Carbon Copy

A Little Campus Atmosphere

One of my favorite parts of the day is walking across campus. As one administrator once said, there's plenty of parking here, but none close to the buildings, so I park far away and then enjoy the warmth of summer mornings while I walk to work. I also like to pay attention to the people I see and what's going on, so I thought I would write down a couple of my observations.

Today was field day (or something) for the Edith Bowen kids. My usual parking lot is right by the soccer field in which they play, so I frequently walk in rhythm to their screams and laughter. Today, groups were bunched up in different corners of the field, preparing to do relays, spray balls with water, jump through hoops, and other field day games. One group of youngsters was without teacher supervision. There was a fight a-brewing. One boy circling around the other, while the bossy girls in the group were trying to cool them down. Everyone was yelling at the bully to stop. Finally the bully yells back, "EVERYONE STOP YELLING AT ME! I HAVE FEELINGS, TOO, YOU KNOW!!!" Yes, boy who one minute before was about to punch another boy, we all have feelings.

Then I passed by the tennis courts. In the summer, Utah State becomes a resort for the elderly. I don't know what they do here, really. Take classes, educate themselves, and play tennis. Every morning, elderly people are out in short tennis skirts and visors playing tennis. And they're really good. They play doubles, mostly. I watch in awe as I pass and only wish that I could be half as good. Maybe when I am elderly.

The other group frequently seen on campus in the summer are different youth groups from all over. Sometimes they are sports teams, cheerleaders, or Mormons, and they wander around feeling really cool about being on a college campus. I know exactly how they feel because I remember two separate times taking over the BYU campus, once for a youth conference and once for "Especially for Youth," which is another youth conference. I loved living in the dorms with their cute little bunkbeds and closets, desks attached to the wall, and windows looking out at the basketball courts where the boys would play, shirtless. Yes, I was fourteen years old but felt so much older just being on campus. I remember walking around in groups to different classes, scriptures in hand. And here they are still.

As I got closer to Old Main, the men come out to play with their big frisbee. These same four men, in polo shirts and khakis, play with an enormous frisbee that flies from one corner of the quad to the other, every morning almost. I wonder what they think when they see me pass... There goes that girl that gets to work at 10 o'clock every morning, always carrying her purse strapped across her chest and swinging her water bottle and cd case.