The Transfer Portal: Hints of Plymouth (For Better and for Worse)
James Oatis
He/Him
Staff Writer
9/4/25
Mississippi State University initially seemed to exist in an entirely different world than colleges in the north. From the cathedral-sized Davis Wade Stadium to the vast, flat openness of the campus land, Mississippi State seemed completely alien to me. I assumed this initial impression meant that Mississippi State would be completely different from the north in every aspect of life. The more acquainted I became with the southern college, the more I realized how much it is like Plymouth State, for better and for worse.
The first similarity came when I needed to set up my electronic devices and my student accounts. Much like Plymouth, Mississippi State uses Canvas and Microsoft 365. Much like USNH, the Mississippi State system never seems to keep you logged in to the MyState page, thus requiring an inconvenient two-factor authentication sign-in. The internet runs through eduroam. Like eduroam at Plymouth State, the connection can be questionable at times, a problem that is magnified even more by Mississippi State’s large campus.
Once I was all set with my devices, I decided to get something to eat. After walking three-quarters of a mile to the Fresh Food Company dining hall, I realized how similar it was to DHall at Plymouth. The layout seems the same as Plymouth’s, with a salad station, a grill with hamburgers, an allergy free section, and an everchanging meal for dinner. Unlike Plymouth, however, very little is self-serve, meaning lines can get long at peak times for lunch and dinner. The other dining hall, Perry Food Hall, was recently renovated and uses a one meal model compared to all you can eat at Fresh Food Company. Though there isn’t much variety, the food is consistently good; I had some tasty pulled pork and collard greens.
A problem all dining facilities seem to share with Plymouth’s is inconvenience. The dining halls have similarly restrictive hours to Plymouth, and always seem to have some sort of line. Thankfully, Mississippi State offers on-campus dining credit to be used at places like the Chick-fil-A in the student union. The Fresh Food Company offers takeout boxes, much like the ones at Plymouth’s DHall, allowing leftovers to be stored. There is also a system called Dawg Dollars, similar to Plymouth’s FlexCash/Panther Bucks system.
Classes eventually started on August 20th, and soon came the weekend, which had, like Plymouth, not much to do. Since football does not start on campus until September 6th, when they play Arizona State, it seemed eerily quiet the first weekend I was fully here. Like Plymouth, the entertainment on campus was limited to either the gym, house parties, or Walmart. When it is not football season at Mississippi State, it feels a lot like Plymouth when it’s not ski season: There’s not much to do but wait around for the time to pass until the big events of the school year arrive.