Although Florida A&M and Florida State universities are mere minutes apart, the two schools are worlds away from each other socially.
Florida State has an enrollment of roughly 40,000 students, while FAMU has a little more than 13,000 students.
Both schools are located in Tallahassee, but that is virtually where the comparisons stop. Sure, there is the FAMU/FSU engineering school and the two schools share some athletic facilities; but very little has been done to harmoniously merge the students of the institutions.
Of course, there are people with friends at FSU, but there are also students who go to FSU and have never set foot on FAMU’s campus and vice versa. This is a major problem.
It’s strikingly odd how two major universities can be so close geographically and so far apart culturally. As college students, we learn how to be free-thinking individuals. Neglecting to step outside of our comfort zone will do nothing but hinder our social development in the long run.
As good of a school as FAMU is, actually, the proverbial “real world” that every college student dreads looks nothing like FAMU’s campus. The same goes for Seminoles, some of whom know nothing outside the Tennessee Strip. So it may be in everyone’s interest to see what else the other has to offer.
There are several ways for FAMU and FSU students to socially engage with each other, but we need to take the initiative to try new things; it won’t harm anyone. It doesn’t require a life-changing commitment or a pledge and students from both schools could actually learn something from one another.
The world is getting smaller and smaller with the emergence of social media and technology, so it has become even easier to communicate with people; everything is global now.
However, we cannot be competitive in a global economy if we don’t even know what’s around the corner from us. So go out and meet someone from FSU. Go to restaurants, bars and clubs that are different from the ones FAMU students typically frequent.
There is no reason for two schools to be so close to each other with little to no social interaction. So we challenge both Rattlers and Seminoles alike to go out, cross the railroad tracks and make some new friends. It shouldn’t be too hard; we have more than 60,000 to choose from.