As I walk around campus, you hear sirens over the sounds of constant conversation, this is the life of living in a city, something that I am not accustomed to, but this is what Old Dominion University(ODU) is like every day. I look past that though, I live for the warm spring days, the smell of salt water by the beach, and the attitude that everyone on campus possesses, and that is what most people don’t see, instead they are blinded by their fear of a bad reputation made by the lies of many. Some feel that the sound of sirens is a foreshadowing of unfortunate events, but in all honesty, it is safe, but does have a negative reputation. ODU is notorious for being considered a dangerous university, but that is untrue. Sirens are heard consistently on campus, but most go by ODU and with the close proximity to Norfolk, one of the highest populations in Virginia, this is to be expected. The area around the campus is not the best neighborhood, but as a response to this, campus police is always on duty, and a lot of police are on campus to protect the near 20,000 students and faculty that work and study on campus. I love the beach atmosphere at Old Dominion University, the people do not bother you unless you are being bothersome, the police are friendly but alert at the same time. Many people are scared of the rumors of shootings, and stabbings, and sexually-minded crimes, and these happen on occasion, but any college that is surrounded by a highly populated area, not to mention one of the top five highest populations in all of the state of Virginia, this is going to happen with these many people. If you look at the details, you see that most of these crimes happen off campus, but they are still associated with ODU. Old Dominion is associated with a high crime rate, however this is not warranted, as it normally happens off campus, sadly rumors have turned a high amount of students away from ODU, but if rumors sway you, we don’t want you at Old Dominion University.