As Gators, we’re grateful for our wonderful university, but there’s always room for improvement. We know why it’s #GreatUF, so here’s a shoutout to all those days when UF can #dobetter.
1o. Dance Spaces
Dance teams across campus are eternally grateful for two new dance rooms located on the lower level of the new Reitz Union, but does the University of Florida understand how many dance teams there are on campus? From Extreme Dance Company to Sabor Latino to Gator Adaa to Anomaly to Dancin’ Gators, the amount of dance teams UF hosts is beyond imaginable. And the lack of dance locations for fellow gators is saddening. Dancers are even prohibited from having dance practices outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. “The dance rooms in the Reitz are nice and all, but where is the marley floor?” junior Brittany Baker asked.
9. Printing
Each semester, students are allowed to print 250 pages for “free,” and yet these prints are only in black and white and can only be redeemed in the Reitz Union. There are printers located in Club West and Marston Library, but it’ll cost you 10 cents per page. If you’re feeling real rich, go ahead and print in color for a whopping 50 cents per page. If black and white printing is “free” in the Reitz why can’t it be “free” elsewhere on campus? It’s not as if it’s actually free anyway. Pro tip: you can print at La Casita and the Institute of Black Culture located across from Library West on University Avenue for free.
8. Not accepting Starbucks Coupons/Rewards
The broke college student life is no joke. The Wells Fargo app isn’t on everyone’s phone to see how much we’re ballin’ with, it’s to make sure we have a few bucks to buy a coffee so we can get through that 8:30 a.m. class we naively signed up for. The fact that no campus Starbucks accepts coupons or rewards disappoints all Gators on every level. Is it really that difficult to accept a “free breakfast sandwich with any drink purchase” coupon?
7. People on bikes
Bicyclists on campus seriously have no chill. They ride through a campus full of students like they own the place. Trying to swerve through pedestrians in Turlington definitely leads to awkward walking back and forth until they ultimately decide to run you into the grass. Count your blessings if one hasn’t actually hit you. The only bicyclist we don’t despise is the Jimmy Johns guy; hating a guy who’s delivering your food is just unorthodox. Plus, he’s a trained professional. He knows how to ride a bike.
6. Too rainy
The Florida weather is bipolar, to say the least. Bright and sunny mornings followed by clouds of doom aren’t uncommon. They give you those ponchos at Preview for a reason, people! If you don’t carry that or an umbrella with you at all times, you constantly run the risk of showing up to class with uncomfortable, squishy socks and ultimately looking like a wet dog.
5. Too hot
Remember those bright sunny mornings? Actually, no. They’re better described as blazing. Whether it’s the beginning summer semester or end of fall, the Sunshine State loves to live up to its name. “It’s like I’m constantly hanging out under someone’s armpit,” freshman Sarena Shabetai said. Don’t be embarrassed if you’re sweating on your walk from Weimar to the Florida Gym because there’s another person red in the face from walking to Turlington from the Hub. The key is to stay hydrated, Gators.
4. SNAP
SNAP is the best and safest way to travel at night on campus, they said at Preview. It’ll be fine, they said. No. Wrong. All wrong. SNAP, while it does get the job done safely, is not the most efficient service out there. Like a free on-campus Uber, it doesn’t work as quickly. “SNAP either takes forever or never shows up. Once I was waiting outside POD for 30 minutes waiting for someone to pick up my ride and they never did,” Shabetai said.
3. Outlets
There’s no doubt that at certain points in the semester Club West and Marston are the place to be. But with thousands of students all needing to be “plugged in,” we spend more time trying to find a seat near an outlet. If you’re lucky to snag the seat, you’ll be even luckier to find an outlet that works. UF heard our complaints and haphazardly added a bunch of outlets in the New Reitz, on the Social Stairs and the lounge area across from Wing Zone. However, the laptop juice needs to be in places where we actually study. Reconstruction of either library wouldn’t be so bad, as long as they keep both Starbucks open, of course.
2. The Good Life
“What is the Good Life?” All UF freshmen are now faced with this abstract question as soon they arrive to campus. Discovering the good life is the focus of a new class required for all first-year students. Required readings include literary works like Siddhartha and Antigone and many philosophical articles. “The class wasn’t what I thought it was going to be,” freshman Megan Hazlett said. “I thought it would be a useful class, but instead it just gave me a bunch of readings that didn’t apply to my major.” Although it does fulfill the requirement of a General Education humanities credit, isn’t the good life just Midnight Cookies and drunkenly ordered Dominos?
1. Parking
The number one complaint amongst UF students everywhere. We know that this campus was designed without cars in mind, but if UF prides itself in being innovative and being the best, then we need to come up with innovative ways to create new parking spaces. No one has time to wake up before 7:30 a.m. to move their car parked in the wrong spot. Don’t one of our many tuition fees cover parking tickets? And don’t even get me started on the absurd parking decals.
