Space:
The UNCG campus is ever-growing. We are slowly taking over old shops and streets to turn them into new buildings and places for students and teachers to go. Although the campus is expanding, the need for driving through it isn’t. I remember my mom always telling me that it’s easier to walk anywhere on-campus than to try to find a street that goes to a particular building.
So, even though UNCG is getting bigger, the buildings are still close together, just like the people. It was obvious in it’s design that our college wants people to be more personal. Now-a-days, people are getting less direct contact with one another thanks to phones, computers, and other technology (that includes cars).
The good ol’ town of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith Show, is thought to be the ideal town, where everybody knows everybody, stops to say “hello”, and walks every where. People don’t do those things anymore because we have cars. In traffic, a person can not notice the race, the age, or even the gender of the people surrounding them. But, on foot, if there is a busy street, or a long line, then chances are, a person will not only know the race, age, and gender of the surrounding people, but they will also get to know more about each other, even become friends. And that was the idea behind having such a closed-in and close college, was that people would get to know one another a little better each day.
Power:
Just like the ancient Egyptians, our society has a hierarchy. But even on a smaller scale, our campus has a hierarchy with the founder, the dean, the professors, the teacher assistances, and finally the students. This doesn’t mean that as students we are the lowest of the low on the food chain like the slaves in ancient Egypt, but it does mean that we have less “power”, knowledge, and experience than the people above us.
But something that sets the UNCG campus apart from the ancient Egyptians, is that our “class” is permeable. One day, a student can become a teacher assistant, then become a professor, then the dean, and maybe even then become a founder of a college. Students are being taught to become better than they are. A college graduate is much more likely to get a job than a someone who never even attended college.
Experience:
Everyone’s experience of UNCG is different. For example, when I walk into a dorm, I think of the one night I spent in one when I attended SOAR, and all of the thousands of memories that coexist with that one thought. If my brother enters a dorm, he would think of his fabulous view and college life when he went to UNCW. And if his wife walks into a dorm, she would think about her time rooming with four other girls in a UNCG dorm, and how they stayed friends and attended each other’s weddings.
The UNCG campus is also filled with the experiences and history of other students. A perfect example of that is the Graduate Sidewalk. Just taking a stroll down the hill makes me feel as if I can, just for a second, image what the life was here at UNCG. I also start to wonder what they would experience if they were to walk over the brick that has their name on it. To think of the many years that it took to get their name there, and how honored they feel to have their name engraved on something that will be forever looked at.
Principles:
When I think of principles, I always think of the first day of classes when the teachers hand out the syllabus and go over the academic policy. Most people just skip over that part, thinking that it is just common knowledge, when if fact, the academic policy is different, more or less, for each class. For instance, in an art class, ideas and inspiration for projects come from all over the place, including your neighbors, but in a science class, if you look over a person’s shoulder on quiz or a test, it is considered cheating and you will receive a zero and much more consequences.
Also, the statues around UNCG represent our principles. Minerva shows strength, determination, and wisdom, whereas the statue of Charles McIver shows knowledge, self-motivation, and success. The fact that the two major statues are different genders show that one of UNCG’s principles is equality in genders.
Precedent:
Before UNCG, the campus was a women’s college, and this is still obvious today. The statue of Minerva serves as a reminder of the women’s college and how strong women can be through tough times. Now, UNCG still has a higher number of females attending then males. UNCG also still has a great number of majors that would be considered for women, including clothing, cooking, and family classes.
Site:
The site of UNCG is in it’s name. It’s a university that is in North Carolina, Greensboro. North Carolina is known for a lot of things, but one major aspect is sports. Although it is usually known for Basketball, Golf is another import sport here. UNCG is very close to downtown Greensboro, making the location convenient to many things, but also not having to be restricted to the limited space that downtown has. Because UNCG is not in the center of downtown, the campus has space for a huge golf course (along with other things), showing just how important it is to North Carolina and to the campus.
Order:
By looking at the layout of the buildings at UNCG, it is obvious that there is some order. The dorm houses are mostly located near the dining hall, making it easily accessible by students who live on-campus. Another example is the Gatewood Art Building. How much of a coincidence is it that an art building is literally sharing a parking lot with the campus museum?
But that’s not the only sign of forethought before placing buildings. The Sullivan Science building is located right next to a children’s daycare. At first, I thought that was a little odd in terms of placement, but after talking with my sister about it, I found out that the physiology majors go to the daycare and observe the children throughout the class for a diagnosis to give to their parents about their behavior.
Scale:
Growing up, I always thought that UNCG was just for the locals, because I would have never thought that North Carolina, let alone Greensboro would attract anyone that didn’t already live here. But once I started looking into UNCG more when I deciding on colleges, I noticed that people come from all over the world just to come to UNCG. Not only is the global scale of UNCG increasing, but also the scale of age. College isn’t just for 18-22 year olds now. More middle age parents and adults are starting to attend college. In fact, my mom just graduated with an art degree last May and she is 51 years old with four children.
Technology:
Technology has evolved all over the world, and UNCG is no exception. It has gone from a computer that was the size of an entire room, to something the size of a contact. Technology can also very helpful (along with harmful). UNCG shows off just how technologically advanced by having a “Mac Lab”, a digital lab, and even the library is renting out laptops, and new iPads.
Surface:
After looking at all of buildings around UNCG’s campus, a few of them stand out when compared to one another. If you look at the Foust building, which is the oldest building at UNCG, you will notice it is made of brick and has the simplest window designs, and when compared to the Gatewood buildings, which is the newest, you will notice a great difference. The Gatewood building is made almost entirely up from glass and the entire outer surface is glass. Also, the Sullivan building look very modern when compared to Foust. It has tinted glass and huge windows that make up a semi-circle around a part of the building.
No comments:
Post a Comment