I decided to take advantage of the few warm-weather days we have left and spend an hour studying in the Coker Arboretum today. The Arboretum is a nice change of scenery from the library or dorm room for most students, allowing them to spread out across the grass or stretch out over a bench. Students can escape the bland halls of brick and mortar of academia and engross themselves in nature while still remaining on campus. Nothing compares to feeling the warmth of the sun and listening to the sounds of nature as you update your Facebook status using the available Wi-Fi. The relaxing atmosphere as allows students to dive into texts like Thoreau’s “Walden,” or the poetry of Wordsworth, or just simply throw a Frisbee around with their shirts off.
As always, I noticed some interesting trends. Here are the stats:
Dogs on leashes: 2
Dogs off leashes looking like they are having way more fun: 1
Students adjusting their laptop screens to avoid the glare of the sun: 2
Plant names on the identification labels that are impossible to pronounce: 4 (out of the 5 I attempted)
Students taking pictures for their Intro to photography class: 1
Couples pretending to study, but actually just staring and giggling at each other: 1
Third wheel actually trying to study: 1
Moms power walking with strollers carrying sleeping babies: 2
Men ambling along the paths whistling to himself: 1 (you know who I’m talking about)
Trees that most likely would look extremely ominous at night: All
Distracting squirrels chasing each other as they ran across the grass, up a tree, across the branches to another tree, spiral down the trunk, dart across the walking path, ran into the bushes: 2
Be sure to visit Pit Talk every Tuesday for a new installment of By-The-Numbers, and remember, everyone is a statistic.
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