My Response to UIC Blogs

        For on-coming or present freshman, very large campuses can be very intimidating. I know the fear can be overwhelming because I felt it myself. Coming from a school that was consisting of a single building and had a small population, coming to UIC has been trying on my body and mind. In English 160, we were instructed to observe certain areas or “neighborhoods” of UIC and really take in our surroundings. This may have saved many students from going insane from the fear of getting lost.
Because of my class’s observation assignment, I was able to really pay attention to my surroundings. My area consisted of the Art and Architecture Building, Lincoln Hall, Douglas Hall, and Grant Hall. During my observation, everyone seemed relaxed and the atmosphere in and around the buildings was comforting. The difference in history of AA and the halls showed in the structure of the buildings; AA looked much older than the halls, which looked very modern. The buildings showed how old UIC is (being built in 1967) and how it has changed over the years. Also, the layout of AA (double helix) gives students a taste of art in architecture that UIC offers as a major.
When reading Ashley Clary’s blog about her area (University Hall, Henry Hall, Jefferson Hall, and Stevenson Hall), I got a really good visual on how the buildings looked. She used fairly informal diction and syntax, and detailed all the buildings very well. I believe she successfully “painted a picture” of how the buildings and areas looked by describing the interior and exterior of the buildings. I got a strong sense of the relaxing atmosphere around her area, with the exception of the doom-filled description of UH. Since she portrayed UH as “[lurking] at the edge of my peripheral every time I’m in the area” I know that if I see that looming building, I’m in her area.
Alyssa Salemi also had a very good blog. The diction and syntax were easy enough to fully understand, but kept the college student standard. She did a very good job describing the color of the Residence Halls (stating that their color was a contrast to the rest of the buildings is very helpful to freshman) and giving the exact location of her area was very useful. Her overall organization was good, because she started with describing the exterior and interior of the buildings, gave stories from students that live there, and gave some history on the buildings. It‘s amazing to think that since 1985, the campus has been growing as a resident college and that they had more need for resident halls. The blog had a very good flow to it. This blog also gave me a clearly sense of what the buildings look like and their purposes.  Since reading the blog, my fear of taking up residence at UIC worsened because I really don’t enjoy buildings with confusing layouts.
Lastly, Minh Huynh’s blog was very detailed in explaining the purposes of his area, The Recreational Center and Student Center East. He clearly explained all the purposes of the buildings. Though his diction and syntax was more formal than the other blogs I read, it’s still easy to read and understandable. I was able to get a clear sense that his buildings were important to UIC students because he took the time to describe all the essential aspects of the building. The Recreational Center is used for exercise and the Student Center East contains a TCF Bank and many places to get food.  As for history, these buildings are a more recent addition to UIC so they show more recent history.
Having read all the blogs about different areas and observing one myself, I feel more connected to UIC. Reading about the areas from students that are just like me allowed me to trust their observations. Many freshman feel more comfortable trusting students that have been at UIC for longer than them and can relate to the older students. This project helped me a lot because I was able to get a clearer picture of what UIC is, how it looks, and what it can do for me. Throughout my observations and reading those of my colleagues, I noticed where the points of UIC’s mission statement showed up. “To create knowledge that transforms our views of the world and, through sharing and application, transforms the world” can be observed by looking at the difference of the buildings, showing transformation from old to new. “To provide a wide range of students with the educational opportunity only a leading research university can offer” is shown in the different jobs each building is responsible for, providing for the students everything they need to prepare for their career. And finally, “To foster scholarship and practices that reflect and respond to the increasing diversity of the U.S. in a rapidly globalizing world” is revealed by simply looking around and seeing all the different types of people UIC teaches. UIC hold true to its mission statement.