Everyone needs to start somewhere. For me, for this class, and for this ambitious project it is Saint Martin's University. For those first visiting this esteemed campus, they are greeted by beautiful red brickwork and a courtyard walled in by Old Main on one side and the monastery on the other. The cloistered feeling of the courtyard, as large as it is, is typical of Saint Martin's. Rather than feeling restricting, it feels quiet and safe; this is a place of focused study and meditation, isolated from the noises of the outside world.
This is what I saw when I first visited Saint Martin's, and it contributed in no small way to why I chose to apply here. As someone who is easily distracted, a focused environment of study is important to me. Old Main is the largest single building on campus aside from the enormous Marcus Pavilion. The other buildings are three stories high or less, and spread apart over a small space.
I do not spend a great deal of time in this courtyard anymore, as most of my time on campus is spent in the classroom and then traveling from place to place. As I am not one of the resident freshmen, I rarely have need to see the fountain that is the center point between the school's administration building and the monastery.
I do, however, spend a fair amount of time in O'Grady Library. I have made a good number of visits to the school ITS department, mostly for legitimate help with my electronics, but also for the occasional social call. But the library itself is also a great resource for studying either online or with physical books. I am struck by the imagery of the huge bible in the foyer as I enter, but I am puzzled by the building's exterior. It has a modern design, but it appears to have been lifted directly out of a civil construction simulator video game.
There is this large open book on the awning over the door. It's a very good visual identifier that this building is the library, especially since its name is engraved, hidden in the shadows in the headstone above the doors.
In such an august environment, the oversize book seems like a visual gag. I have never made any inquiries about the book, nor have I asked if any of my fellow students agree with me. I don't wish to be disrespectful, after all - someone might think it's pretty clever. In a school full of students learning civil engineering, I think that it would be neat to see some of the cities they built in Sid Meier's SimCity 2000 come to life in the future. In a sense - I could do without the user-generated tornadoes or fire-breathing lizards crawling up from the oceans that players of that game could summon upon their simulated cities at will.
It is from this almost comically-designed building that I will start on my task of exploring my hometown as a tourist.
I feel like I should clarify that last statement - I am not a native Washingtonian. In fact, I am from California, originally, from a small town buried in grand Los Angeles. Military service in the US Army took me from one side of the nation to the other, and I settled here for both personal reasons and career aspirations. Touring my adopted hometown is likely to open up some new perspectives for me, as my impressions of Olympia have been limited to my own laziness.
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| Courtyard at Saint Martin's |
This is what I saw when I first visited Saint Martin's, and it contributed in no small way to why I chose to apply here. As someone who is easily distracted, a focused environment of study is important to me. Old Main is the largest single building on campus aside from the enormous Marcus Pavilion. The other buildings are three stories high or less, and spread apart over a small space.
I do not spend a great deal of time in this courtyard anymore, as most of my time on campus is spent in the classroom and then traveling from place to place. As I am not one of the resident freshmen, I rarely have need to see the fountain that is the center point between the school's administration building and the monastery.
I do, however, spend a fair amount of time in O'Grady Library. I have made a good number of visits to the school ITS department, mostly for legitimate help with my electronics, but also for the occasional social call. But the library itself is also a great resource for studying either online or with physical books. I am struck by the imagery of the huge bible in the foyer as I enter, but I am puzzled by the building's exterior. It has a modern design, but it appears to have been lifted directly out of a civil construction simulator video game.
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| +5 Literacy in your town |
In such an august environment, the oversize book seems like a visual gag. I have never made any inquiries about the book, nor have I asked if any of my fellow students agree with me. I don't wish to be disrespectful, after all - someone might think it's pretty clever. In a school full of students learning civil engineering, I think that it would be neat to see some of the cities they built in Sid Meier's SimCity 2000 come to life in the future. In a sense - I could do without the user-generated tornadoes or fire-breathing lizards crawling up from the oceans that players of that game could summon upon their simulated cities at will.
It is from this almost comically-designed building that I will start on my task of exploring my hometown as a tourist.
I feel like I should clarify that last statement - I am not a native Washingtonian. In fact, I am from California, originally, from a small town buried in grand Los Angeles. Military service in the US Army took me from one side of the nation to the other, and I settled here for both personal reasons and career aspirations. Touring my adopted hometown is likely to open up some new perspectives for me, as my impressions of Olympia have been limited to my own laziness.
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