When 3,000-4,000 people who’d been here a few days ago suddenly are all gone, it is noticeable.
Campus is very still, and very quiet.
The stillness manifests in the student parking lots (empty but for a parked few cars), the sidewalks (no one on their way to class, or out for a jog), and the administrative and academic buildings (many faculty are home grading papers and finals, and many staff and administrators are taking PTO).
Go into any building – academic or administrative – on a normal weekday and the sound is a bit like a beehive: a contstant buzzing of white noise made up of conversations, coughs, doors opening and closing, etc. With the students gone, it sounds like a tomb (unless you are in Reynolds Gym or an area that is getting worked on over break).
Yes, there are people on campus who have to work that must be done before the holidays (I‘m thinking today about my Residence Life friends who are doing building checks and closing out the residence halls), but it is also time for office parties, holiday celebrations, teambuilding activities.
For all of you who have welcomed your Deacs home and have been surprised at the number of hours they are happy to sleep, you know they are tired after the slog of finals and wrapping up the semester. I’ll let you in on a little secret: the rest of us are tired too 🙂
So I’m all for a little bit of coasting downhill nice and easy as we get ready for 2017 and the spring semester.
