The University of Minnesota at Twin Cities

A glowing tribute to my alma mater that still doesn't do it justice.

I was very excited when I knew I would be attending the University of Minnesota. It wasn't my first choice by any means, but it turned out to the best one I can truly say. The first few days I was digging in the very air that my childhood heroes - larger than life individuals like Quincy Lewis and Voshon Lenard - might have breathed.

New Yorkers are eternally grateful for the tribute by Jay Z; just ask Rob Parker of ESPN First Take. I am sure my fellow Gophers will be do the same for me. Rob Parker was elated when talking about Jay Z's big hit to ESPN's Skip Bayless. Talking about Skip, I also like to give a shout out to my college ball players in the NFL few and far between as they may be. Skip has Jay Cutler, I have Marion Barber III.

I always felt I was surrounded by greatness while at the U. Just seeing the University of Minnesota campus was enough to get me over the hump if there ever was one. I always felt energized when I walked around the beautiful campus. It is really a gorgeous campus and something that has been widely talked about as such. When featured on the Big Ten tailgate, the hosts acknowledge that it was the more better looking campuses in the Big Ten Conference.

It's not just guys like Tony Dungy or Kevin McHale or even Brock Lesnar (would you believe!) that attracted me to the university. But also the Daniel McFaddens and John Hoffmans of the world.

The women in Minnesota are by far the most beautiful in the United States whose female population I believe are the most fine-looking with Greece coming a close second. While I do agree that Minnesota is not exactly diverse like NYC or LA, but it has its Midwestern beauties that make you fall in love with about 10 of them for any given day. I can talk about this having actually lived in NYC and San Francisco. The girls in Minnesota are much more easy on the eyes. It can be very distracting too for a college student. But they are a necessary evil!

The Mall Area is my favorite area around campus with the Northrop Auditorium having hosted several famous personalities including Stephen Hawking back in 1989. I caught a lot of famous people during my time in college with Congressman Ron Paul, Katie Couric and Deepak Chopra being some of them! The St. Paul campus has its own charm and is a must visit for those of you who wouldn't usually take classes there. If you did attend the U of M for four years as an undergraduate, it's pretty much guaranteed that you would have had at least one class there.

The U is not all fun and games. It has great academics with a lot of the students boasting stellar academic profiles prior to gaining admission. Alumni have gone on to do great things in their respective fields and if I were to elaborate on that it would require volumes that would fill any or even all of the five-storey libraries at the U; there are 17 libraries too. The 6 Fortune 500 companies foster students with all the credentials they need to shine in the workplace. It's a small wonder that most of these large companies were founded by University of Minnesota alumni.

The one thing why I chose the University of Minnesota and why the memories of attending the institution are priceless is because it gives a student a complete student experience. Here is a university that is known for basically starting cheerleading (Ski U Mah indeed) and at the same time for intellectuals such as Walter Mondale and . Trust me, it doesn't get as glamorous as being part of the Big Ten.

You want great opportunities, great location and a Big Ten experience all at a value for money, then come to the University of Minnesota!