had the opportunity to visit the chemistry department at Louisiana State University twice; once in November of 2009 and again for an official interview weekend in February 2010. I didn't know how I'd feel about Louisiana but I was pleasantly surprised. The weather in Baton Rouge was mild, the trees still green in late October. Best of all, there were no hills! The landscape was quite beautiful, especially around campus. I distinctly remember the lakes near my hotel and the runners that were always visible on the trails that wove around the water front. 
Since LSU's mascot is the tiger, they had an exhibit set aside near their huge stadium that housed Mike The Tiger, visible here.While I couldn't get a good picture of Mike, I did get to pose next to a life-sized statue of him. It was hard to believe how much money was put into his exhibit, and how close it was to a stadium that could house thousands of occupants. It was definitely something unique about the campus and really showed how intense and devoted the fans were.
