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.