Quasi Five Senses of Campus
As I think most of you know, I am working at home on a daily basis as part of the efforts to keep campus dedensified. So I am not seeing it every day like I used to. Today is an absolutely stunning day – almost 80 and sunny, totally perfect weather – so I decided to take a field trip to campus and try to do a Five Senses of Campus. This is not going to be a normal Five Senses, because I did not want to park myself in one place and observe that spot only; I wanted to get the wide view of campus, and I could not get all 5 senses at each place I visited. That said, here we go:
Parking Lot Q near Farrell Hall and North Campus Dining Hall
I see…
A female student in the parking lot walking to her car. No shoes on. Limping. My best guess is she was wearing shoes that gave her blisters?
A male student skateboarding.
Lots of students in the tent outside Farrell.
Gorgeous orange leaves on one of the nearby trees.
Two guys carrying a big pizza box coming down the steps to parking Lot Q; they must have just come from Zick’s.
I hear…
Chirpy birds.
The sound of a female student talking on the phone to someone. She is standing up and pacing a bit.
I feel…
Confused. I have never had an easier time parking in Lot Q in my life, save during the summer when students are home. Parking was plentiful.
The Quad
I see…
Lots of beautiful flowers outside of Huffman and Zick’s. I take several pictures.
Students sitting outside Zick’s at the tables there. About 3/4 of the tables are occupied, mostly in 1s and 2s.
Lines painted on the Quad. It looks like they are measuring appropriate social distance?
A bike rider mid Quad.
A bunch of guys playing various sports on the Quad grass nearest Reynolda. Looks like frisbee for sure and maybe a football toss too.
Four or five male students sitting on a rope that is tied between two trees. They are all lined up on it like birds, lightly bouncing up and down. I don’t what this ropebouncing trend is, but I would be interested in learning more. They seem pretty content.
I hear…
A staff member say “I take a lot of flower pictures here too” – she must have seen me trying to take my pictures.
A car horn.
The metallic tick-tick-tick of a bike wheel that is being walked somewhere, not ridden.
One of the Frisbee Guys yell “Wow – GO! GO!” at a very long toss, followed by “That’s SICK!” (the guy caught it, by the way).
“PETER!” someone yells.
Snippets of a conversation among male students about software. All I catch is “Cisco Webex.”
Reynolda Hall/Mag Patio
I see…
A huge banner saying Happy Halfway Day hanging above what I refer to as the “Evita stairs” (balcony going up to the Mag Room).
A woman in the Reynolda Lobby washing the floor.
A handful of students in the Green Room, studying. Laptops open, earbuds on, phones at the ready.
Two big tents on the Mag Patio, with pine-colored picnic tables beneath. There are blue Xs to show where you should sit.
A handful of people are at separate tables. Some eating, some studying, some just talking.
I hear…
A hint of a conversation: “My favorite is...” and then I can’t hear the rest, darn it.
“Well, he SAID it” from another table.
The chatter of people sitting at the tables just below the Mag Patio (right outside the Pit entrance).
The sound of a rolling cart from ARAMARK going between Reynolda and presumably Benson.
I feel…
Cool. It is nice to be in the shade.
A bit of breeze. The tents appear to be channeling the wind a bit, and I am here for it.
Mag Quad and between Tribble and Benson
I see…
Green, waxy magnolia leaves as I take the stairs to the Mag Quad level.
Lots of people in these big tents.
Lots of outside tables between Tribble and Benson.
The Hillel Sukkot that has been erected, and a sign explaining what that is.
A tailgate tent for the Theta sorority. They appear to be huddling around a cake or something.
A Operating Status Yellow flag hanging off of Benson.
Most of the metal tables are occupied, again in 1s and 2s.
A girl with supercurly hair. It’s adorable.
A lot of young women in short shorts and long t-shirts. (Shorts are *short* again, y’all).
I hear…
Someone doing a loud whistle to get someone’s attention, presumably a student walking by.
Male laughter.
A conversation from under the tents: “I was SHOCKED!” (Again, I want to know what the shock is!)
More male laughter.
A third set of male laughter as I cross the Mag Quad towards Benson. I can’t tell if this is just one raucous group of male students, or different tables. They are laughing and sound happy, which is really all that matters.
Many conversations on the Benson patio. No distinct words, just a hum of steady chatting.
A student say “hey” to me as I pass between Tribble and the ZSR Library. She is the only student who speaks to me. I find myself delighted at her greeting.
I feel…
Profoundly stupid. The doors into Benson are clearly marked ENTER ONLY or EXIT ONLY. When I try the ENTER ONLY door, it is locked. I check again, they all seem locked. I abandon the effort and head towards the Tribble Courtyard.
Embarrassment imagining students laughing at this old lady who can’t open doors. Then I think of one of my colleagues who likes to remind me that no one on the Quad is ever paying attention to what someone else is doing because they are too worried about their own stuff, and I relax.
Babcock and Luter
I see…
A big bulletin board in between the two residence halls. There are a bunch of flyers leftover from Hit the Bricks, and also one about wearing black and gold on Fridays (which was a cause I used to champion many years ago; happy to see that revived)
A young woman who appears to be about to go for a run. Her midriff is bare and she has seriously enviable abs.
I hear…
The rhythmic and high pitched beep…beep…beep of a ZSR truck backing up out of their loading dock.
Scraping sounds of a girl wheeling her luggage out to a car.
I feel…
Hot. If you are in the sun, it is warm for sure.
ZSR Library
I see…
A jogger (in a mask, no less). This is the second masked jogger I have seen, and a masked biker.
A staffer I know with a young child in tow.
What looks like 1/2 to 3/4 of the upper deck of Camino is occupied.
I hear…
The HVAC of Olin Hall as I walk to the front of ZSR. It sounds like an airplane engine.
Crunchy leaves scraping around on the sidewalk as the wind blows them gently.
A bluesy Ray Charles song in Camino.
“Almond milk iced latte, please.”
“Do you know Olivia from my sorority?” – this is from a group of young women sitting together in the upstairs loft at Camino.
I feel…
Joy! I have an Everything Swiss Croissant in my bag and a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin for Class of ’27 Deac to eat later. Just being in Camino makes me happy.
Scales Fine Arts Center and Davis Field
I see…
Two big tents on Davis field, with a handful of picnic tables occupied. There is a female student talking and it is loud enough for me to hear, but not distinct enough to make out the words.
The marching band field set up for practice (but empty now).
A male student sitting on top of the tables outside Lower Scales. It is unoccupied other than him, in the shade, and has a nice breeze. This would be my study spot if I was a student.
Someone – maybe a professor? – taking a picture of a beautiful red maple tree.
A girl coming up the hill from Scales trying to check her phone, walk, and carry a tripod at the same time. She’s making it work!
A green apple with one bite out of it in the parking lot. The bitten place is all brown and anty.
I hear…
The word “Accounting” from another table and I can tell that is my cue to walk faster :)
Crunchy magnolia leaves swirling in the breeze as I head back to parking Lot Q.
The caw-caw of a crow.
A student talking on the phone – it sounded like “Nanking, China” he was saying.
I feel…
The cool breeze and the shade. Feels fantastic after walking for close to an hour.
Parting thoughts, having taken this big loop:
Lots of students outdoors, lots of students masked.
Students are resilient. They looked happier than I thought they would be.
Overall mask wearing looked pretty good while I was there, with the odd exception here and there under the tents (maybe they had just finished eating) or people all on their own on the sidewalk.
Campus is so pretty right now.
I miss it.
That’s your Five Senses. I’m going to dump all my pictures at the end. Hope you enjoyed a view of campus.
— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)