Night of the Last Lion

Over the course of many months, we have traveled all across campus to see the many buildings, statues, and other areas in the moonlight.  Now, after thousands of steps, a couple really cold nights, and seeing countless bunnies just hanging out, I have exhausted all of my ideas for places to visit, except for one.  The final location in our journey around campus, is a place that lots of people visit at the end of their Penn State career, the Nittany Lion Shrine.

The Nittany Lion Shrine is a statue of, well, the Nittany Lion.  It is on the far corner of campus beside Rec Hall.  The statue depicts a Nittany Lion crouching on the edge of a rock.  The lion looks ready to pounce and its eyes look off in the direction of Rec hall.  The statue is surrounded by a half-circle of rocks and has stone steps that lead up to towards it.  At night, the statue is also bathed in a cobalt blue light from behind.  However, this statue is not usually visited during the night.

Most people visit the Lion Shrine during the day, more specifically, during one of their last days of college.  We have all seen the pictures of graduating seniors getting pictures taken at the Lion Shrine, and on the lion's back, to commemorate their achievement.  It is for this reason that the statue is symbolic of graduation at our campus.  The statue symbolizes the idea that you have achieved your goals, of graduating, and are now worthy to sit upon the lion's back.  Sitting on the lion's back at this time of a person's life is symbolic of conquering over and taming the struggles that existed throughout college.  This is why people are drawn to the Lion Shrine, to show that they have accomplished their goals are ready to move onto the next part of their lives.  However, the Lion Shrine is not only symbolic of graduating.

Even though most people visit the Lion Shrine at the end of their college career, the Lion Shrine has been watching over everyone from nearly the beginning.  As I said earlier, the gaze of the Lion falls onto Rec Hall.  When I first came to college, one of the first, non-mandatory, events that I went to was an assembly where we were taught all the Penn State cheers in Rec Hall.  This means from the very moment that we are becoming immersed in the Penn State community; the Nittany Lion Shrine is already looking over us to see what we will accomplish in the future.

In a single post, we have look at the beginning of a person's time at Penn State and at the end.  Sadly, this is also the end of this blog.  Over the past months we have gone on a journey to see the many different places in a different light.  However, now it is time to move on, like the graduating seniors.  That is the reason that the Nittany Lion Shrine was a necessary way to bring this exploration to a close.  So next time you come think about the Lion Shrine, remember the watchful eyes of the Lion, and how they see the world in a completely different way.

Garden of Peace

In the middle of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, between all of the papers, studying, clubs, working, and other duties, it is sometimes important to take time to relax.  Sadly, with all of the excitement going on all over campus and downtown at all hours of the day, it can be hard to find a place that is truly peaceful.  However, if you look hard enough there are a couple of places that are truly serene.  In my personal experience, the most serene place on campus is the Alumni Garden.

The Alumni Garden is the little area of grass and trees beside the Alumni Center in the west part of campus.  The main feature of the garden is the duck pond full of little Koi fish, and turtles.  The pond is also often visited by ducks, hence its name.  The dock pond flows into a small waterfall that continues to flow under a bridge, and into a second smaller pond.  There is also a gazebo on the one edge of the garden, as well as benches spotted around the plot.

The thing that makes the Alumni Garden so serene is that its feeling of isolation.  The garden is not that far away from the main paths people take through campus, but it is just far away enough that people aren't constantly walking up and down the paths.  Even when people are passing through this area, they usually just walk right by it, to get on their way to the next thing they have to do.  This allows for the Alumni Garden to still stay relatively secluded.  This seclusion of the garden, makes it like an oasis on campus, in the middle of the concrete dessert, I mean "desert" (I wish it was dessert).

Not only is the Alumni Garden an oasis because of its seclusion, but also because of its environment.  The garden is a little piece of nature, in the middle of a bunch of buildings.  I know that the Hub lawn and Old Main lawn are both larger areas of grass, but they don't support life.  The Alumni Garden has its own little ecosystem.  The animals here all live together in a "circle of life," just like in The Lion King.  However, "The Circle of Life" isn't the only song from The Lion King that describes the garden, "Hakuna Matata" is also perpetuated by the area.  "Hakuna Matata," which according to The Lion King means "No Worries," is the definition of the serenity of the Alumni Garden.  It is a place where you can come to relax, and don't have to worry about your problems, but can just see, hear, smell, and feel nature (and taste too, although I wouldn't recommend it).

The Alumni Garden may be a fairly small area on campus, but it is can have a large place in our hearts.  Thanks to the garden's isolation, and environment, it becomes its own little world separate from the excitement of Penn State.  So, next time you are looking for a peaceful place to study on campus, consider visiting the Alumni Garden, to bask in the beauty of nature.

The Nightly Lion Inn

With a place as spectacular and amazing as Penn State, with its Big Ten champion teams, delicious ice cream, and stellar students, there has to be a place for people to stay whenever they come to visit.  Sure, people could stay in a hotel downtown, or with family nearby if they have any, but why not stay right on (or maybe just off) campus.  For many people that want to really become immersed into Penn State can stay on our very own hotel on the edge of campus, the Nittany Lion Inn.

The Nittany Lion Inn is a very impressive building.  It looks like a large mansion, and is bright white in color.  It could be considered Penn State's version of the White House, except President Barron doesn't live there, and it doesn't have a bowling alley (as far as I know).  At the entrance to Nittany Lion Inn are columns, that just add to the class of this building.  There are also countless windows all around the building, for all of the many rooms.  Throughout the Nittany Lion Inn's long history, many different people have looked out these windows to see the Penn State campus.

One of the things that stands out most about the Nittany Lion Inn is the color of the building.  Most of the buildings around campus are a reddish brick color, but the Nittany Lion Inn is a bright white.  This makes the Nittany Lion Inn Stand out in the night, from all of the other buildings.  This also leads visitors to swarm to the Inn like moths to a light.  The Nittany Lion Inn is the place for visitors to rest and relax on campus, while the explore all of the many different sites that Penn State has to offer.  However, people don't even really need to leave the Nittany Lion Inn to see the campus.

The Nittany Lion Inn is covered by windows on all of the sides of the building.  This allows the building to observe all of its many surroundings.  From the windows of the Nittany Lion Inn, many different places can be seen.  You can look at the Nittany Lion Shrine, different buildings full of classrooms, Atherton Street, the IST Bridge, and even a parking lot.  All of these interesting (and some not so exciting) sites around the Nittany Lion Inn allow people to venture out from the Inn, and look deeper into the Penn State "wilderness."  The windows of the Inn are not the only thing that invite people to explore.

The location of the Nittany Lion Inn is also very important.  Because the Inn is on the edge of campus, it is like a bridge for visitors from the "outside world" to come and visit the world of Penn State.  The Nittany Lion Inn is so inviting that it draws people into the Penn State community, so that they can begin to explore more deeply into it, and see how amazing it is.  Visiting the Nittany Lion Inn is, for some people, the first step in becoming a part of the Penn State community, and is also symbolic of the first step in becoming part of the community.

The Nittany Lion Inn is an impressive building on the edge of the Penn State campus.  The Nittany Lion Inn acts as an entrance for the many visitors to Penn State from around the world to begin to be a part of the Penn State community.  It not only draws in the people to the campus, but also helps to start them on their exploration of the Penn State campus.  Over the years, the Nittany Lion Inn has been the guide to show people what Penn State is, and will continue to act as one for many years to come.

The I(deal) S(trong) T(rustworthy) Bridge

All around campus, there are many different buildings of many different shape and size.  There are round buildings like forum building, small old house-like buildings like the Botany Building, and even buildings connected by a bridge people can walk under like the Huck Life Bridge.  However, one step farther than having a bridge that people can walk under, is a bridge that cars can drive under like the Information Science and Technology building.

The Information Science and Technology building, otherwise known as the IST Bridge, is a fairly large building on the edge of campus.  It is a fairly new building, but its true claim to fame is that the building turns into a bridge over Atherton Street.  The bridge itself is well lit and open to the air with windows to look down on the road, but on either end of the bridge, there are classes and even an eating area.

The IST Bridge is an important building on campus, that does not only serve as an area for students to learn in, but it also protects the students.  Atherton street can be a dangerous road to cross at any time, but crossing over the IST bridge is a much safer to get across the road.  The bridge not only protects people from having to cross the dangerous road, but also from the elements.  Thanks to the roof on the bridge, people crossing the bridge can walk through without being pelted by rain or snow.  This even makes it a great place to study outside even when it is raining, which I am sure many people will take advantage of once it is warmer out again.

The IST Bridge not only protect people with its roof and bridge structure, but also with its lights.  The IST Bridge is incredibly lit up, one of the brightest places on campus.  Also along the ramp leading up to the bridge, is a line of lights, that guide people to it.  These lights are what draw people into the IST Bridge like a bunch of moths.  The IST Bridge uses its guiding light to protect people, and lead the safely where they need to go.

The IST Bridge does not only shelter people, it also allows them to safely look upon the outside world, without having to deal with the elements.  The windows along the IST Bridge allow people to sit and watch the cars drive by and the rest of the world, while still protecting people from the outside elements.  The IST Bridge serves as a secure base for people to go to for protection, but does not let people hide from the outside world.  Rather, it gives people a chance to prepare for the elements outside, and the things they will have to go through in their future.

The Information Sciences and Technology Building is a very interesting building on campus.  The building not only is a safe way for people to cross Atherton Street, and protects people from the elements, but also puts off a guiding light to lead people across and allows people to look out and see what will be in their future.  Even though the IST Bridge will be renamed to the Westgate building (which my roommate has just told me), it will continue to be a guardian(gatekeeper?) to all the students at Penn State.

Look-Out for Snow

Long ago, when I was in high school, my chemistry class took a trip to see the Penn State Nuclear Reactor.  Like any good trip to Penn State, we had to stop at the creamery to get some ice cream.  It was a nice spring day, so we all ate outside.  While everyone was eating, my friends and I walked over to the very edge of the plateau by the creamery to the edge of campus.  At this edge of campus, there was a short wall that we sat on, to look out across the field toward the Law building and Arboretum.  I found this area very cool to be able to look out across the yard and see far away, while behind us was only a bunch of buildings crowding our vision.  That is the reason that I went to this spot again on a lovely (by lovely I mean horribly freezing, and windy) winter night.

I don't actually know what this place is called, so, I like to call it the Look-Out by the Creamery.  I call it this because I like lookouts, where you can see for a distance, and because it is by the creamery (and because I like creameries too).  The only thing of note in this area is a short wall, just tall enough to sit on the edge of a yard that stretches to the road.  As I said before, I went to this place on a lovely night in the middle of winter (by that I mean five days before spring), just two days after a blizzard so large (by prediction) that it cancelled classes at the Pennsylvania State University.  Suffice to say, there was a lot of snow on the ground that night.

Standing at this wall, you can see for a pretty far distance, farther than from most other places on campus.  For this reason, it is a great place to look out into the distance and imagine what is out their.  This is a place to ponder visions of the future and ways to reach those visions.  Along the base of the wall are small lights, that can light the way into the darkness of the future and the unknown.  However, on this night the snow had piled up enough to completely cover these lights.  The only hint that there was anything under the snow but the ground, was the glow coming from the lights.  This shows just how powerful this light is in shining through the darkness of the unknown (and the whiteness of snow).

Sometimes however, our vision of the future can be blurred by things happening in our lives.  This blurring our vision can even affect our learning in knowledge.  This reminds me of something my fourth grade teacher used to tell us when we were struggling with division.  She said that at that point are understanding of it was like we were trapped in  a blizzard (how ironic) and that eventually we would find our way out of the blizzard and into an understanding of division.  Even today when I think back to trying to learn division, all I can picture in my head is a storm of dense snow.  Our visions of the future can be blurred by these blizzards in our mind.  However, once we are able to remove these blizzards from being in our way, we can envision the future.

(I must confess that that whole last paragraph was inspired by me taking this really blurry picture (my excuse is that I couldn't feel if my fingers were still attached) and then by my effort to make the picture look more presentable.)

The Look-Out by the Creamery may not be a location that many people on campus notice, or even think about, but it is a very important place to me.  I believe this is truly a place where you can look out and envision what the future will hold, even when it is blurred by the many blizzard in our lives (both physical and mental).  Next time you want a place to just sit and watch the cars drive by, people walking, or just the word, I recommend you go to the Look-Out by the Creamery, just please wait until spring truly starts.
 

Igniting the Hope within the BJC

THON.  The 46 hour long dance marathon and world's largest student run philanthropy.  Even though it has been two weeks since THON weekend, it still feels like just yesterday.  Each year this is one of the largest events that occurs on campus.  THON may have started from humble beginnings, but it has rose to a magnitude such that it fills the second largest structure on campus, the Bryce Jordan Center (second only to Beaver stadium).  The BJC has now been home to THON for ten years, and has become the home of hope on campus.

The BJC is a large arena in the shape of an oval on campus.  On the inside of the BJC, a hall rings around the whole building, with the inner arena in the middle.  During THON weekend, the BJC comes to life in a variety of colors and lights.  This variety of colors can be best seen in the seating area around the arena (but with nobody sitting in the seats).  On this weekend, there is also a diamond shaped stage at one end of the floor.  On the outside of the BJC is a ring around the whole building that dances with many different colored lights.

The first thing that you notice when you are walking up to the BJC on THON weekend at night (during the day it's the line to get in) is the lights dancing around the BJC.  These dancing lights are like the dancers inside of the BJC, full of hope.  Hope to make it through the 46 hours, hope to defeat cancer, and hope to light the way to the BJC.  In the dark of night, it is hard to see the roof of the BJC, but you can see the right of light.  It is like all of the hope that fills the BJC is so great that it has blown off the roof to the building, releasing the light of hope into the night.

This light of hope is not only on the outside of the BJC, but also on the inside.  All throughout THON weekend, the stands around the arena floor are packed with people to cheer on the dancers and the kids.  Every organization in this crowd, has different colorful THON t-shirts, that makes their group stand out from the rest.  All the clubs also have giant signs for their organizations with many of these signs also lighting up.  All of these factors add together to create a rainbow of light and color all around the stands to inspire hope in the dancers on the floor.  This people evokes the hope within all everyone who witnesses this sight to believe in THON's cause.

The hope that comes from everyone inside the BJC is so great that it inspires other people to believe.  This ability to inspire is so great that it leads new people to take on THON's cause, and talk about this story.  One example of this power to draw people into the hope, was the surprise concert by DNCE (whose most notable member is Kevin Jonas...or was it Nick?).  The hope created by THON is so great that it inspires so many people around the world to believe in its cause, even people as well-known as Joe Jonas (the true Jonas brother of DNCE).

THON is an amazing event that truly does build hope in people, dancers, and kids everywhere.  The BJC may be the home for THON, but it is not the BJC that creates the hope.  It is the people inside the building, that are working to do something greater than themselves for the good of others that inspires the hope that flows from the BJC.  For this reason, the BJC is the home of hope at Penn State.

Parking Perspective

Every day when we walk from class to class, we usually follow the same paths.  We loop around buildings, or go through them, and follow the concrete paths that run all around campus like a maze.  To us this is how life always is, however, birds, and even the Penn State squirrels have different perspectives on the world.  Birds can fly high up in the air, and look down upon the world in a way that we usually can't in our everyday lives.  However, one of the best places that we can try to see the world from this different perspective is from the top of one of the parking garages.

The parking garages on campus are all fairly similar.  They are tall rectangular structures with many different levels that people can park their cars on.  All of the parking garages jut up above the other buildings that surround them, and from the top of one you can see all cross campus.  The parking garage I went to was on this night was the HUB deck, which is right beside, you guessed it, the HUB.  From the top of the deck you can look out across the HUB Lawn, White building, South halls, and even up to the life science bridge.

When you look at the world from another perspective, you can see everything in a different light, in this case the moonlight.  At the top of the parking garage, everything looks different from above.  One particular thing that I had never noticed before was that the one roof of the HUB was a wave like shape.  Whenever we look at things from a different perspective we can better understand things such as where people are coming from and how to do things we did not understand before.  When we think about things from other perspectives, the mysteries of the world can start to unravel.

From the top of the parking garage you can look down and see the many paths that snake all around campus that people crowd during the day.  At night these paths are barren of people, but still connect all of the many buildings all around campus.  These paths are like the connections between people, because each path leads to a multitude of different places, like we have an intricate system of relationships.  Sometimes it is important to look at these relationships from above to better see how everything fits together, like a puzzle.

Birds have an interesting view of the world that it is hard for us to ever understand.  Only when we try to think about things from a different perspective, can we begin to better understand things.  This is the basis of the idea of walking in someone else's shoes, as well as the idea behind this blog.  This blog's goal is to look at Penn State from a different perspective, a different light, the moonlight and why the parking garage personifies the idea of looking at things from a different perspective.