Late-night Campus Walkin'

I walked through campus last night by myself at 1am. Generally, there are people out and about. On a Tuesday night at 1am during the second-to-last week before finals, it was deserted.

I walked in the glow of familiar lights, past buildings I have never explored completely, on sidewalks with cracks and bumps my soles know like friends... I've spent all of my time on this campus for five years. I came here a single, physically ill 18 year old. I'm still here as a single 23 year old with more aches and ailments to list, many of them seemingly in my mind.

The campus has changed significantly in five years. Most recently, a building disappeared! The jolly, cracked-paint, broken-windowed exterior of the science classroom building has been replaced by a large gaping hole. I'm not entirely sure what they're building.... The sidewalk that connected directly to the top story of that ancient temporary place of learning has been sawed off and a simple chain-link fence protects the passers by from the gaping hole of the construction site. I stood there last night for a good 15 minutes...Staring at the abyss where my favorite building once stood.

It wasn't a fancy building, but it had comfortable classrooms deep underground. They had ancient chemistry posters on the walls. The Science Classroom Building was built in 1940 and was never meant to be permanent... it made it all the way to 2009. The University is generally a temporary place for its residents. People spend 4, 5, sometimes 8 or 9 years here, but never much more. Teachers stay longer, but they too come and go. People pass through the halls of Walter and Coffman... they call this place home. They pay little attention to the place that grows and evolves around them. They walk through Northrop for what is possibly the first time since the first day of classes on the night they receive their diploma (holder). Then they leave. They rarely come back. 60,000 students here at the University, all destined to leave.

Colleges are like home towns. People have fond memories here... stories to tell, you name it. But if there aren't relatives or reunions pulling them back, there is no reason to let the idyllic vision in your head become tainted. Polish it. Make it sparkle.

I decided to stay here. Year 5 ticked off on the prison wall in my head. I love Minneapolis, and I love the university. Soon this place will no longer be my home. Will I leave and let my memories flourish? Will I stay and let things like the destruction of the Science Classroom Building taint the map in my mind?

I walked the rest of the way home. Alone... looking for the stars overhead. There weren't any.