College Guides 2009

College. It is full of the unexpected. Young adults (and older ones, too) who choose to journey through what some say are the best years of life don't know what kind of relationships they will form, how many times they will switch majors, what wondrous college job they might land, what crazy parties are in store for them, or what kinds of objects actually make quite comfy beds. Sometimes, they don't even know if they'll make it to graduation. And just as students need to be prepared for the unpredictable adventure that is college, we here at Creative Loafing had to be flexible with this year's College Guide.

This past summer, when CL Editor David Warner asked me to help out with the College Guide project, I was about to start my second year of graduate school at USF St. Petersburg as well as continue my internship with CL. Although I didn't know what was in store for me, I was immediately enthusiastic about the challenge. Well, plan A eventually turned into plan B, and plan B warranted me sending some of the longest Facebook messages in the history of Facebook messages, as I harassed our very talented and agreeable collegiate volunteers with questions, ideas and concerns. And then there was the feat of coordinating said students' schedules, changing meeting times to agree with shifts in deadlines and other unexpected occurrences. Patience truly is a virtue when it comes to gathering active scholars from all over the Tampa Bay area. Did I mention the occasional moments of pulling out my hair while cursing the gods? Okay, so maybe not that last one.

In the end, our product is the hard work of seven diverse, creative college students — some CL interns, some not — who were willing to share with us what their schools mean to them.

Our guides included a law student, an MBA student, journalism and mass communication students, even an underwater archaeology student/baseball player. And here's where you come in:

Each student created a video, took photos or wrote an essay about his or her school; you'll find links to their work at right. View them all, and see if you agree with the winner selected by a readers' vote: Amanda Abadi of the University of Tampa. Amanda's inventive video, which could be retitled "Crocodile Dundee meets UT," drew a huge voter response: 6,694 votes. (The first runner-up, USF's Rebecca Wainright, got just over 1,000 votes.) As her prize, Amanda will receive a big college-friendly gift package from Creative Loafing, a $500 shopping spree from CL Deals, and recognition as the CL College Guide 2009.

Still, in my view every one of these students is #1. Just as grads feel proud when receiving that special piece of paper declaring their degree, I am beyond pleased to present you with this issue, one that wouldn't have been possible without the hard-working CL team and our 2009 Creative Loafing College Guides.

-Lily Reisman