Due to COVID-19, most students haven’t been back to campus for almost an entire year. The places on campus miss the students and the students miss the campus.
Junior Mana Kunimatsu says her favorite spots on campus are the piano rooms in the Green Center for the Performing Arts (GCPA).
“I just like how you can just be alone there,” Kunimatsu said. She used to make music in the piano rooms and “just likes playing the piano and having fun.”
Kunimatsu usually spends an hour or less when she enters a piano room since the second semester of her first year. “I don’t know about COVID-19, but before we could just go [to the piano room],” Kunimatsu said. She is not sure if she is allowed to be there this semester.
Because of COVID-19, the GCPA is only open for students and faculty with their ID cards. There are two policies for the practice rooms this semester. The practice rooms are open for students who enrolled in a music class. Every SoM student has their own designated practice room and only a few practice rooms are available for the CLA students.
Senior Skylar Barnett has two favorite spots on campus: Julian Science and Mathematics Center and the living room in the Memorial Student Union Building (UB). Barnett likes the UB because she is “able to get work done but also be surrounded by friends.” However, if she needs to choose one favorite, Julian is the one.
“I would definitely say Julian just because when I want to get work done, I want to get work done there. I feel like it’s very quiet and just a space dedicated to where you can get work done in a timely manner,” Barnett said.
Before COVID-19, Barnett would get a classroom with some friends and study together for the entire day. “Definitely during finals week. We used to pull a lot of all-nighters. I remember we would literally go in there from like 8 a.m. to maybe midnight and then [go home] and then do the same thing all over again,” Barnett said.
Julian is also only open for students and faculty with ID cards due to COVID-19 regulations.
Ellie Ball, a senior, chose Julian basement for her favorite spot on campus. “I like to go to the basement. I just feel like not many people know that you can go down to the basement. I think it’s always quiet,” Ball said.
There is a staircase inside the library of Julian that leads down to the basement. A special memory she had in Julian's basement is when she spent nights studying for exams. Ball also mentioned that because of COVID-19, she doesn’t go to Julian as often this school year. “I feel like now with COVID-19, I actually like going more to Harrison and using a classroom there, because it’s a little quieter,” Ball said.
First-year Ayu Takayanagi, designates the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, Julian Science and Mathematics Center and the DePauw Nature Park as her favorite places on campus. “If I really need to choose one location, I will say the nature park,” Takayanagi said.
She remembers that last semester she went to the nature park with her friends. One of her friends brought a drone with him to the nature park. “We could take pictures and movies and that was really amazing,” Takayanagi said.
The other reason why Takayanagi chose the nature park for her favorite place is because of the nature environment. “During the weekdays, we are really exhausted by studying and homework. So we just [need to] refresh,” Takayanagi said.