With my friends being in class all day, I had to venture on campus all by myself. I felt like a freshman again; I had to figure out how to get to campus, where each building is located, and familiarize myself with campus traditions and nomenclature. In order to “fit-in” and not look lost, I used Google Maps while listening to music. It was like going on college tours all over again, except this time it was by myself, with a camera.
Twenty minutes of walking later, I made it to the football stadium. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is a massive building that can be seen a half a mile away. It makes Ross-Ade Stadium look like a general campus building. They allow for students to workout and exercise within the bleacher section (and photographers like myself to take photos). This would be the view for students attending a UF football game (with the crowd levels of Ross-Ade Stadium).
Afterwards, I walked towards the academic part of campus to get a general view of what students see during passing periods. On the northeast side of campus is the North Lawn, where many people lie outside and study, or get tan (since students have that privilege almost every day). This would be equivalent to Purdue’s Memorial Mall.
After several hours of taking photos in the heat, I needed to take a break and grab lunch. I met up with my friend who was working on her senior design project in the Association for Computing Machinery office. There, I immediately networked with other students who shared the same interests that I had. These new friends made it feel like I was a UF student this whole time, and made me feel like I am at home.
After a few hours of introductions and generic socializing, I headed back outside to take more photos of campus. One difference I noticed between Purdue and University of Florida is the preferred methods of transportation. I had expected many students to take longboards to class in order to get out of the heat, however this was not the case. Many students own scooters (no, not the ones from Razor), and use that to get to and from classes.
On the east side of campus, by the College of Education, there is a tunnel that allows for students to easily cross a busy intersection. Inside, there is a bunch of graffiti, which contains colorful messages and images that brighten a dark tunnel. On the other side, an image caught my eye – the DMUF logo was painted cleanly, to advertise for their marathon (where they raised $2,015,307.17 for their CMN hospital – becoming the second highest Dance Marathon in the country)
