At UW-Eau Claire there lies an unmoving sacred rite of passage, one that many outsiders will never experience (lucky ducks). Here at UWEC, we call it the hill. It may not sound too formidable, but it’s one of those things you have to go through yourself in order to truly connect to the thoughts associated with walking up it.
“It’s not too late to drop out… is It?”
While walking up the hill, we contemplate every life decision we’ve ever made that has led us to make the dreadful, and sometimes painful, walk up the hill to upper campus. We start thinking about how we’ll break it to our parents that we are withdrawing from UWEC. “They would understand if they were the ones who had to walk up this hill everyday!”
“Yep…should’ve packed lighter.”
When packing our backpacks for the day, we sometimes forget that whatever we carry down with us, we’ll have to carry back up too. It winds up being the same as packing for a vacation. People tend to pack more than they need for vacations, and that same rule unfortunately also applies to packing our backpacks. If we weren’t already weighed down by the stress of classes earlier that day, we definitely become weighed down by the contents of our backpacks once we go up the hill.
“There’s no need to do cardio tonight, because this IS my cardio.”
This thought occurs for almost every student, regardless if we work out everyday. Walking up the hill will provide a feeling of athletic accomplishment that is unparalleled for many people. Later that day, if the topic of going for a run is even lightly brought up in our thoughts or conversation, we will convince ourselves it’s ok to say no because we already got our cardio in. When deciding between eating healthy or unhealthy later that night, we will say it’s ok to eat unhealthy because we climbed the hill earlier. “What’s one more scoop of ice cream? I put my time in!”
“I’m only halfway up the hill, I can still turn around and take the bus!”
Whether it be because we want to be strong and unafraid of the hill, or because we simply want to save time, we choose not to take the bus. Any UWEC student who has told you they never considered turning around and riding the bus instead, sits on a throne of lies.
“I’m starting to breathe kinda hard…I better disguise it somehow.”
At this point in the uphill battle, we start thinking of ways to hide our labored breathing. Popular methods include calling friends and family, pretending to be interested in the scenery on the way up, breathing through our nose, and generally avoiding all eye contact with people we are passing by, so that they don’t think we’re weak.
“My dad had it way worse than this back in the day, so I really shouldn’t be complaining.”
Ok, so maybe we actually never really think that. But who hasn’t heard those stories from their dads that begin with, “back in my day…”. We could be walking six miles, uphill, while barefoot. It’s all about perspective people! (*Rolls eyes*) In all reality, walking up the hill could be worse. It could be steeper, longer, and more exhausting to climb. We realize that, but in the moment we only care about making it to the top.
“Definitely looking for an apartment for next year, just so I don’t have to walk up the hill.”
There comes a point in the semester, where we all of a sudden have this overwhelming thought to get an apartment for the next year. We realize that if we don’t live at the top of the hill, we won’t have to walk up the hill. This realization is triggered by walking up the hill, and is supported by the fact that virtually any off campus housing is cheaper than living in the dorms.
The hill is undoubtedly not a fun part of our day. However, it is a part of our campus. Because we’ve all had to walk up it at some point, the hill connects us all in a way. It’s a key component in the Blugold experience. We may hate the hill at times, but it’s something we can all relate to, and always provides interesting thoughts when we're walking to the top.
