Fast Times at the University of Oregon

This Tuesday (8/13) I decided to check out the Universty of Oregon campus to kill some time in the morning. I not only had fun strolling around, but I had two central notable experiences and a general thought about the whole experience. This post is going to differ a little from my past ones. I am going to put all the photos I took at the top and then I will share my two notable experiences and my overall thought on the campus.

Photos

Elephant statue in front of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History

Gazebo inspired by the design of Pacific Northwest Native longhouses.

Museum of Natural and Cultural History

Posing like a winner in front of Hayward Field

Hayward Field

Still a winner... just in front of the soccer field this time

Cool art piece on one of the University's fields

Cool way to make a warehouse more visually appealling

More posing in front McArthur Court building

Story One

My first notable experience was when I found the library on Campus. After walking around for the while, I was ready to charge my phone and take a load of for a few minutes. Luckily, the library had a phone charging station right next to a sweet sitting spot. However, I didn't have anything to do in the meantime while my phone charged and all the books in the library were textbooks. That was expect for the illusive personal favorites collection-a small section of books that had been specially chosen by the campus community and actually had stories. I scoured the library for about 15 minutes looking for the collection and wasn't having any luck. If you ever go to the Knight Library on the UO campus, don't expect to have help finding ANYTHING, because all of the help desks were closed and there wasn't a single librarian in sight. Fortunately, as I waited at one of the said help desks hoping for a librarian to show up, a bookshelf in the corner of the room caught my eye. Feeling my last shred of hope creep back into my feet, I walked over, and lo and behold, there was the personal favorites collection! I picked out an X-men comic book collection and looked through it until noon. I hadn't felt so triumphant in a long time!

Knight Library

Story Two

Around noon, I ordered a sandwich from the Subway on campus and walked to pick it up. The Subway was located in the Erb Memorial Union (EMU)-a mess hall that contained a few other chain eateries, like Chipotle and Starbucks. There was some kind of event going on, so the mess hall was totally packed. To be quite frank, I was a little stunned when I first arrived. However, I quickly regained my wits, picked up my sandwich, and found a nice table that was outside and away from the commotion. My lunch was surprisingly good. Not necessarily because of the food, but because of the setting and my mood. From where I was sitting, I was able to look out over the campus, whilst watching a Netflix comedy special on my phone that gave me a few laughs.

Central field in front of Erb Memorial Union (EMU)

Central Thoughts

The next four photos were taken purely to give you a better idea of the campus's vibe. With all the photos I took of the stadium and the museum, you may think that the Univeristy of Oregon has a similar vibe to the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). And while, yes, they both have "university" vibes, I was pleased to see that they actually felt very different. Not that I didn't enjoy UCSD-I did-but it wouldn't be interesting if literally every campus I traveled to was the same. I personally felt that the main difference between the campus's lied in their architecture and the mood it creates. UO's overall style was a little more rustic and older feeling. The brick buildings-pictured below-felt like something you'd see in an film recreation of a 1900s university. Almost as if UO is less afraid of being antique than UCSD. UCSD feels as though it is trying hard to be modern. Maybe I was putting way too much thought into this during my walk, but it is an idea that definitely crossed my mind

Brick dormitory on the campus

Another brick dormitory on campus... Just for effect

UO Jaqua Academic Center

Overall, I really enjoyed my morning on the campus and was very appreciative of how the architecture and vibe differed from that of the UCSD. I now have another fun adventure under my belt!