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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Article from Pipe Dream
Personally, I did not like the article. I found I could not relate to it ... and I found it offensive against the town. To be honest, I actually felt sorry for her that THAT is what her college experience is in a nutshell.
Check out the comments beneath the article, it's very interesting!!
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Posted 5/9/12 11:34 PM  |
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MrsS1976
LIF Adolescent
Member since 5/11 534 total posts
Name:
M
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
How depressing. she makes our alma mater sound really bad...I am sorry but I had a GREAT 4 years at Binghamton. There is more to life than the Rat (a place I was pretty good at avoiding), and while the town sucks, its not like you are there to socialize with the townies. Bing doesnt need bad PR like this - I know most of her statements are not accurate for me or many of my roommates or friends. This sheltered mentality is exactly why many HS seniors shy away from BU.
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| Posted 5/10/12 12:53 AM |
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evrythng4areason
And then there were 4
Member since 1/10 5224 total posts
Name:
Kayla
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
I think the whole point of her article was a tongue in cheek analysis of how so often our experiences in life don't necessarily live up to our expectations
I didn't go there, but I easily feel this could have been written about most colleges/universities...
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| Posted 5/10/12 6:39 AM |
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Jax430
Hi!
Member since 5/05 18919 total posts
Name:
Jackie
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Oh wow. First, I feel old, because The Rat is the only place whose name I recognized. That said, I think I was there once, during senior bar crawl. Second, I had such a different college experience at Binghamton. Granted, I graduated over 10 years ago, but I would imagine that there is still something for everyone.
It's too bad this girl didn't find other things to do with her time at Binghamton. I hated the bar scene/frat scene, so I just didn't bother with it much after my first semester. I found so many other things to do. I went to the a cappella shows and other performances (musicals, Pappy Parker Players, etc.). I hung out with my friends in their dorms/apartments. I went to Shabbat services and dinner on Friday nights, and stayed up talking or playing board games with my friends until the wee hours of the morning. I took walks in the nature preserve. I frequented the Cyber Cafe and visited the Lost Dog. I was never ever bored, and never felt like I was stuck doing stuff that I did not want to do or felt unsafe doing. I had a wonderful 4 years at Binghamton..oh, and I met DH there! 
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| Posted 5/10/12 8:34 AM |
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CAMCaps
Live Laugh Love Run
Member since 6/07 4922 total posts
Name:
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Interesting article.
I guess she did not have the same experience that I had. I LOVED Binghamton. Yes - the city is ghetto and there is cloud cover most of the year, but I have great memories of that school. And personally my friends and I loved the downtown bars and dressing in way too little clothing even when it was 0 degrees. I feel like college is the one time in your life when you can get away with all of those things. Plus, I met some of my best friends and my DH there so it will always be a special place for me.
I will say I am glad FB only made an appearance at the very end of my college career so there is very little digital photo evidence. 
Also like a PP said, this could be said for many college towns. I live up by Albany now and I will say Albany's crime rate appears to be much higher than Binghamton's.... I was never scared walking back from a bar with my friends at night in Bing, but I am scared walking to my car late at night in Albany.
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| Posted 5/10/12 8:38 AM |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
I didn't go to Binghamton but if you just change the names of the bars and street names you coul dhave the college I went to. I think there is a lot of truth in her view.
As a freshman we do have this nice shiny view of our college and by the end of mine I was ready to leave....things that were so much fun weren't anymore.
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| Posted 5/10/12 9:09 AM |
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fairybug
LIF Infant
Member since 5/12 71 total posts
Name:
T
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by Jax430
Oh wow. First, I feel old, because The Rat is the only place whose name I recognized. That said, I think I was there once, during senior bar crawl. Second, I had such a different college experience at Binghamton. Granted, I graduated over 10 years ago, but I would imagine that there is still something for everyone.
Same here!! i was at the Rat since my freshman year!! I'm SHOCKED she is walking away feeling that way. I feel the total opposite. I still miss Binghamton alot. I really had the best time there (not just the parties/sororities) but I got a great education that got me a great career, I found some of my best friends, I found myself actually. I went to Binghamton a very shy girl from Catholic school who turned red when the teacher called on me and after Binghamton, I became the total opposite and became the woman I am today. I even talk about the town and how much I loved it and how quaint it was with all the houses with wrap around porches and the leisurely drive up Riverside Dr. Life moves slower up there and i miss it. I feel bad for her actually, i look back at Binghamton with nothing but love. Now I feel like i need a speedie!!!
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| Posted 5/10/12 9:50 AM |
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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
I understand what some of you have said about how this could very well be about any other college town .... and how she had expectations that just weren't met.... but I just think the way she presented everything she was trying to get across was just outright offensive and inaccurate. In one place, she describes the locals as creatures. Creatures??? Really??? She starts out talking about her love/hate relationship with the school, but all I saw was a whole lot of hate!
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| Posted 5/10/12 9:50 AM |
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fairybug
LIF Infant
Member since 5/12 71 total posts
Name:
T
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by PennyCat
I understand what some of you have said about how this could very well be about any other college town .... and how she had expectations that just weren't met.... but I just think the way she presented everything she was trying to get across was just outright offensive and inaccurate. In one place, she describes the locals as creatures. Creatures??? Really??? She starts out talking about her love/hate relationship with the school, but all I saw was a whole lot of hate!
Wonder what this chick would think of me?? , I dated a few "townies' when I was up there b/c my friends and i never came home for the summers, we liked it THAT much! I worked in Wegmans and at the Express. I was like a wanna be townie!
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| Posted 5/10/12 9:56 AM |
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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by fairybug
Posted by PennyCat
I understand what some of you have said about how this could very well be about any other college town .... and how she had expectations that just weren't met.... but I just think the way she presented everything she was trying to get across was just outright offensive and inaccurate. In one place, she describes the locals as creatures. Creatures??? Really??? She starts out talking about her love/hate relationship with the school, but all I saw was a whole lot of hate!
Wonder what this chick would think of me?? , I dated a few "townies' when I was up there b/c my friends and i never came home for the summers, we liked it THAT much! I worked in Wegmans and at the Express. I was like a wanna be townie!
 I dated someone who lived local as well! And FYI, Wegmans was amazing!! I wish we had one in LI.
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| Posted 5/10/12 9:58 AM |
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
ha! i went there and married a townie! we met downstate, though long after graduation (which was 15+ years ago)...
i can't stand the town, but am embarrassed that such poor writing comes from a soon-to-be BU graduate!
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:24 AM |
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DRMom
Two in Blue
Member since 5/05 20223 total posts
Name:
Melissa
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
My husband is a townie! We met in LI after he moved down. He and his friends called it The Deep Gray Paradise LOL
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:27 AM |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by PennyCat
I understand what some of you have said about how this could very well be about any other college town .... and how she had expectations that just weren't met.... but I just think the way she presented everything she was trying to get across was just outright offensive and inaccurate. In one place, she describes the locals as creatures. Creatures??? Really??? She starts out talking about her love/hate relationship with the school, but all I saw was a whole lot of hate!
I went to Syracuse and while it is a bigger city the weather is similar and like I said I could have written that same post jsut with different names.
Townies....some of them were creatures IMO. Not all. iw orked full time my last year there and had great friends that were Townies. But those that came to the "Hill" on game days were creatures. They would assult the girls in the bars. I do not know how many time these nasty old men would be in the bars before (or after) games and would grab not your butt but your crotch. I got in more fights with the "creatures" than I can count.
So while I do not think she meant all the townies were bad I am sure there were some that should be called creatures.
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:33 AM |
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HeathKernandez
Our Ron is an awesome Ron
Member since 4/07 9091 total posts
Name:
baby fish mouth
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by evrythng4areason
I think the whole point of her article was a tongue in cheek analysis of how so often our experiences in life don't necessarily live up to our expectations
I didn't go there, but I easily feel this could have been written about most colleges/universities...
was JUST about to say the same thing. You can write the same article about any SUNY or College for that matter... By the time you're a senior, you're pretty burnt out on where you are ANYWAY...
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:46 AM |
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HeathKernandez
Our Ron is an awesome Ron
Member since 4/07 9091 total posts
Name:
baby fish mouth
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
she also sounds like a typical middle class long island chick.
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:46 AM |
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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by alli3131
Posted by PennyCat
I understand what some of you have said about how this could very well be about any other college town .... and how she had expectations that just weren't met.... but I just think the way she presented everything she was trying to get across was just outright offensive and inaccurate. In one place, she describes the locals as creatures. Creatures??? Really??? She starts out talking about her love/hate relationship with the school, but all I saw was a whole lot of hate!
I went to Syracuse and while it is a bigger city the weather is similar and like I said I could have written that same post jsut with different names.
Townies....some of them were creatures IMO. Not all. iw orked full time my last year there and had great friends that were Townies. But those that came to the "Hill" on game days were creatures. They would assult the girls in the bars. I do not know how many time these nasty old men would be in the bars before (or after) games and would grab not your butt but your crotch. I got in more fights with the "creatures" than I can count.
So while I do not think she meant all the townies were bad I am sure there were some that should be called creatures.
Well everyone has their own experiences and opinions, so I'm not knocking yours at all but I felt her article was poorly written and I can definitely see why so many people had issues with it. I mostly feel sorry for her that her college experience was summed up that way and that she is a college grad entering the real world but still has so much to learn-- particularly about being accepting of cultural differences.
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:52 AM |
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Jess2
LIF Toddler
Member since 7/05 471 total posts
Name:
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
I went there and ok I admit it, kinda lived at the Rat when I was 20 and 21, I am too old to recognize the other places she listed. I feel like if she hated it so much, why didn't she transfer? I interned while I was there and met the "townies" who were wonderful people. Maybe she should have taken the time to get to know them before making judgements in an article.
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| Posted 5/10/12 10:57 AM |
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Ltdentway99
LIF Adult
Member since 9/06 1752 total posts
Name:
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
She expected Binghamton to be a little NYC?? I don't think so. It is what it is. In the end, you make good friends and get an education. Do I wish I could have went to school in Boston instead? yes. But, I couldn't afford to go out of state. I have never seen a better town in upstate NY. Coming from LI, everything looks old and dirty. Too bad she wrote such a negative article upon graduation.
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| Posted 5/10/12 11:07 AM |
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MrsS1976
LIF Adolescent
Member since 5/11 534 total posts
Name:
M
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
One of tbe better comments posted under the article:
" Ms. Mercante,
You are an embarrassment to the SUNY Binghamton community and the Triple Cities community in general. Do you know how many times I got drunk at a club Downtown? Once, and then I decided it wasn't for me. You had the power to make that/a choice (and many others), and if you are truly an alcoholic (which is not a f*** joke, by the way), I encourage you to take advantage of all the counseling services the campus offers.
I graduated from Binghamton almost two years ago, and have been using that time to put the things I learned to use in my chosen field, things I could not have afforded to learn at a private university. Many employers in the current market see a person who chose to go to a public college as a shrewd investor, but it is the bragging of people of your ilk which keep us from getting hired at places like McKinsey or Bain Capital.
Fortunately, nobody who has taken more than two weeks of classes at my Alma Mater actually reads the crap this paper publishes (because it publishes absolute shit like this), so I hope your article influences nobody.
Yours very truly,
XXXX, class of 2010
_________
I agree its poorly written, shows poor logic and just downright reflects poorly on the school. Shame on Pipe Dream.
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| Posted 5/10/12 11:11 AM |
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
I went to a suny upstate and hated it. I can relate to a lot if what she said and felt.
I found many close minds up there and it showed I didn't fit in. I had a nagging feeling before I left for college that I should stay local or attend school in the city but I didn't listen to my gut.
I transferred to a suny here and flourished mentally and academically. My professors here were do much more enlightening.
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| Posted 5/10/12 11:25 AM |
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BigB
C & J are 10!
Member since 6/05 5914 total posts
Name:
Stacey
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Although I did not go to BU, college is what you make of it! I drank plenty at frat parties, danced on bars, made out with too many guys to remember, and made the best friends a girl could ever have!
She is just a miserable person! She will be miserable her entire life!
Shoot, maybe she will even sue BU for her alcoholism!
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| Posted 5/10/12 12:44 PM |
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TheDivineMrsM
2 girls 4 me!
Member since 8/08 7878 total posts
Name:
Mama mama mama....
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
Posted by Jax430
Oh wow. First, I feel old, because The Rat is the only place whose name I recognized. That said, I think I was there once, during senior bar crawl. Second, I had such a different college experience at Binghamton. Granted, I graduated over 10 years ago, but I would imagine that there is still something for everyone.
It's too bad this girl didn't find other things to do with her time at Binghamton. I hated the bar scene/frat scene, so I just didn't bother with it much after my first semester. I found so many other things to do. I went to the a cappella shows and other performances (musicals, Pappy Parker Players, etc.). I hung out with my friends in their dorms/apartments. I went to Shabbat services and dinner on Friday nights, and stayed up talking or playing board games with my friends until the wee hours of the morning. I took walks in the nature preserve. I frequented the Cyber Cafe and visited the Lost Dog. I was never ever bored, and never felt like I was stuck doing stuff that I did not want to do or felt unsafe doing. I had a wonderful 4 years at Binghamton..oh, and I met DH there!
Word for word, ITA. I didn't meet my DH there (though my sister met her FH in The Sports Bar and they're getting married this summer). But I did meet my best friends during freshman year. I wouldn't be me without them. We were bridesmaids in each other's weddings, and they were my first visitors in the hospital when I had DD.
Yes, the city is constantly gray. Yes, I drank a little too much and kissed random guys I didn't know and danced on a frat house bar. Yes, I partook in Mug night and Wing Night. (She forgot Trivia Night at Eddigans, though they may have closed). Those were choices. I could've done a dozen other things, but I had fun, so I have no regrets. The Freshman 20 came off, but I still have (most of ) the memories.
Message edited 5/10/2012 1:53:00 PM.
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| Posted 5/10/12 1:49 PM |
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BBin2012
Full heart!
Member since 8/11 1835 total posts
Name:
Ka
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
My DH went to BU, and I agree this could be interchangeable for my SUNY school as well. Such is college life, sweetie, and well, real life too. Sorry you had to grow up!!
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| Posted 5/10/12 1:53 PM |
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laurabora
LIF Adult
Member since 4/07 2712 total posts
Name:
Laura
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
While dramatically exaggerated, I get what she's saying. By the end of four years, I was pretty much over the Binghamton experience too.
Now with more than ten years post-graduation under my belt, I look back on those years as the best of my life. She just needs a few years of growing up and a little perspective.
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| Posted 5/10/12 6:30 PM |
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mommyvictoria
LIF Infant
Member since 12/10 350 total posts
Name:
Victoria
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Re: Binghamton alumni (and anyone else interested)... Check out this article
I am a Bing alumni and I can identify with some of the things she talked about but not others. Everyone's college experience is so different- look at kids who say high school was the best time of their lives- and others who say you couldn't pay them to go back to being 17. The writer of the article is entitled to her own opinion
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| Posted 5/10/12 8:18 PM |
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