MAY 8, 2025 | FEATURES | By Sydney McGarr, News Editor
After two years, I’ve had multiple of the canon-event conversations that every Colorado College student knows well – explaining where I go to school to family members who simply don’t get it. Below are my ratings of the responses I’ve received after giving my best explanation, and some advice for new students who are about to struggle through some of the most confusing, frustrating familial interactions they’ve had thus far.
For context, I’m from Nashville, Tenn., and I’m the only person in my extended family who’s ever attended college anywhere outside of the South. So, for the mental picture: I’m mostly explaining these things to deeply southern white people over the age of 70. And to call it a struggle is potentially journalistically unethical because of how much of an understatement it is.
My general explanation goes something like this: “I’m a sophomore at Colorado College. We’re on this thing called the Block Plan, which basically means we take one class at a time, for three weeks, and then we have a short break, and then take another class.”
Here are my top five favorite responses so far.
1. “So you go to CU Boulder?”
I had to lead with a classic. If you’re a CC student and haven’t heard this one, sorry, you don’t actually go here. I don’t make the rules. To add to the frustration of this one on a personal level, my best friend of 20 years does in fact go to CU Boulder. So we spent the summer before we left for college on combined family vacations, sitting at dinner tables with 10+ elderly southern people, clarifying on an every two-minute basis that we are in fact not going to school together. “No, we will not be roommates. Yes, both schools are in Colorado. Yes, it is a little confusing. Colorado College. Yes, that’s the name of it. It’s about an hour and a half south,” and at this point, they’re not listening. But if you ask them – still, as we approach our junior year – they’ll tell you that they’re excited to attend our graduation and see us both walk the stage together. It’s a lost cause. You know what, Cousin Linda, I’m excited too.
2. “So you’re a part-time student. You’re just taking one class.”
This one took a while to get used to. Because honestly, it’s valid. I get it. There’s some sort of phenomenon that happens where no matter how often I say “one class for three weeks,” any person I’m speaking to hears “one class all year.” It’s close enough. I’ve gotten good at this one. I have a scripted response. “Nope, I still take eight credits a year. I’m a full time student.” At this point I’ve thrown too many numbers in (three weeks, eight credits) so they usually just give up. It’s possible they don’t think I’m getting an education. But during my 9:30 a.m. starts, my mother thinks the same thing. It’s a losing battle.
3. “Colorado College? Sounds like a state school.”
You’re not wrong! I’ve seen many angry YikYak rants from fellow CC students about this one. Because really, we had to work pretty hard to get in here, and the title is not working very hard to reflect that. I heard a rumor that we started as “the College,” and at some point, someone just added “Colorado.” Seems like for a group of academics founding a college, we maybe could’ve thought of a more specific moniker. But the moment has passed now, I guess. I’ll just slam my head on the Thanksgiving table repeatedly. No worries. I swear I had to write a good Common Application essay to get in here.
4. “Wow, sounds like you have a lot of breaks!”
10/10. No notes. Yes, I do. Catch me sleeping on the ground in Wyoming on a random Thursday in November.
5. “Have you met Coach Prime?”
I had to have my 16-year-old brother explain this one to me, because I seriously didn’t even know where to start. Thanks, Connor. I now know more than I ever wanted to about the deeply complicated relationship between a star football player and his football coach father who had zero relevance to my life before going to college. Honestly, I’m emotionally invested. If anyone wants to talk about Sanders getting neglected in the draft let me know. I don’t know a lot but I know enough. This is a tangent so I’m going to refocus. The point is that I don’t go to Boulder. But this one gets creativity points as opposed to just “do you go to Boulder.”
At the end of the day, I empathize with the family members that ask these questions, even if they do repeatedly annoy me. It is a little confusing at times. But for those looking for a happy ending- I’ll continue to put up with the monotonous questions for the next two years (and probably beyond). I’ve decided the trade-off is worth it- I won’t be transferring to CU.
Best of luck to everyone heading home to the similar questions over the summer. You’re so strong.