decided to get a quick bite to eat at a close by McDonald's. While we were in there I saw one man that I definitely perceived was from the south. He had a Nascar shirt that said, "Dale Earnhardt JR. #1!", a mullet for a haircut, cowboy boots, and a huge belt buckle with the Texas Longhorns logo on it. Honestly, I felt a strong urge to laugh because it looked like such a typical southern stereotype, but instead I just kept to myself.
After eating we were all pretty thirsty, so we decided to get a quick milk shake or ice cream at the Dairy Queen across the street. While inside a couple in their late twenties possibly early thirties came into the Dairy Queen dressed head to toe in hunting gear. The wife had a pink hat but other than that she was dressed in complete camouflage. Being from San Diego there's not a whole lot of hunting that goes on. I go fishing with a few friends on occasion. It was fun and interesting to see Texas as I originally envisioned it: which consists of people some sort of cowboy attire and see people talking with a heavy southern accent. It was certainly fun to see Texas in a different way.
This post grabbed my attention because I was expecting Texas to be way different as well. Coming to Southern Methodist University, we entered a sheltered college atmosphere. I often forget that I am surrounded by a big city. I thought that coming to this college, I would meet my fair share of hicks, southern gentlemen and southern belles. When I think of Texas, I think of cowboy attire and farmer's tans. Instead of seeing these things, I see people from all over the world. From California to New Jersey, there is such a wide variety of students attending this school. At first, I was a little bummed by the lack of "southern feel". I soon realized that it is nice meeting people from all over the nation, instead of people just from the South or Texas. Also, I enjoy the fact that although Texas is such a huge state we enjoy smaller setting on SMU's campus. I would dislike going to University of Texas, in fear of a. getting lost (not only in lectures but on campus) and b. meeting people only from Texas. I think that we get the best of both worlds by attending SMU. We are surrounded by a city and we are able to connect with all different kinds of people on a medium sized campus.
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