I’ve always loved watching television. Instead of going outside, I spent my days watching reruns of "Drake and Josh," "Hannah Montana," "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" (later "The Suite Life on Deck"), and most importantly, "Zoey 101". I watched the show religiously. Whenever a new episode came out, I demanded that no one was to interrupt me as I watched my first one true pairing, Zoey and Chase. The show gave me all the feels, and watching Zoey live her life at the fabulous Pacific Coast Academy, I knew I had to attend that school.
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Fast-forward to being accepted to the real life PCA, Pepperdine University. The minute I was accepted I began Snapchatting the opening theme song of the show and replaced "Zoey 101" with "Caroline 101." When you begin to attend Pepperdine, all you (OK, maybe it’s just me) can see is the endless "Zoey 101" references and locations. The graduate campus is not just the graduate campus, but is the home of my favorite fictional characters from my childhood. Whenever you see a scooter or motorcycle or whatever you kids call them these days, you’ll Snapchat it to reference Zoey’s insanely cool Jet X.
When I step onto Alumni Field, all I can think about is playing disc golf against juveniles, and whenever I go to the HAWC to get something to drink, all I really want is the fictional drink, Blix, but I have to settle for Vitamin Water. In a sea of computers in Elkins, the lecture hall, I mindlessly search for a Pear computer. While Drake Bell doesn't perform for "Spring Fling," the real Drake does stop by for our basketball games, along with Paula Abdul and Adam Sandler. When you attend Pepperdine, all you can think of (it’s honestly probably just me) is all of the "Zoey 101" references -- for better or for worse.
What really happens when you attend Pepperdine is that you’ll say where you attend college, and people, if they recognize the school name and the hit show, will ask, “Isn’t that where Zoey 101 was filmed? The real PCA?” to which you get to smile and say “yes.” You’ll hopelessly search for a friend group as rad as Zoey’s, complete with a Chase Matthews to fall in love with. (I haven’t found mine yet; please let me know if you find a cute boy with busy hair who is insanely clumsy.)
Whenever I crave sushi, I realize I can’t amble over to Sushi Rox or have Chase deliver it to my dorm. Instead, I have to settle for Zippie Cookie to be delivered to me; wait for Sushi Friday, which happens on the first Friday of the month; or I can eat once-frozen sushi from the HAWC. Ah, Pepperdine, I love you, but sometimes I wish we were more like PCA. In case any of you were wondering, our dorms don’t look like that that, but we do get ocean views. People are as rich as Logan Reese, but no one says “drippin’” like Michael, and no one pretends to be goth like Lola. There are people like Nicole who attend school for their MRS degree, but that’s a different story.
What I’ve learned from attending the real-life PCA is that dreams do come true. Each day ends with a magical sunset, and boys don’t wear their shirts when playing volleyball. Although my friend group isn’t the same as Zoey’s, it’s still an epic squad. Pepperdine is a bit more religious (OK, way more), and instead of clubs like disc golf, we have sororities, but we do get to go abroad (even to London, but not to a prep school). Although sometimes I wish I was a Stingray, I couldn’t be happier to call myself a Wave at the real-life PCA.
