It’s 11:34a.m. in the Tiger Den, U of M conversation and grub headquarters. Upon entrance, every thing and everyone appears as a blur, a mosaic almost, but to chip away at the pieces there is an array of difference.

To sit as an observer the surface difference is obvious. No one is the same skin tone, hair length or even the same language. Of course, no one is in uniform, with the exception of Tiger Den staff, and thus begins a clear perspective into the different stripes of each tiger.

In certain spots of the neutral collage, Tiger Pride is visible. Students represent U of M Greek life, last year’s home coming and various athletic teams. All of which were in adorned in blue and gray and one with a splash of sunshine yellow .Beyond that the differences began to reveal class schedules, study habits (or lack thereof for most), and the season outside.

The last days of summer where in every yellow, red, green, lavender and blue. As each shade became darker, yellows drifted into browns as a subtle reminder that Autumn was near. With a new season, girls began a conversation about sports offensive and defensive strategies.

As if every thing were suddenly color coded, the separations became clearer. The Delta’s were at one table. The jocks were at another and the party girls at another. The Deltas were conducting social business. The party girls were listening attentively to the life of the party as she went on about the night before in her “stunner shades.” The jocks were so loud that they almost became the sound track of the Tiger Den, belting out off key renditions of the latest radio rap songs. When they weren’t “youling,” the jocks were hitting on every girl that glanced their way. One girl, whom they nick named “Baby Phat,” seemed so disgusted she completely lost her appetite for her rainbow ice cream!

In contrast to “Baby Phat,” appetite levels continued at a steady increase well past noon, leaving hardly any room for the Tiger Den staff to clear. Even the buzzing flies were hardly visible because of the constant rotation of the doors. In all the tussle and bustle of traffic, an older gentleman found a quiet place to study with his back turned to the masses. His book served as a frontal fence between the automatic teller machine where another young man stared blankly underneath his blue baseball cap.

In that moment the older gentleman was the only studying academics. Everyone else seemed to have special interest in what the rest of the people around them were doing or chatting about. Two girls intently studied why girl seemed to know everyone in the Den so well.

Despite every difference it was as if she was apart of every pack.