Mascots...

I started to my educational life as a Roadrunner. I don't remember being especially proud of that, but it was fun to think about. Little-Kindergarten-through-5th-Grade-me, being fast and fun and always outrunning the coyote and his hairbrained schemes and toys. (This was all I knew about roadrunners at the time. And that our mascot on the yearbooks and tote bags was purposely designed after the Warner Bros. character didn't encourage me to look much harder, I guess.) It made me feel good to think that was what I was. Part of the reason I liked it was probably because I was a fat kid and getting to pretend I was quick. It kind of made me feel good.
This was before I realized that you weren't imbued with the characteristics of your mascot. And I learned this lesson quickly when I become a Trojan. I didn't know what sort of Trojan they had intended with this name, but when Brian Cherry told me the other type, well, I knew I was not going to represent or be represented by a Trojan.
And I took this attitude with me when I was a Railsplitter and Pioneer. Niether of these really had any meaning to me. I mean, it was nice to think of myself as a hard-working type of person that being a railsplitter brings to mind, but I did not work all that hard in Highschool. And I found it hard to think of myself as a Pioneer, when many folks had gone to this college before me and I clearly wasn't blazing any trails in my studies. (Though there were definitely pioneers at Grinnell.) But still, it was there and I took some token pride in the label.
Then I went to work in the "real world". And there were plenty of differences, but one of the more subtle ones is there are no longer mascots. No longer these idols put in front of you who you're supposed to represent or whose characteristics you're supposed to emmulate. I went from being a pioneer to being nothing. Maybe not the biggest problem on my plate at the time, but it was a problem.
And for 8 years now, I've been nothing. There's no mascot for the 20-something college graduate to emmulate. I mean, sure there's that guy you see in traffic or on the train or bus. That guy who looks like he's got his stuff together. Wearing the shoes that wouldn't look so hot on you. Listening to way cooler music than you do. Carrying his briefcase, or if he was sort of alterna-corporate, his messenger bag. He didn't decide to go to either Hair Cuttery or Great Clips soley depending on which side of the street he was on at the time. Hell, he probably paid 20 dollars for his haircut. And while he might be fine to model yourself after, there's nothing inherently brave or exciting about him. Not like a cougar, anyway.
So when I apply and am accepted to a Paralegal program at a local University (Did I bury the lead a bit? Probably.), I was looking forward to being somethign again. It didn't have to be a sleek panther or the wise owl. It didn't even have to be a noble game-cock. I was just excited to be something again. So, what do I get? Nothing. I mean admittedly, it's a certificate program, but still. One would expect a label that I can comfortably self-apply.
Perhaps I'm supposed to be old enough to not need this kind of foolishness, but I guess I'm not. I mean, sure, getting the degree is important (probably the most important thing about getting into the program), but there was a part of me that was looking forward to having a mascot. So I know what I must do. I have to come up with a mascot for Roosevelt University. (Note: if you search mascot on the Roosevelt site, you come up with Fala, who was FDR's dog as a mascot for the Institute of Continued Learning, which I guess my program (again, I don't know for sure) would fall under. But it's not a mascot for the school as a whole. I mean, does Tennesee have a different mascot for Grads and Undergrands? I don't know, but I don't think so. And truthfully, I was hoping for something a little more....grand?)
So, where to start? It seems to me that it should have to do with some aspect of both Roosevelts (Franklin and Eleanor, not Teddy. Though I liked his trust-busting ways, the school is not named after him so, I will not be a Rough Rider. Thankfully.) as they were both rather remarkable people. I only came up with a couple possibilities. My ideas:

1. The Dealers. It's of course, referring to the New Deal. And I guess you could go with the New Dealers, but I like just the Dealers. It's just a tad more obscure this way. It demands that people know at least the name of the New Deal and why it is associated with the Roosevelts. It doesn't really strike fear in the heart of people, but RU has no sports teams at this time, so just acknowledging the connection to the New Deal is probably cool, right?
2. The Statesmen. This works for both the Roosevelts (maybe Eleanor more than Franklin). Again, this doesn't strike fear, but it's cool. The problem I have with this is that it isn't catchy.

So. Feel free to share others and I'll update if I think of more. (There's a fifty percent chance I just go ahead with Panthers or something).