Thinking and saying you’re the best vs. Knowing you’re the best

So here I am on the eve of my seventeenth year at Bruin Woods and even though I won’t be there the whole week, I can’t wait. I know it’s hard for people to understand why this place is so much fun unless you have been there, so I thought I would give a brief reasoning of why it’s so amazing. It’s not the Honor Bar deal ($25 all you can drink, all week), the fishing, or the beautiful views (not that those three hurt). Rather, it’s the people that you see year after year and sense of community that is created by everyone.

Now that I have explained that, this is also one of the few times of the year when my hate for USC hits a peak (being around UCLA people for a week has the wonderful affect on you). Really the only other times it gets this high are when the two schools play each other in football and basketball. So what does all of this have to do with the title of this post? Today, a family friend and her college roommate (both LMU alums) met me at LMU. Hearing them talk about their days up on the bluff reminded me of how great a place LMU really is. And what makes LMU so great,? It's the same things that make Bruin Woods so great. It’s not LMU’s amazing campus, beautiful vistas, or constantly improving academics that make it so great, it the people and community. You can’t get that same feeling at USC because it is so big. Yet, USC constantly tells everyone they are the best; LMU doesn’t need to say it, we know we are the best. It’s like Bill Maher once said about being patriotic, “Being patriotic is kind of like having a big dick; if it’s really true you don’t feel the need to tell everyone about.” So even though I just said LMU doesn’t feel the need to say we are the best, I’m going to do so and give the list of the top ten people and community-builders that make LMU the best. (Notice I am artfully ignoring UCLA because this will just be about the best private school in LA.)

10. ROAR: An odd choice, I know, but it’s easy for students to get excited about a successful sports program like some at USC, ROAR is able to get people excited about a team that went 5-22

9. The Jesuits, Marymount Sisters, and Sisters of St. Joseph: USC has nothing like these three communities whose members have dedicated the majority of their adult lives to LMU to make it a place for students and alumni to call home

8. The Alumni Barbeque: Really no other school in LA can claim to have an event where alumni come back to campus just to hang out rather than also attend a sports game

7. Sacred Heart Chapel: There is no place on either campus that can make anyone feel at home as much as Sacred Heart

6. LMU Service Organizations and other service groups: Yeah I might be a little biased but these groups do more than any group at USC to make LMU an integral part of the larger LA community

5. Fr. Robert Lawton, S.J.: No president at LMU has done so much to make LMU be the best it can be than him; his leadership has truly allowed the sense of community to thrive even as the school has doubled in size

4. Fr. Rich Robin, S.J.: No one can be quite like him, though he is almost completely behind the scenes, he does his best to make sure that LMU is a place where everyone can come home and has been doing it for over thirty years

3. The Campus Ministry Staff: Though it had a tough time under its immediate past director, the current staff is amazing and does more than any other staff at LMU to make students dell at home

2. LMU’s Liturgies: At no other college campus can you participate in liturgies quite like this

1. Sr. Peg Dolan, R.S.H.M.: USC has no one that can compare to her, she is one of a kind and she is LMU.