I have a confession to make. This is not the only school I have ever attended. My freshman year of college was spent at NDSU.

I used to live in Fargo, so it was the closest school at the time, and I figured that was all I needed. I actually started out as a theatre major, which did not quite pan out as I had planned, but that’s another story for another time.

This story is about going from NDSU to UND, and why I think that UND is a campus to be proud of. After spending a semester at NDSU, I began to grow tired of it. The classes were interesting enough, and I thought most of the professors were good, but the campus wasn’t as lively as I was hoping.

I went to a student involvement expo once and saw many organizations like the rodeo club, the dairy club and the agriculture club. NDSU is famous for pretty much one thing — its agriculture program. I even heard the school called Moo U more than once.

Of course I’m not trying to put down rednecks or farmers. After all, I actually grew up in a more rural area when I was younger. But I was really looking for something a little bit more exciting.

What I really wanted more than anything else was to go out of state. To be completely honest, I still want that a little bit.

My reasons for transferring here really had more to do with people I knew rather than what the campus actually had to offer, but once I got here, I was impressed by what I saw.

The campus is truly beautiful. This can be difficult to notice when it’s covered in snow most of the time. However, at some point during the spring or early enough in the fall when everything isn’t so gloomy looking yet, really look around at the sights this campus has to offer. The buildings have aesthetically pleasing designs, its people go to great lengths to keep it clean looking and, unlike a certain school that will go nameless, there isn’t a permanent smell of horse manure in the air.

Perhaps most important to me, the campus community is full of life and energy. There are many student organizations ranging from purely academic goals to purely recreational goals and everything in between. I came to this school because of all the people I know here, but what I didn’t expect was to meet even more people that I could add to my group of friends, while still retaining all the old friendships I already had.

I don’t mean to sound like a walking advertisement for this school, although I’m sure there are plenty of people in charge of marketing that wouldn’t mind that. There are certainly downsides to UND, as there are with anything. The parking system tends to be unnecessarily confusing, the dining center staff are not always be at the top of their game, and UPD certainly has some image management problems.

I’ve never been into school spirit or anything like that, but I think in the case of UND there are things to be proud of. I don’t stand by this school just because I go here, but because I genuinely believe in this school and what is doing.

Michael Rauser is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at michael.rauser@my.und.edu.