Reasons Why I love My Alma Mater

A few years ago, a brilliant student at WM started an "Overheard at William and Mary" group on Facebook -- essentially a forum for students to post the ridiculous things things they hear students, faculty, employees, tourists, etc. say.  Context is usually irrelevant, and most posts are hysterical only because they are read out-of-context.  Anyways, I must admit that this site is one of my guilty pleasures.  It never ceases to amuse me, and each day always provides at least one or two memorable gems.  Plus, it is an amazing form of reassurance that the student body at WM hasn't changed -- that we are and will always continue to be TWAMPS (for the illiterate in WM lore: TWAMP=Typical William and Mary Person).  #TribePride now and forever.

Earlier this week, a friend of mine posted an Overheard that has since received 56 comments and 553 likes.  If something could be "trending" on Facebook, this would be.  And the gem that she posted and the resulting conversation made my heart so proud to be a 1. TWAMP and 2. an IR Major: 

In the marketplace: "Seriously, the botetourt complex is the Soviet Union of campus. They're the largest in number, they're bound together by mutual despair, and they'll crush anyone who gets in their way."

 Brilliant! Am, I right, or am I right? :) :)  And here are some of the gem comments other students posted:

• It is SO true! I live in Spotswood, & we were talking about how Spotswood is the District 12 of Botetourt. So, that makes us... Belarus? In this particular scenario?

• So does this make Barrett America?

• The Bryan Complex is the European Union. Subject to loud noise on weekends from football games coupled with excessive fire alarms. :)

• This probably means that Jamestown is China. They're big, new, and rising in power. It would appear that Jamestown also holds a massive amount of Barrett's debt...

• ^^Profound.

• Monroe should be Canada because its just as nice as Barrett but half as much fun.

• The coalition of Lodges accept any challenge posed by The Botetourt Complex

• The units are Australia because everything will kill you if given half a chance.

• Ludwell is could be England. Nice, friendly, but an island.

• Would that make Hunt North Korea? No one there knows anything about the rest of the dorms.

• ^ EXCUSE ME recant that~ Hunt's more like Easter Island or something...

• North Korea's not right - none of the rest of the dorms know Hunt exists! At least they see Taliferro on the way to the Marketplace. Also, Hunt isn't ambitious enough to form a serious military organization.So Hunt would be one of those small island nations in the Pacific or something? Like Fiji?

• Yes, it is. I quite like Fiji myself... and Brown can be a nearby island idk

• Hunt is sort of like one of those small tribes of undiscovered aboriginal tribes that haven't made contact with the outside world yet. I'm waiting for them to start worshipping airplanes.

• This might possibly be the best Overheard conversation ever. My inner history major sure came out today reading this.

• So is Yates like Mexico?

• ... and that's the reason why I love W&M. #TWAMP

• what about Dupont? china maybe since it has the largest number of people in the same building and is just south of botetourt.

• We've already got a China, though. If you're going by size/population density, maybe India? Except that DuPont has air conditioning, which means it's highly developed... Singapore, maybe? 

SO MUCH TRIBE PRIDE.  SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT PROUD.