How does Bloomington compare?

Junior Steve Wilen expected hillbillies. Junior Greg Cheung expected rednecks. Sophomore Lizzy Tiritilli expected to be very, very bored.

Students like these from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and countless other metropolises flock to the Midwest every year to become part of the IU family, but not without some expectations and preconceptions.

Their reasons for doing so are as varied as the cities themselves.

Cheung, a New York native, originally came for the business school. Chicago native Tiritilli wanted to experience the atmosphere of a bigger public school. Wilen came to IU from Los Angeles just to get out of California.

“I expected a lot of hillbillies,” Wilen said. “I also expected a slower lifestyle.”

For Cheung, expectations centered around his perception of Bloomington’s lack of ethnic diversity in comparison to New York.

“Since I’m  Chinese-American, I had this preconception that people would be racist or biased – your stereotypical redneck,” he said.

Cheung said while this stereotype isn’t entirely true, people here are “a little more conservative” than in his hometown.

Cheung recalled an instance upon returning home to New York where he realized that being among his friends was the most diversity he’d encountered since he’d been away at school.

Tiritilli’s fears didn’t include the citizens of Bloomington, but rather its events calendar.
“At first, I didn’t really think there was anything going on,” she said. “But that’s definitely not true. There’s always something going on here.”

All three of these metropolitan students cited the ability to travel on foot as a major adjustment, but Tiritilli said she doesn’t mind.

“I love being able to walk everywhere,” she said.

Another big adjustment for these students was the difference in personalities between small-town residents and those of the people in their respective home cities. Wilen and Cheung both realized this difference early on in their college careers.

“People from L.A. are pretty anal,” Wilen said. “People here are much more laid-back.”
“Back home, people are more introverted,” Cheung said. “Nobody goes out of their way to say hello like they do here.”

Most students get homesick at some point while at IU. For these students, however, the concept of home centers not only around family, but around the big-city lifestyle as well.

Whether it’s Cheung’s favorite Cantonese cuisine offered in New York, the bustling nightlife enjoyed by Wilen in L.A. or the abundance of major concerts and events that Tiritilli attends in Chicago, these students have unique emotional ties to their native cities that Bloomington simply cannot satisfy.

Likewise, there are also certain aspects of Bloomington life that these students miss when they return home.

“I miss the approachability of the people,” Cheung said. “Also, things here are more open, and there aren’t so many things blocking the sky.”

Of course, cities like New York, Chicago and L.A. are different from Bloomington. Even so, all three students still chose IU and said they’re happy with their decisions.

“I have no regrets about coming to IU,” Wilen said. “It’s nice getting a new perspective of how other people live, and I wouldn’t take anything back.