Editorial: People keep asking if I like it at UIC

By UIC Student

Aug. 2, 2013

I’m so tired of people asking me about UIC.

As college students, you’ll understand my struggle. As if it isn’t enough that wehave to have the same conversation over and over. Where do we go to school? What do we want to study? How do we like it there? Oh brother. You know the drill. On top of all that, whenever I launch into this conversation, I know exactly how it’s going to go. For instance, I’ll be with a retail associate, trying on dickies, and he’ll ask “So are you a college student?” I’ll say my part, and he’ll say “Oh you’re going to UIC, The University of Illinois at Chicago?”

University of Illinois at Chicago? UIC? YES. YOU GOT IT. Golly. Over and over, people correctly identifying the school I go to when I refer to it by its abbreviated name. It gets old, am I right? You understand. And it’s not just friends and family; I hear the same thing from my frozen yogurt vendor and my caddy. I say, I’m going to UIC, and they say, “Oh, is that University of Illinois at Chicago?” And I say, “yes.”

When I was choosing schools, I didn’t realize what a pain this would be, but looking back now, I see there were clues. When I did an online search for ‘University of Illinois at Chicago,’ the first hit on the list was UIC.edu. And when I was accepted, I received a brochure and map in the mail, and the map depicted the exact location of UIC’s campus, with a large ‘UIC’ logo marking all of UIC’s buildings. Puhleaze!

Sometimes it’s worse. The other day I’m stopping the garbage collector from taking my lawn chairs, and he asks me “Do you go to a University? In Chicago? Is that UIC?” This is especially infuriating. Because I have to explain: “Yes, I go to UIC, but that’s not what that initialism means.” Half correct, but one hundred percent annoying.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I’m excited to be on campus with other people who are as frustrated as I am. This is gonna be a great education! Oh. Wait. Oh, geez, this is embarrassing. This is Hyde Park? U of C? My bad. Totally my bad.