Close-up on a girl sobbing about her rejection from the prestigious California University of Palo Alto (CUPA). But Quinn (Jackie Emerson, ’17) doesn’t let a mere letter stop her dreams of academic success and promoting her Tumblr dedicated to cats struggling with foreclosure. She fakes an acceptance and embarks on her adventure as an impostor freshman at CUPA, and we are thus introduced to a slew of students who serve as tour guides at the university.

To avoid the pains of paraphrasing, I will provide a description of the show, as put forth by the creators themselves: “Created by Cody Behan, Weston Gaylord and Safiya Nygaard, Higher Education is an original comedic web series following the lives of the student tour guides at the fictional California University of Palo Alto (CUPA for short!), as they navigate hookups, startups, full schedules, flirty selfies, and other foibles of college life.” To date, there are four episodes of Higher Education that recount said foibles: “Holistic,” “Cooperative, “Popular,” and “Casual.”

The backbone of the show is its witty script and unique cast of characters that bring it to life. As previously mentioned, Jackie Emerson is the talent behind Quinn Thompson, a paranoid but sassy freshman. Ever since I saw Emerson eating berries on the big screen, I could tell that she would be going places. (I made it to the third paragraph before referencing The Hunger Games. I am proud of myself for this.) Cody Behan (’15) and Safiya Nygaard (’14) play Chet Madson and Priya Patel-Smith, respectively, and together they are “Chia Pret”¾ the over-the-top power couple that everyone hates. Their back-and-forth banter made them remind me of Ryan and Sharpay from High School Musical, but think more bitchiness, more yacht club, more mock trial, and less brother-sister relationship. Alon Devorah (’14) plays Umberto Lovelace, an overly confident lady-killer. Weston Gaylord (’15) is the dorky but lovable Felixe Overcliffe, and has really got me wondering about secret societies on campus. The co-op green queen Bronwyn Overcliffe is played masterfully by Katie Straub. (Damn, just realized Felixe and Bronwyn have the same last name. Prediction for the next episode? You heard it here first.)

Most of these characters are introduced in the first episode, “Holistic,” to prove that CUPA attracts a diverse student body. This collection of vignettes about the students is one of my favorite parts of the show: we see shots such as Bronwyn coddling a mushroom, Umberto’s “unparalleled artistic aesthetic” (he’s filming boobs), and Priya’s meeting of the first Greek fraternity for high school women, Omega Mega Gamma (OMG). “Using the holistic process, we value the whole student. As opposed to just your test scores, or the number of schools you built in Kenya one summer,” Gideon Grey (Buddy Gardineer, PhD) explains to the camera.

The second episode, “Cooperative,” pokes fun at the unique living style attributed to co-ops at Stanford, and is appropriately filmed at Chi Theta Chi. Quinn is delighted by the openness of the co-op, named the “Shirtless Yurt,” and the whole-grain, whole wheat, vegan food that is hers for the taking. She meets the “mother” of the co-op (Anneka Kumli, ‘13), a mysterious student whose speech is always accompanied by harp music. The mother can read Quinn’s history from her palms, and reveals to the group that Quinn is a fan of the Kings of Leon and that she is an imposter. Members of the co-op eerily chant “imposter,” and a flustered Quinn calls them freaks. “That harp player totally sucks. His phrasing is unsophisticated,” she spits before fleeing.

The next time you’re trying to kill five minutes, rather than let Buzzfeed tell you which flavor Hot Pocket you should make love to, check out Higher Education. You’ll learn invaluable facts of life, such as: marijuana pesto exists, daily Lao Tzu quotes are inspiring, and you shouldn’t act too thirsty. I am excited to see how the characters and story of the show develop, and I have high hopes for future episodes.

For more info, check out Higher Education’s Facebook, Youtube, and Website.

Alexandra Gray (‘16, Political Science/Chinese & Creative Writing) has spent most of her life in New Jersey, but don’t hold it against her. She enjoys traveling internationally, attending musicals, writing anything that doesn’t require MLA citations, and binge-watching shows on Netflix that everybody else has already seen.