At the beginning of the school year, I spent a lot of my time in my dorm room studying and writing papers. Yet, most of the time I had to fight with myself to actually sit down and get things done. My room had too many distractions, too many temptations to not start my work.
So I started going to the library.
While daunting at first, I eventually learned the sprawling dynamics of Rush Rhees. I slowly began to explore each location with the more time and effort I put into venturing out. On the snowiest day of winter, I escaped to the stacks of Rush Rhees, enamored by the tight, compact rows of books and archaic style of architecture. I climbed the seemingly endless flight of tiny, one-person stairs that eventually ended with a picturesque view of campus and a glimpse of the Rochester skyline.
Rush Rhees is a beautiful place to feel better about things. I love to be by myself, because when I’m in the library, I don’t feel alone. The cozy, cramped feeling of each floor makes me feel protected, maybe by the space, maybe by the knowledge. Although I couldn’t begin to imagine comprehending all of the books in the rows, I still take in their presence, their significance of just existing. Sometimes there’s beauty in things that are hard to understand, and Rush Rhees makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with the variables that go beyond my control. The possibility of learning is an exciting, stimulating thing that radiates itself through each room. It reenergizes me when I feel sluggish or relaxes me when I feel high-strung; the architecture of the library brings me back down to earth. The marble columns and the iridescent ceiling of the Great Hall inspire me to go forward, as so many students before me persevered to do.
Even when I go to just sit and relax, I like to watch the people around me in the library. They’re just like me, but in many ways, they’re not. They all have their work and computers and are here for the same reason I am, but their lives are unique and separate in themselves. That makes me feel a little lonely, but at the same time, I love that. I love that I have private moments in my life, and so do they. It’s what makes us intricate and completely unique individuals. The library brings us all together, even when it seems as if we’re entirely separate.
Rush Rhees makes me wonder and stop to think more about things like these. I don’t know a better place to reflect on campus than at the library. The lobby of Morey Hall is my second favorite place I go to unwind, but nothing compares to the magic of Rush Rhees. It’s become my home away from home, and a little slice of solace in the middle of a chaotic semester.
