Hey, bud... let's party
Transworld SURF, the unofficial "official" magazine of surfing culture, has compiled a list of the top 10 surfing colleges in America.
I was pleased — at least, as pleased as it's possible for me to be about anything to do with surfing — that my old school, Pepperdine University, ranks as Number Four on the list. That seems rather low for an institution of which the article states, "If there were a West Coast Ivy League, Pepperdine would be in it." But who am I to complain?
Although I spent a sizable chunk of my youth living within walking distance of beaches in both Hawaii and Greece, and although I matriculated for two years at the fourth-best surfing college in the United States, I must confess that I have never surfed. I attribute my lack of surf experience to three essential factors: (1) poor balance; (2) lackluster swimming skills; and (3) extreme cowardice.
The fact that my rotund frame clad in a wetsuit would resemble a baby orca escaped from Sea World doesn't bode well for any future surfing exploits.
As a collateral benefit of my Pepperdine education, however, I speak pitch-perfect SoCal surfer dialect. If you're a creative director looking to voice-cast a Jeff Spicoli sound-alike, I'm your huckleberry.
I mean: I'm your huckleberry, dude.
In addition, I possess an encyclopedic knowledge of Annette Funicello Beach Party films. I also know all of the lyrics to a plethora of Beach Boys hits, including "Surfin' Safari," "I Get Around," "God Only Knows," and "The Sloop John B."
Thus, although I am not a surfer, I am capable of being at least somewhat surferish.
As a side note, I see from the Transworld SURF piece that Pepperdine's annual tuition, plus room and board, is now in excess of $47K. I'm thankful that my junior college sophomore daughter, who's currently scouting four-year universities for next academic year, doesn't surf either.
I was pleased — at least, as pleased as it's possible for me to be about anything to do with surfing — that my old school, Pepperdine University, ranks as Number Four on the list. That seems rather low for an institution of which the article states, "If there were a West Coast Ivy League, Pepperdine would be in it." But who am I to complain?
Although I spent a sizable chunk of my youth living within walking distance of beaches in both Hawaii and Greece, and although I matriculated for two years at the fourth-best surfing college in the United States, I must confess that I have never surfed. I attribute my lack of surf experience to three essential factors: (1) poor balance; (2) lackluster swimming skills; and (3) extreme cowardice.
The fact that my rotund frame clad in a wetsuit would resemble a baby orca escaped from Sea World doesn't bode well for any future surfing exploits.
As a collateral benefit of my Pepperdine education, however, I speak pitch-perfect SoCal surfer dialect. If you're a creative director looking to voice-cast a Jeff Spicoli sound-alike, I'm your huckleberry.
I mean: I'm your huckleberry, dude.
In addition, I possess an encyclopedic knowledge of Annette Funicello Beach Party films. I also know all of the lyrics to a plethora of Beach Boys hits, including "Surfin' Safari," "I Get Around," "God Only Knows," and "The Sloop John B."
Thus, although I am not a surfer, I am capable of being at least somewhat surferish.
As a side note, I see from the Transworld SURF piece that Pepperdine's annual tuition, plus room and board, is now in excess of $47K. I'm thankful that my junior college sophomore daughter, who's currently scouting four-year universities for next academic year, doesn't surf either.
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 3:48 PM
2 insisted on sticking two cents in:
Holy crap! $47,000?! I hope my daughter settles for a state college and living at home at that.
Am I a ditz? When I first started reading this post, I thought you were talking about 'net surfing. It took me a few sentences.
Shelli: When I was a student at Pep (1979-81), it was the third most expensive college on the West Coast, behind USC and Stanford. It has since passed Stanford, but Claremont McKenna has moved into second place.
That's still way behind the tonier schools back East, though. Here's a complete list of the current Top 100. This list only ranks by tuition, and doesn't take expenses like room and board into account, but it's still a good barometer.
The 'Net surfing thing was pretty funny. And no, I don't think you're a ditz. :)
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