Today was one of those days where I didn't really have a big plan.
I grabbed coffee, threw my backpack on, and ended up spending a good part of the afternoon around the engineering buildings.
There seemed to be something happening everywhere.
People walking between classes, little groups talking in the atrium, tables set up, posters everywhere, people stopping for conversations and then disappearing again five minutes later.
It felt busy without feeling chaotic.
I Like Campus More When I’m Not Rushing Somewhere
I think I usually experience campus as a route.
Leave one place.
Walk quickly.
Get somewhere else.
Repeat.
Today I wasn't really doing that, so I actually noticed things.
People sitting outside with laptops.
Someone eating lunch on the grass.
Friends running into each other and somehow turning a thirty-second hello into a twenty-minute conversation.
The random person walking at a suspiciously fast speed because they are definitely late.
Normal campus stuff.
But when you're not the one rushing, it's actually kind of nice to watch.
I Wandered Into the Atrium for a While
There were tables, displays and groups of people talking inside, so obviously I had to walk around and see what was going on.
I didn't have some serious networking mission.
Mostly I looked at posters, listened to conversations here and there, and talked to a few people.
I always find events like this slightly funny because everyone seems to have a different strategy.
Some people walk straight up to a table and immediately know exactly what to ask.
Some stand nearby pretending to read a poster until they feel brave enough to say something.
I am definitely somewhere between those two.
There were conversations about classes, projects, research, future plans and the usual question that somehow follows every student around:
So what do you want to do after college?
I still think that is a wildly ambitious question to ask someone holding an iced coffee.
The Best Part Was Probably Just Talking to People
Nothing huge happened.
No dramatic life-changing conversation.
I just met a few people I wouldn't normally talk to and heard about things they were interested in.
And I actually liked that more.
University can sometimes feel strangely small when you keep seeing the same classrooms and the same people every week.
Then you walk into one busy space and suddenly remember how many completely different lives are happening around you.
Someone is thinking about grad school.
Someone is applying for internships.
Someone has been working on the same project for months.
Someone changed their mind about what they want to study.
Someone else clearly has their entire life planned out.
Or at least they look like they do.
I Took a Break With My Coffee Afterwards
Eventually I found somewhere to sit and went through a couple of things I had picked up.
My notebook was already messy, my coffee was almost finished, and I had written down a few names and random thoughts that probably won't make sense to me next week.
Pretty standard.
But I like days like this.
Not everything needs to become a big lesson or a productivity achievement.
Sometimes it's enough to go somewhere, talk to people, notice things and come home knowing slightly more about the world around you than you did that morning.
Walking Back Was Probably My Favorite Part
By the time I left, campus had started getting quieter.
The light was different, fewer people were moving around, and the whole place felt completely different from a few hours earlier.
I think that was my favorite moment of the day.
No event.
No conversation.
Nothing I needed to be doing.
Just walking back with my backpack, probably thinking about dinner.
A very ordinary day.
But a good one.
Top comments (0)