From the Library

This is an interesting day. Rather than stay at home and do my work I just ‘ kidnapped’ my laptop, grading, and lesson plans and have been hiding on the third floor of my old college’s lovely remodeled library.

Why couldn’t it have been this nice when I was a student here? I spent hours in corners without any real form of light in the dark tomb that the library was at the time. Every Sunday I would claim the same little corner study table and spend hours upon hours working on my class work and research for various essays and articles. I always took the last study table on the third floor, in the North West corner of the library.

Now, the whole front is windows, there are arm chairs, tables, reading corners, mini-lounges with fireplaces, and beautifully sun-lit study rooms on every floor. The whole north facing wall of the floor I am on is windows that over look the whole of campus and across the valley. This is really quite lovely. And I have reclaimed my corner, and wonderful study table with over head sky lights, windows faced across the valley, my own little arm chair.

It’s odd to be back here, not really being a student any longer. But I feel at ease here. This was almost ever day of my life for five years; four years of under graduate work, one year of masters. Hell, I am even staring at the English apartment and looking at the windows of the one classroom I spent most of my time in. Looking at the same trees, being in this place – it’s odd to think that I have lived here since September of 1999.

I chose to come to this place, this school because no one I knew from Alaska was coming here. It was 3000 miles away from home and every thing I ever knew. I was planning on coming here for college, I never really thought that I would make this valley my home.