Wayne State: An adventure unto itself
Day 1
Having scouted the campus out the Thursday before, I was able to navigate streets of Detroit like a pro, laying my foot down on the gas pedal on more than a few occassions when the situation called for such drastic measures. I parked right across the street from Wayne State tower, under the looming shadow of the NPR broadcasting antenna. To my chagrin, everyone (ok, more like 40%) had one of those massive "Club" locks across their steering wheels. I had forgotten mine--a gross oversight on my part. I crossed my fingers, said a quick prayer to whatever deity that exists that my car won't get stolen, and set off for that 7 minute trek up Cass that would take me into that four square block beauty that is Wayne State.
I found my first Unitarian Universalist church within the first block. It was a pretty austere old brick building that was built--well like a church. One of those buildings you glance and know right away that it's a house of worship. The windows were tiny squares of rippled glass cubes about the size of my fist and some of them had cracks running down its length. It looked dark inside, but I couldn't work up the guts to walk up those steps and peer inside. Maybe one of these days I will. Outside on the well-treaded lawn stood a wooden obelisk, 4 feet tall, that had little plastic signs glued along the length of it. "Peace on Earth," it read in all of its various languages, and was oddly reminiscent of its miniature cousin I first saw on the desk of my fifth grade teacher.
Second block wasn't too interesting. Moving right along to the third block. To my right and across the street was a diner, followed by a Christian book store, followed by a Christian Church, followed by another book store....and right diagonally across the street....take a good guess. A two story tall Barnes and Noble: College Edition, decked out in shiny glass and vaulting warehouse ceilings complete with textbooks whose sole purpose in life is to empty out student pocketbooks and clean out bank accounts. To my left would be the Old University Building, complete with clocktower and rustic orange bricks. The decoration I found wanting was the climbing ivy.
Did you know that the crosswalks have timers next to the little white glowing person that tells you it's ok to walk across the street now? Crossing Warren, the timer is set for exactly 47 seconds. You wonder why they couldn't have picked a number that's...less odd.
Ladies and gentleman, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. This little train is going to move right along.
Most of the biological since buildings are on the southern end of campus and takes up a good quarter of the campus if not more. Higher north we get more libraries, student centers (their version of the Union--except they have MacDonalds, so they're cooler), Business Administration building, Chemistry, State Hall, DeRoy Auditorium, and a few other buildings that's of little consequence to me and I quite frankly just don't remember. Wayne also has no air condition, which I think is a good thing from a conservationist point of view, but it also threw me off a little because in my spoilt brain, libraries and AC is somewhat de facto.
First lecture of the week. Professor was 30 minutes late. Spent the whole remainder of the lecture going over his 4 page syallbus. That is to say that he talked veeery veeeery slooowly not to mention the fact that he read it word for word with the addition of a few jokes. And honestly, I have to admit, I'm not quite so used to buying my own scantron sheets. Blue books yes, but scantrons? What else does my tuition not cover? Newer computers and internet browers other than the default Safari and IE perhaps?
On the bright side, I didn't feel unsafe. There were homeless people, just like in A2, asking for spare change but they weren't aggressive about it. Everyone there was actually fairly nice. A lady even asked me for directions and hopefully I pointed her in the right direction.
I still miss UM though. This just doesn't feel like home.
Having scouted the campus out the Thursday before, I was able to navigate streets of Detroit like a pro, laying my foot down on the gas pedal on more than a few occassions when the situation called for such drastic measures. I parked right across the street from Wayne State tower, under the looming shadow of the NPR broadcasting antenna. To my chagrin, everyone (ok, more like 40%) had one of those massive "Club" locks across their steering wheels. I had forgotten mine--a gross oversight on my part. I crossed my fingers, said a quick prayer to whatever deity that exists that my car won't get stolen, and set off for that 7 minute trek up Cass that would take me into that four square block beauty that is Wayne State.
I found my first Unitarian Universalist church within the first block. It was a pretty austere old brick building that was built--well like a church. One of those buildings you glance and know right away that it's a house of worship. The windows were tiny squares of rippled glass cubes about the size of my fist and some of them had cracks running down its length. It looked dark inside, but I couldn't work up the guts to walk up those steps and peer inside. Maybe one of these days I will. Outside on the well-treaded lawn stood a wooden obelisk, 4 feet tall, that had little plastic signs glued along the length of it. "Peace on Earth," it read in all of its various languages, and was oddly reminiscent of its miniature cousin I first saw on the desk of my fifth grade teacher.
Second block wasn't too interesting. Moving right along to the third block. To my right and across the street was a diner, followed by a Christian book store, followed by a Christian Church, followed by another book store....and right diagonally across the street....take a good guess. A two story tall Barnes and Noble: College Edition, decked out in shiny glass and vaulting warehouse ceilings complete with textbooks whose sole purpose in life is to empty out student pocketbooks and clean out bank accounts. To my left would be the Old University Building, complete with clocktower and rustic orange bricks. The decoration I found wanting was the climbing ivy.
Did you know that the crosswalks have timers next to the little white glowing person that tells you it's ok to walk across the street now? Crossing Warren, the timer is set for exactly 47 seconds. You wonder why they couldn't have picked a number that's...less odd.
Ladies and gentleman, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. This little train is going to move right along.
Most of the biological since buildings are on the southern end of campus and takes up a good quarter of the campus if not more. Higher north we get more libraries, student centers (their version of the Union--except they have MacDonalds, so they're cooler), Business Administration building, Chemistry, State Hall, DeRoy Auditorium, and a few other buildings that's of little consequence to me and I quite frankly just don't remember. Wayne also has no air condition, which I think is a good thing from a conservationist point of view, but it also threw me off a little because in my spoilt brain, libraries and AC is somewhat de facto.
First lecture of the week. Professor was 30 minutes late. Spent the whole remainder of the lecture going over his 4 page syallbus. That is to say that he talked veeery veeeery slooowly not to mention the fact that he read it word for word with the addition of a few jokes. And honestly, I have to admit, I'm not quite so used to buying my own scantron sheets. Blue books yes, but scantrons? What else does my tuition not cover? Newer computers and internet browers other than the default Safari and IE perhaps?
On the bright side, I didn't feel unsafe. There were homeless people, just like in A2, asking for spare change but they weren't aggressive about it. Everyone there was actually fairly nice. A lady even asked me for directions and hopefully I pointed her in the right direction.
I still miss UM though. This just doesn't feel like home.