Hillary Edwards, Adam Jackson, Ian McCue, Latrece Pinckney, Jasmine Griner, Kalyani Vellanki, Amanda Merson, Eleni Giorgos

Hillary Edwards, Goucher College

22, from Washington, D.C.

Class of ’10, B.A. in Business Management and Art

What’s the best cheap place to eat near campus?

Towson Hot Bagels—best bagels in Towson. Otherwise, if I wasn’t eating food from the dining halls, I would go to the grocery store and get food to make.

What’s your favorite thing to do on weekends?

I’ll go to the farmers market or go to the Book Thing with my roommate, or go down to Patterson Park and play soccer or kickball, or go to a movie.

Do you feel safe in Baltimore?

I’m not really ever afraid in Baltimore—it’s just like I wouldn’t go walking in parts of where I live in D.C. at 2 o’clock in the morning.

In a word, your classmates are . . . ?

The word that comes to mind is “eclectic.” Goucher is really out of the box and really weird. That was what was said to me when I was coming in as a freshman, and it’s totally true.

How do you get around?

The Collegetown Shuttle is a pretty big way to get around. Unfortunately it doesn’t have the most convenient times.

What’s the best cheap date near campus?

I would have to say Sushi Hana. It’s cheap, really good sushi. It’s a really casual atmosphere, and it’s really low key.

What do you wish someone had told you about Baltimore?

That it was as cool as it was. I meet people who are like “Is it really like The Wire?” There are parts of Baltimore that The Wire is pretty true to, but there is so much more going on in this city. Baltimore is so bright-eyed and so interested in arts and culture, and the people that live here really care about their city, and it really brings it to life.

Adam Jackson, Towson University

22, from Baltimore

Class of ’11, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies

What’s the big major at your school?

I want to say the arts. Liberal arts stuff. People come to school for English and that stuff, not a lot of vocational skills.

What’s the best cheap place to eat near campus?

Probably Seasons Pizza.

Do you feel safe in Baltimore?

I’m from Baltimore, so in terms of actual crimes being committed against me, I feel safe because I’m street smart, I know where to go.

Do students from your school get out into the city much, or do they mostly stick close to campus?

People who are from Baltimore go back to Baltimore a lot, but the masses of Towson students, from suburban areas and from New York and New Jersey, they probably stay on campus or go home.

What’s your favorite part of Baltimore? 

I’m from West Baltimore, and I like the west side a lot. It has a lot of parks, a lot of really nice residential neighborhoods, lots of nice local businesses.

What’s the best cheap date near campus?

You can eat at a local restaurant in Towson, go see a movie, go to the hookah bar. If you’re trying to go out you can take a bus to a lounge in the city somewhere. All those things are pretty inexpensive.

Ian McCue, Johns Hopkins University

21, from Philadelphia

Class of ’10, B.S. in Engineering and Material Science

What’s the best cheap place to eat near campus?

It used to be called C&C Carryout, but now it’s called Ajumma. It’s Korean food.

What’s the best bar near campus?

Probably CVP [Charles Village Pub].

In a word, your classmates are . . . ?

I want to say everyone is pretty open. Hopkins has a reputation for being a little cut-throat, everyone’s studying, but I’ve never found that. Everyone’s been friendly as far as I’m concerned.

How do you get around?

Unless you don’t mind being around campus, you need a car because . . . you can’t really use the public transportation because it’s pretty infrequent . . . especially at night time.

What’s your favorite part of Baltimore? 

I’d say in between the Inner Harbor and Mount Vernon. There are a lot of nice restaurants in that area.

What’s the best place for a cheap date?

I think getting a movie at the Charles Theatre. It’s near the train station and they will play indie films sometimes.

What do you wish someone had told you about Baltimore?

I feel like it’s not made clear that a lot of the fun stuff is not on campus. A lot of people will just stay on campus and then be like, “There’s not a lot of stuff to do around here,” when there actually is, you just have to be aware and make a little bit of a trip to do it.

Latrece Pinckney, Coppin State University

22, from Germantown Class of ’10, B.S. in English

What’s the best cheap place to eat near campus?

A lot of students, including myself, go to Chipotle, Ruby Tuesday, McDonald’s.

What’s your favorite thing to do on weekends?

On the weekends I usually go home, because I have church business and stuff to handle at home. New Antioch Baptist Church on the 2400 block of St. Paul Street was the place of worship I attended the weekends I did not go home. I also went to Eden’s Lounge a few times for their poetry open-mic nights.

In a word, your classmates are . . . ?

My classmates are really outgoing. They’re really intelligent. If you were to see them on the street you probably wouldn’t think so, you’d probably think they were, you know, just a bunch of kids getting into trouble, but they’re actually really intelligent.