The Tale of Two Campuses

So here I am writing on my laptop at my kitchen table with my younger daughter at my side. She is needing my assistance as she works on her improper fraction homework. This would never have happened during my previous college experience. Gratefully that was BK (before kids.) 

But before I indulge in the vast differences between my two personal experiences with college--comparing now and then, please allow me to introduce the two colleges that I attended,

Regis' View of the Mountains

In 1988, I drove out with my parents to Denver, Colo. where they promptly dropped me off at Regis College  (I think they were doing a happy dance on the way to the car because there was only one kid left at home). Regis was a small four-year Jesuit college which happened to become an university my senior year. It is located on the northwest side of Denver and has a beautiful wide-open campus with the mountains in the background. About dozen buildings surrounded the grassy quad. If the quad was a football field, Main Hall, the oldest building on campus built using red stone bricks from the Colorado foothills, and the library, a modern looking building, would be where the goal posts are located. Most dorms and the student union are along the sidelines.

Main Hall

It was nice being on my own, away from my family in St. Louis for the first time in my life. I enjoyed rolling out of bed and running across the quad to my first class in the morning, stopping only to catch my breath and smell the fresh Colorado air. Classes were usually fun, but challenging. Although Regis is a residential campus with three dorms, you wouldn't have known it on the weekends in the wintertime. Once Friday classes let out, the campus became a ghost town when ski season hits. My roommate and I learned to ski so we would have something to do and people to hang out with on the weekends. We also learned how take the bus line to downtown Denver to shop, eat or hang-out. Denver and Colorado were the perfect place to live when I was in my early 20s.

 

Reflecting on my Regis experience reminds me of the song:  "I Wish I Could Go Back to College" from the musical, Ave. Q  (slightly abridged lyrics pasted below for your enjoyment.)

KATE MONSTER:
I wish I could go back to college.
Life was so simple back then.

NICKY:
What would I give to go back and live in a dorm with a meal plan again!

PRINCETON:
I wish I could go back to college.
In college you know who you are.
You sit in the quad, and think, "Oh my God!
I am totally gonna go far!"

ALL:
How do I go back to college?
I don't know who I am anymore!

PRINCETON:
I wanna go back to my room and find a message in dry-erase pen on the door!
Ohhh...
I wish I could just drop a class...

NICKY:
Or get into a play...

ALL:
I need an academic advisor to point the way!
We could be...
Sitting in the computer lab,
4 A.M. before the final paper is due,
Cursing the world 'cause I didn't start sooner,
And seeing the rest of the class there, too!

PRINCETON:
I wish I could go back to college!

ALL:
How do I go back to college?!
AHHHH...

NICKY:
But if I were to go back to college,
Think what a loser I'd be-
I'd walk through the quad,
And think "Oh my God..."

ALL:

"These kids are so much younger than me."

Sinclair Community College

Well, I am back in college. The fall of 2010, I started attending Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. As one can imagine, this urban commuter college located in the fine city of Dayton has a different feel to it than the campus in Denver where I spent three years (I studied abroad my junior year). I am not knocking Sinclair. During the three quarters I have been here, I have learned a lot, felt challenged and am extremely pleased with my experience. The professors are tough, but also caring. I am glad that I have this opportunity. 

 

So-Call Hamster Tunnels

That being said, let me just say that I did not choose to go to Sinclair because of its beautiful campus. Although I appreciate not having to cross two busy intersections,  I cannot get over the fact this campus reminds me of buildings being connected by hamster tunnels. I am constantly getting lost in the labyrinth that lays between Building 13 and the bookstore. But most days I forget there is the rest of the campus because I spend most of my time at Sinclair in Building 13. Gone are the days of rolling out of bed and heading to class...now I have to be ready to go early or forget parking anywhere close. 

My Home Away From Home

  

Yes the campuses are quite different, but I am experiencing a lot of the same things I did at Regis--like enjoying the lectures and challenging assignments (trying not to put them off until the last minute), but hating those awful true and false tests. Going to classes gives me an opportunity to be out on my own and away from my family life for a few hours. I do occasionally ski on the weekends during the wintertime--skiing "the mountains" in Ohio is perfect for my 42 year old body. And downtown Dayton is within walking distance of the campus. It is nice to meet up with a friend during my lunch break. Dayton is also a great place to live and raise a family. 

Photos were used with the permission of Regis University's Public Relations department and  Mr. John Getrost from Sinclair Community College.