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.