Ashley
Clary
The
University of Illinois at Chicago, UIC, as it's commonly know, is
like most schools: completely intimidating and overbearing the first
week that you're there. However, that will
eventually subside into a mellow overwhelming nauseous feeling in
the pit of your stomach for the next month or so.
The feeling will, sooner or later, seemingly disappear only to show
up at the most inappropriate times like during midterms or worse,
finals. Now we all know that new areas can make
us students feel like our stomachs are dropping, but those feelings
can be changed depending on place where one finds oneself on campus.
Out of
all the buildings on campus, University Hall, UH for short, is
without a doubt the most intimidating one there.
This might have a lot to do with the fact that you have to crane
your neck to an uncomfortable degree in order to see the top.
It might even have to do with the fact that there are
“barriers”-like metal bars surrounding it.
Plus when you mix in the older people in suits and such, and all the
cement, UH definitely gives off a serious and hard-to-approach vibe.
Each floor of the building is dedicated to one particular major,
meaning that each floor gives off a different feeling.
For instance, the French floor, which has pictures of it's teaching
assistants, seems more welcoming than the Math floor, which is
virtually empty. Despite that, each floor is
still pretty welcoming, with the doors to everyones office open.
The purpose of UH is to give students a chance, outside of class,
to ask questions and understand whatever it is they are learning
better. UH is one of the older buildings on
campus, which one only has to look at to guess.
The reason for that is because of it's simple design, it is
obviously not as modern-looking, like Grant Hall, Lincoln Hall, and
Douglas Hall, which are all made from glass.
When asking students how they viewed UH a lot of them gave the
response that it's “an intimidating place that [they] don't really
go to” UH doesn't really seem like the kind of place that'll
become a part of my daily life at UIC. Mostly
because unless I really need to talk to my teacher face-to-face I
don't have a reason to go there. So all this
building does for me is pretty much lurk at the edge of my vision
every time I'm in the area.
(the "barriers" surrounding UH) (University Hall)
Henry
Hall and Jefferson Hall are pretty much the complete opposite of UH,
except for the fact that since they were designed at the same time
as UH they look like miniature versions of it.
These two buildings are not only a reasonable height, but they are
also surrounded by grass and trees. It really gives the building an
open and relaxed feel. Personally, I love to
sit against one of the trees near these buildings, and watch the
people walk by. It's such a leisurely area,
where loud talking and fast walking are definitely not needed.
One girl I spoke to even mentioned that “if [she] had to choose
anywhere on campus to relax, this would be the place”.
Typically it seems that most of the people lingering around are
upperclassmen. The inside of these buildings
actually threw me off because I wasn't expecting two art buildings
to be so boring. There were a few interesting
art pieces, like colorful paintings and Greek-esque statues, here
and there, but it was mostly empty walls, and empty hallways.
These buildings don't actually play a role in my life at UIC, but
the area around it does. I really recommend
going there if you ever want to just relax.
(the area to relax in) (Henry and Jefferson Hall)
The
last building in my area is Stevenson Hall, which is probably the
most relevant building for me since I actually have classes there.
To switch it up a bit, I'll talk about the inside first.
Much like the previous buildings this one is no exception to the
empty walls, and hallways. However, unlike the
others, this one has a sort of lounge area that kids can sit in
while they wait for their classes to begin, or if they just feel
like sitting somewhere. That little lounge area
definitely makes the building seem more open and less soul-sucking.
Stevenson Hall feels a bit more modern than the other buildings,
which might be because of the lounge and the huge windows right in
front of said lounge. This buildings purpose
seems to be for general education classes, like english and math.
Now as for the outside part of Stevenson Hall, I am
thoroughly impressed. There is a very good
concrete-to-grass ratio, and a shade-to-sun ratio.
It's just perfect and I love so incredibly much.
The people around this area tend to be underclassmen, with a few
upperclassmen flowing in for whatever reason.
(Stevenson Hall)
All four
of these buildings are pretty decent. There
hasn't been a single one that I've looked at and thought that it was
dirty, or unsafe. I feel like UIC as a whole is
pretty good with both of those categories. Also,
UIC is an incredibly diverse school, so it's hard to pinpoint a
single area which one group of people particularly occupy.
If you ask almost any student how they feel about UIC or the area
they're in at the moment, most of them will only have positive things
to say about it. I know I would.
Honestly, UIC has it's faults, such as having too much concrete, but
despite that I really like this place. It's not
home yet but it feels comfortable.
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