040 Dave by the Bell: Is App State right for me?

University Communications' Dave Blanks asks current Appalachian students what they would share about App State with a friend who is considering attending the university. Spoiler alert: Everyone loves Appalachian State University.

Transcript

Dave Blanks: Hey folks, I'm Dave Blanks, from University Communications back with one of them old, Dave by Bells everybody's been talking about all the time. On this Dave by the Bell, what we're trying to figure out is, if you are talking to a friend of yours from back home who's considering coming to Appalachian State, what do you tell them? What aspect of Appalachian State would you share with this friend to encourage them to come to App? So that's the question. Let's go ask some people and get some answers.

Erin Moriarty: I'm Erin Moriarty.

Dave Blanks: OK. Erin, so what year are you?

Erin Moriarty: I'm a senior.

Dave Blanks: Cool. So you've been here a little bit, you're familiar with Appalachian State?

Erin Moriarty: I am.

Dave Blanks: OK. So, if you were talking to somebody who was a senior, high school.

Erin Moriarty: OK.

Dave Blanks: If they were like, "Erin, why do you think I should come to App?"

Erin Moriarty: If I'm trying to convince them?

Dave Blanks: Yeah. I guess you are trying to convince them, if you, in fact, love App. I'm not trying to put that —

Erin Moriarty: I do in fact.

Dave Blanks: OK, good.

Erin Moriarty: I like App for these reasons.

Dave Blanks: Yes.

Erin Moriarty: I think you can be an individual and there's groups for you to find your place.

Dave Blanks: Mmm hmm (affirmative).

Erin Moriarty: If you like sororities or frats, we have that. If you like hiking or mountains or fun stuff outside, we have that. If you want to go to school, we have that.

Dave Blanks: Like, if you're educationally focused?

Erin Moriarty: Yeah. We have that.

Dave Blanks: Yeah.

Erin Moriarty: And you can dress how you want, be who you want. There's not really a whole lot of judgment, I think. Yes, it's a good place to be.

Dave Blanks: Do you feel like App's different from many other colleges in that respect?

Erin Moriarty: I do.

Dave Blanks: OK.

Erin Moriarty: I think that's what sets us apart the most, is there's a unique feel in Boone for sure.

Dave Blanks: Yeah, cool.

Erin Moriarty: Yeah.

Jamie Morales: I am Jamie Morales. One of my deciding factors for App, was just looking on campus. There's so many places that you can just hang out, and it's so chill and everything's so green.

Dave Blanks: Yeah.

Jamie Morales: So, I feel like you can't really get that in other campuses. I don't know, like NC State.

Dave Blanks: Right.

Jamie Morales: Would be a bunch of concrete, and here you can walk around and there's just a bunch of green.

Kevion Chunn: I'm Kevion Chunn. Just an overall nice campus. The views are always nice, there's a lot of stuff to do. I can go hiking here, go to see the waterfalls. It's fun overall, and the classes aren't even that hard.

Dave Blanks: What are you taking?

Kevion Chunn: Gen eds right now, because I'm undecided for my major.

Dave Blanks: Well, nice man. You're doing great. Good job. Keep it up.

Devon Roddel: I'm Devon Roddel. I've lived for the most part in Florida. So I would tell them if they're from Florida, I know they're going to care that there's not mosquitoes up here. That's a big deal.

Dave Blanks: Score.

Devon Roddel: Yeah. There's a lot of appeal up here. You don't sweat just from being outside.

Dave Blanks: Mmm hmm (affirmative).

Devon Roddel: The environment's truly beautiful. But also, being in Boone and being on campus, there's a hospitality that's extended to everyone. And I don't know if that's unique to the university or unique to the town, but I think that's a really big draw that you don't see in a lot of other places. It's just an automatic communal feeling regardless of if you're actually involved in any of the tons of events going on campus, so —

Austin Simmons: Hi, I'm Austin Simmons. Well, I have some friends — they're actually in other graduate programs at other universities. And they're actually having to take out about $30,000 in loans, just to go to school. At a place where they're going, like Wake Forest University, for example. Going to Appalachian State University .... it's number one affordable and they also offer teaching assistantships that you won't be able to get elsewhere. So it's really great financially for the student.

Dave Blanks: Why wouldn't you be able to get the assistantships, like say at Wake Forest, or it would be harder to?

Austin Simmons: Yeah. Well, Wake Forest University, it's a private school, so they don't offer a state-mandated teaching assistantship. So they're not able to