By Lauren Marino and Rachel Walker
The most stressful time of high school rolls around early senior year: college applications. If you are considering a four year college university, Gonzaga should definitely be on your list. Gonzaga University is a beautiful campus located in Spokane, Washington, the second largest city in Washington. Gonzaga university is not just in Spokane, it is Spokane. The city takes great pride in Gonzaga and often local restaurants host events just for students. At the university community is taken very seriously it is always a mission to give back to the region that gives them so much. The university really emphasizes community service and provides ways the students can give back. Student life at Gonzaga is high energy and offers something for everyone. Although there is no Greek life, Gonzaga has many other clubs and activities where students can find their community. The school’s biggest attraction is their basketball team. Although Gonzaga does not have a football team, the students would agree that the basketball team definitely makes up for it. Even if you are not a big sports fan, students highly recommend at least going to one game. To get tickets for home games, students receive numbers that indicate how soon they’ll get into the arena. The Kennel Club, a club on campus that runs events, sends out a tweet of their location on campus. Students run to that location to receive a number that indicates where their tent will be for Tent City. The day before the game students line up according to their number and set up as they prepare to spend the night in their tent with 3 others, hence the name Tent City. The lower the number the faster you get into the arena. If you get tent number 1 then you and your 3 tentmates get to pick any seat in the student section. Not only is Tent City a fun activity for students, the basketball team is also outstanding. The team has qualified for March Madness, a college basketball tournament, 21 seasons in a row. Student life makes Gonzaga so unique, but part of what makes Gonzaga so special is the value of academics. The classes that one could participate in would have a low teacher to student ratio which is 11:1, meaning students have a better chance to get to know their professors on a more personal level and have more access to one on one help. With the small teacher to student ratio there will be less lecture halls and less large classes. These can really make a student feel more connected with the university and the professors because of the smaller number of students they have. The university is a Jesuit school, however does not force the students to be Jesuit, there’s no religion requirement in order to attend the university. However, the religion aspect of the school offers many new experiences and educational purposes for students who want to learn more about religion or start getting involved. Gonzaga University is an outstanding school that should be considered on your college list, go bulldogs!