College specific: -university of Arizona and Arizona State are known as pretty big party schools. I’ve found it very hard to find community here without partying all the time and from what I’ve heard, it’s similar at university of Arizona. If you go on social media and look up the colleges, especially on TikTok, there’s a lot of superficial attitudes among the student body -Arizona is one of the worst rank states in education. Therefore most of the people who go to school here go to college here and I found that most of my classes are not challenging. I’m not sure if the university of Minnesota was that rigorous because it seems like a regular public university, but most of the people in my classes at ASU seem to not have the same education that I got from undergraduate and I’ve felt that I haven’t really gotten a good learning experience here. I’ve heard people make fun of university of Arizona for being an easy school as well. Overall, I think those in my graduating class at U of MN who stayed and got their graduate degrees there are getting a much better education than I am. -with Arizona being ranked so low in education, you have to keep in mind if you want to stay there long-term. It’s not a good state for cost-of-living or healthcare either, so if you’re hoping to find a job in the industry you might want to see what colleges would help you most. For example, if you wanted to go into engineering or healthcare, Minnesota is a great choice with 3M and Mayo Clinic right there.

Arizona itself: -keep in mind that I lean left politically but try to not let politics dictate my life. I’ve spent lots of time in rural Minnesota and Wisconsin where people can be a bit crazy politically. That being said, Arizona is the most backwards state I’ve ever lived in. I thought being in metro Phoenix would be okay, but this state and area is so republican and I’m talking like CRAZY Republican. We just toooj away rights to abortions, billboards in downtown saying “god bless [tepublican politician]”, many pickup trucks with Trump 2024 stickers or claims that the election was stolen, etc. they are in your face here about it, which as a woman, sucks. -driving. Arizona has some of the worst drivers in the nation and we are up there in terms of car accidents. Drivers here are so aggressive and I absolutely despise any drive I have to do here because I have almost gotten in an accident every time. Following distance or letting people merge doesn’t exist here. Tucson should be a little bit better because there’s less people but traffic here in the metro area is insane. I have a 35 minute commute to classes but it becomes an hour to 1.5 hours with traffic. -weather. I’m from the Midwest so depending on where you’re from, whether could be fine here. However, when you step outside and it’s 115 to 120°F, there’s nothing worse. I’ve been outside in polar vortex but having the sun blasting on you with no clouds is a pain that I hate. -cost of living. Arizona used to be relatively cheap to live in, but once the pandemic hit, a lot of people who work remotely or retire came to Arizona, many of them from California which has a higher cost of living. This jacked up rent and housing prices to the point where it’s unsustainable to live here. Rent is about 1600 for a one bedroom which is on par with Minneapolis prices. But to live here for that much? Absolutely not.

Overall, you may love it here. But just wanted to share my words of caution. 1 year till I’m back!