Campus Scene

While comfortably growing older and accepting senior-citizen status, I find myself seeking out settings to stay in touch with younger generations. Rock concerts in the neighborhood are too noisy and ruckus. Fortunately, there is a serene college campus less than a few minutes’ walk from the marina. It offers a peaceful outdoor ambiance and at the same time a buzz of intellectual activity at the library, student union, and a coffee shop hangout. The curving paths through the campus are frequently ringed with announcements aimed at skateboarders wearing earbuds and musically bending with the walkways. Sharing the paths are bikers loaded with backpacks and harried students rushing between classes. It is a good place to catch up on the music, attire, and body language of students.

After a daily breakfast read of the NY Times on a tiny smartphone screen, I frequently go to the library and indulge in flipping through the paper pages of the Sunday edition. The library is well appointed with comfortable seating and a great view of a nearby Coast Guard port, Fish & Wildlife Institute research vessels, and a private marina. While enjoying a quiet read of a real paper, I hear a background hum of dozens of computers and the whispers of students hunched over their keyboards.

The coffee shop hangout is more boisterous but still friendly enough for my use of their free Wi-Fi service to catch up on email. They also have a small bookcase for free book exchanges. The quality of the books is a bit higher than at the marina library, which features mainly mysteries and romance novels. One time while browsing a book, a young student passed by and said, “I liked your lecture today, very thought provoking.” Before I had a chance to say he mistook me for a faculty member, he was already out of earshot.

The student union is an attractive venue for cafeteria lunch with ample seating. The facility also hosts seminars for the general public that are attended by students as well as town folks. Once while standing in line to pay for a sandwich, a young co-ed approached and offered to pay for my lunch. Bewildered, I asked, “Why would you do that?” She had accumulated too many unused food chits and wanted to do a good deed. I offered to give her cash for the chits but she was adamant about doing good. Still bewildered, I enjoyed my free sandwich.

What makes the nearby campus so enjoyable besides the scenic waterfront setting is the friendly encounters with young people. It is a good feeling to know that these people will inherit and manage our increasingly complicated world.