A Blue Demon spends a day with Sparty
Around 10:00am on September 26th, 2017, I began my walk around Michigan State University’s campus. Michigan state University was founded in 1855 by the State of Michigan, and is known as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. The agriculture program at MSU is still a thriving department. It is a very beautiful part of campus with fields as far as the eyes can see. The campus is so different than DePaul. The air smells of trees and grass. Rather than trash and smog. The air is bright blue and clear as can be. Rather than crowded by buildings and fog. The streets are busy but nothing compared to downtown at dinner time. I feel strange. I don’t know how to feel about being in my home town, in the college I almost attended. It is a beautiful campus but something isn’t right. I’m not sure if it’s how calm the sidewalks are or if I just don’t know where I am so I am uneasy. (10:05) It is 80 degrees and very sunny, as I walk I realize I am squinting very hard because of how bright it is outside. And I thank god that I chose a tank top and shorts today. (10:07) As I walk a biker passes me. There is no warning, no “on your right” or “coming behind you”, just swoops by without a trace. This happens throughout my whole walk, mulitple bikers fly by barely missing me. I would never bike in the city and this makes me jealous of the people being able to bike here. (10:10) A group of skateboards whip by scaring me with their quick entrance into my personal space. (10:14) There are people walking staring at their telephones as they go to and from classes. They look sad and stressed. I wonder if this is what I look like walking around DePaul, headphones in. (10:15) I approach construction. There is a very large truck that is about to cross the sidewalk, the man gets out of his truck and closes the sidewalk with a large chainlink fence. I wait while the man drives his truck half into the road. I think, this would never be possible in the city. He then returns to reopen the sidewalk for me and the other pedestrians waiting.
(10:26) I follow the Grand River trail through campus, I miss seeing the beautiful autumn trees by the river. The river is very calm but brown. The river is a very pretty thing to have through my hometown but the color is very unnatural and gross. (10:33) I hear a very loud leaf blower and leaf-blower man whistling while he works by a chapel. (10:36) As I continue walking I walk past “the rock”, a white rock that MSU puts out and people are allowed to decorate it however they would like. There are about 5 people there, three boys and two girls, they are drawing the “Spartan S” on the rock in green. (10:35) I notice a very nice smell coming from one of the cafeterias, it smells like cookies. As I return to the street I quickly forget about that smell. The lovely cookie smells are replaced by gas fumes from the buses. This smell reminds me of the city and makes me think of exact memories in Chicago that I have smelt the same smell. (10:37) I suddenly realize I miss my city and all the hustle and bustle that keeps me busy. The bus fumes are not very miss able, but I long for the city. (10:40) I continue walking and come to a place by the river where students are in the water.
(10:43) There is a very large rock structure in the middle of the river area and students are taking pictures of it. (10:48) I decide not to go in the water, there are too many people around. As I am walking away I think about how those rocks got there. (10:50) I am now heading back towards my starting point and decide to go around the other way on different streets. (10:53) As I walk I notice a lot of the same things as before, silent bikers, fast paced walkers, maintenance workers. The people walking here seem to be on a mission. No one seems to be walking just for fun. I wonder again if I look like that also or if I look relaxed. The students look stressed and focused on the math problem they are doing in their head as they walk. I am almost a mile from where I started and all the students on this side of the campus look and act the same as the students on the other.
(10:54) A moped zips by me on the street. I laugh to myself at the two 20-year-old men on a moped together. But hey, we all have to get places somehow. (10:56) I pass by the Education building at MSU. It is about twice the size of the education building at DePaul. I think about the class sizes at this time. I doubt the teachers at MSU know every students name, it just isn’t possible. I am thankful for having close relationships with my teachers and being in classes with 40 students rather than 400. (10:59) I pass the Michigan State Community Music School, I suddenly feel very nostalgic. I took choir classes here for 14 years and met 3 of my lifetime best friends here. I stop to take a picture and send it to them quickly receiving texts back saying how we miss each other and give our bests. (11:00) As I am taking a picture I recognize my choir director’s car in the parking lot and decide to go say hello. (11:05) I talk with Mr. Zeuch for about 15 minutes about college, how his choirs are doing, his child, etc. (11:10) As I leave the music school I look up and realize I am walking past someone I went to school with. I smile and say hello. This is also a very weird feeling, I came to DePaul with the mindset of not wanting to go to high school again, with the same people. So, seeing someone I know walk past me was very odd. (11:15) I continue pass the music school and go past more dorms. All the dorms and buildings at MSU are very old, they all look very similar and I think how confusing the campus must be. I grew up with MSU as my backyard but I never realized how massive it was. I am lost without my Google Maps to guide me through the maze of learning.
(11:20) A group of squirrels runs past my feet. I stop and observe the squirrels. Two have ran into the tree and are chasing each other and one stayed near me eating.
(11:27) As I am nearing the end of my walk I see a trail going under a bridge. I follow it and find beatiful graffiti covering the walls of the underpass. (11:32) Around this time I finish my walk and sit by the river path to collect my thoughts. Michigan State has a beautiful campus but I love DePaul’s diversity and uniqueness and I can’t wait to return home.
