The year has begun at Northern Kentucky University and more than 14,000 students, including NKU’s largest freshman class ever, converged on campus this week. Greeting all of them was construction, a lack of parking places and packed academic spaces. Walkways, hallways and meeting areas have been closed, not to mention the ever-coveted Lot A parking space.
Let’s face it: it is a hassle to get anywhere on campus. It is easy to only see the negative side of campus construction.
But NKU students should see the positive. They should imagine what this campus will look like in 2008.
If you were here last year, you probably remember when then Lake Inferior was drained, dredged and overhauled, leaving a sloppy, smelly, muddy pit of ugliness. But one need only look at the new Loch Norse to see how time and patience can produce great things. By adding two waterfalls, a bridge, some landscaping, an amphitheater and a little blue dye, a former farm irrigation pond became a paradise in the heart of NKU.
Students can be seen lounging, socializing and eating on the steps overlooking the lake, or even enjoying a little natural solitude on the benches surrounding it. What a difference from last dreary picture. Now imagine being able to choose from several restaurants, a Starbucks Coffee-house, a game of pool or a table tennis match in the new student lounge.
Imagine having a meeting in state-of-the-art facilities, warming up on a cold winters’ day on a comfortable couch. What about spending a Friday night on campus at a major concert in the Bank of Kentucky Center. Even the moment we all dream of, GRADUATION, will take place in the arena as well.
Change doesn’t happen overnight. The greatest accomplishments require some sacrifice.
We may have to walk a little farther, sometimes through a muddy parking lot, so that one day we can set foot inside amazing facilities, take classes in technologically advanced classrooms and socialize in a building designed around the NKU student.
I am more than fine with a longer walk and muddy shoes, as long as one day I can sip on coffee while filling out my graduation paperwork on a comfortable couch in the heart of the NKU campus.
Parking is the same story as well. There is never enough and in just a couple months time a new garage will break ground on campus that will, with a little patience, open more places for commuters to circle around looking for that ideal spot to park.
Have patience, imagine what is going to be on campus and look eagerly forward to the days ahead. Without pain we would not know comfort. So I say bring on the construction, I am ready for some comfort.