The best side forward

Wherever there is yin, there is yang. Such is true for Stevens Institute of Technology. This facility, primed for the production of well-rounded young professionals, has a fair share of good and bad.
The bad is rather obvious: high, and anyone who has been here for a long enough time knows it gets higher, tuition costs, pricey cost of living, difficult course-load, and a little bit of a dark history (which thankfully, we are gradually recovering from).
The good is also rather obvious, but students here tend to forget just how awesome Stevens can be.
Location: No college setting is where Stevens is. Less than ten minutes from the PATH station, Hoboken is at the doorstep of the rest of the world. You can get to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in half an hour, and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in under an hour. There are few venues in the world to boast this, let alone the absolutely dazzling views from Castle Point or the Babbio Center. This of course, if not including the immense variety of experiences that being so close to New York City entails, which are too numerous to count.
Education: So what if you are struggling to balance 24 credits worth of classes? The educational programs here are absolutely phenomenal with a wide variety of engineering programs and some of the best places for both undergraduate and graduate level degrees. Stevens, if my memory is correct, is one of very, very few college in the United States of America which offers a Bachelors of Engineering, a degree earned from undertaking a rigorous curriculum designed with the sole purpose of shaping high school students into young engineers.
Cooperative Education: One of the best things about Stevens, in my personal opinion, is its Cooperative Education Program. It is not a program for everyone; it is competitive (just like the real world) and can be very arduous on an already arduous curriculum. But, if completed, students can graduate in five years (instead of the traditional four) and when they exit the school, they will have a resume that looks as if it belongs to a 30-year-old.
Clubs: It was theorized by us in The Stute that the reason Stevens has so many clubs on campus is because the campus itself attracts hard-working individuals who can’t sit still for too long. While it is easy to fall to your own desires and play video games every Thursday night, there are clubs for just about anything on campus (including playing video-games every Thursday night)! These clubs can range from being as formal as a newspaper to as creative as an art magazine. There are clubs that specialize in Chinese culture, and there are clubs that specialize in philosophy. Sometimes, the clubs even produce products, such as the Stevens Game Development Club and their new “Mr. Game!” product which may hit the market someday soon. There is a niche for everyone, no matter who you are or who you were.
Greek Life: Despite being a technology-centric school, Stevens hardly shies away from this staple college element. There are several social fraternities and sororities, each unique in their own lifestyle and historic background. Many distinguished Stevens Alumni were a part of the fraternal organizations on campus, including the namesake of the Babbio Center, Lawrence T. Babbio (Delta Tau Delta, Rho Chapter). But Greek Life is not restricted to social fraternities, there are also a couple of cultural fraternities and service fraternities on campus.
Standard College Amenities: So maybe all of the other unique things of Stevens aren’t your cup of tea, but you still want to go here. Absolutely fine! It isn’t like Stevens is so unlike other colleges and universities out there. The opportunities to grow and develop are here, just as they are at any other college or university. While at Stevens, you are given the chance to expand in ways you could not when in high school. You can purchase food and games for yourself, manage your own time, decide your own schedule and do almost whatever you want to do with your free time. You could join a fraternity, make friends with a club on campus, or study hard to earn a Master’s Degree in four years alongside a Bachelor’s Degree.
The reality is, whether we see it or not, Stevens is pretty awesome. Of course it has its flaws like its high tuition and cost of living, but that is to be expected, especially because of the voluminous amounts of opportunity here on campus. Current students would do well to take a moment to remember why they are still at Stevens; it really is a pretty great place.