James Madison University

     JMU was honestly the most beautiful campus I've been to. It helps that today was absolutely gorgeous: 75 degrees and sunny and spring is finally coming around. Everything on campus was green and blooming and everyone was outside reading or doing homework or playing sports or just hanging out. The campus is not extremely diverse racially which was initially a major minus for me, but being on campus, it seemed a lot more diverse. What it lacked in racial diversity it made up for in the fact that everyone seemed very individual and there was no one "group" (like at Loyola (or at least how I perceived Loyola)). The introduction video was very well done and was obviously made with high-quality camera equipment and not just someone's cheap camera. There was only one speaker and she was brief, factual, and to the point, which I appreciated greatly. There was no "this is why we're the best college" crap and they didn't restate a million times all of the information you could find easily with a single Google search. It was the best Open House introduction I've been to, honestly.
     Our tour guide was very informative and nice and not overly enthusiastic or obnoxiously peppy. Going on the tour revealed that JMU is so much bigger than I had thought and how it appears in pictures. The view from the top of the hill outside the Student Center was stunning. You could see the Blue Ridge Mountains on the horizon and all of the green grass and pretty buildings in between. We then walked to the east side of campus, which is where the older, original buildings are. It was interesting to see the old stone buildings after seeing some of the brand new buildings on the other side of campus. I really liked the blend of old and new. What I also loved about JMU is that they used to be a teaching college, so a lot of people go there wanting to be teachers and so they really cater to those people and offer a wide variety of teacher education programs. Overall, it was just a really nice visit and a great day to be outside and I am pleasantly surprised to know that I'll be applying there this fall. I came in with low expectations and had them all exceeded right off the bat.

Day 500 Song Recommendation: "Just You" by Amy Stroup. Get the song for free here. 500 song recommendations! That's insane! Happy 500th, Papersol.

-SE Wagner