The swing is a humble invention that has been around since ancient times, and Centre College is lucky enough to have one. Back when I decided to attend Centre as a high school senior, I didn’t know the swing on Centre’s campus existed. It wasn’t until I arrived for my orientation last August that I happened to see the swing hanging from the tulip tree on the lawn in front of Old
After asking around and making a few inquiries as to what was hanging from the tree, a few of my new friends and I decided to pay a visit to the swing one night when we had nothing better to do. The design of the swing is simple: a wooden board, with a rope through the middle of it tied in a few knots, which
One of my friendships also started at the swing while we were waiting for mutual friends to join us. I had just met her earlier that day, but we both decided that a trip to the swing in the early fall was a great way to pass the time. Since then, we refer to each other as the “swing squad,” and have become permanent
The lawn around the swing is also a peaceful place to take a break. There were a few times that I needed a respite from doing homework, and what better place to go than the swing? I would gather a couple of friends, and we would forget about homework for about 10 minutes. Each of us would take a turn on the swing before returning to the library to finish our homework.
There were also a few times this year when I just needed to get away from many people and just take a breather, and the swing was a perfect spot for this. The swing can be pulled back a little up the hill before running and jumping on the wooden board, giving the person a small head start to someone pushing them.
I have many fond memories of the swing just from this past year, so I would like to thank the former students who put up the swing and the administration for keeping it. I had no idea that such a small and simply designed swing could transform
Here’s to many more happy memories involving the Centre swing!