What it’s like to be a Pittsburgher who goes to Pitt

Going to school in your hometown isn’t as dreadful as some might think – in fact there are a few advantages

I’m from Pittsburgh. I’m not from “twenty minutes north” or “thirty minutes south of here.” I’m from the actual City of Pittsburgh and I go to Pitt. Most people, if able, don’t typically stay so close to home when choosing a school go to. My parents’ house is three miles from campus, so I guess one could say that I wasn’t too worried about being too close.

Going to college in your hometown isn’t as bad as some might think, especially when it’s in “The Most Livable City.”

You Already Know Where Everything Is!

Not only do I live fairly close to Oakland, my former high school is actually across from Litchfield Towers so I had already been in Oakland for school for four years before starting at Pitt as a freshman.

Freshman year (Fall 2014) was the beginning of a new experience in a familiar setting. I had already known all the good food spots and deals. I didn’t have the jittery feelings of moving to a new and unfamiliar place to live. That didn’t mean I had experienced everything that Pitt had to offer though. While I knew where most of the streets were and the major buildings like The William Pitt Union or The Cathedral, I had no idea where most of the lecture halls were.

Orientation Week was fun. I got to meet a lot of people and some were even drawn to me after hearing that I was familiar with the city already. We took a trip out to Mt. Washington to see Downtown Pittsburgh and the city skyline. I never once felt like I was missing out on “the college experience” just because I was from Pittsburgh. Some things are still awesome the second or third time around.

Need to get home for Winter or Spring Break? No problem. I just hop on a public bus and I’m home in fifteen minutes. No packing large suitcases. No airports, train stations, plane or bus trip tickets.

You Already Know the History!

Professors at Pitt love to talk about Pittsburgh. Growing up in Pittsburgh I have heard countless times the stories of my city’s past as a steel industry titan. While I love Pittsburgh’s rich history, it starts to get a little repetitive in college if you already familiar with it.  If I hear one more “It was so smoky you could wear a white shirt and it would turn grey” story, I might just lose my mind.

There’s also the debate over the pronunciation of steel entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie’s last name.

You Already Know the Accent!

Just last year, The City of Bridges beat Boston, MA for the ugliest accent in America. “Pittsburghese” as it has been called is a very unique accent. Yinzers, those who speak Pittsburghese, pronounce certain words in some of the strangest ways.

Downtown becomes “Dahntahn”, “up there” becomes “up air”, and of course “Yinz” can be substituted for “y’all” or “you all”. There is even a Wikipedia page dedicated to how Pittsburghers talk. 

You Can Spot the Myths!

Being from here, I know the city well and know much about most of the 90 neighborhoods that make up Pittsburgh. Lots of my friends would be afraid of certain neighborhoods citing exaggerated stories they had heard of various crimes. Some people even thought there was an off campus gang that preyed on students. The notion was quite funny to me, but some were scared and the Pitt Police had to send out a notification assuring students that there was no gang activity occurring in South Oakland. The closest thing to a gang Oakland has is a group of students studying on the Schenley Plaza lawn.

No amount of pierogis, Primanti’s sandwiches or crazy words could make me any more of a Pittsburgher. When the Pittsburgh Steelers suit up on Sundays I bleed black and gold, but every August I prepare to rep blue and gold. I’m a proud Pittsburgher and a proud Pitt Panther. I couldn’t be happier to go to school in the city was born and raised in and love so much.

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