Jacie Williams is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected]. I, like many other students, was very frustrated at the closing of the Union. There were no convenient places to eat left on campus. There was nowhere to go for the hour-long breaks between classes. I had nowhere to hang out. I had nowhere to do homework without interruption. There were seemingly no common meeting grounds left on campus.
For the past year and a half, I have felt a little lost on campus during my breaks. Where should I go? The library? There is no real place to sit and work. The study rooms are always full. The computer lab is always full. On a sunny day I could sit outside on the ground, but then the weather became an issue. Heaven forbid the school put in a few picnic tables around campus.
I would wander around looking for a simple place to sit and waste my time between classes.
Now all of that has changed. Our old Union was not just remodeled. They gutted it and started fresh. Now I am ready to do the same. We have a shiny new masterpiece on campus where a dull old brick building sat before.
But before that, there were delays. When every opening date got pushed back, my heart sank a little more. I hated the waiting. A lot of students felt the same.
I have to admit we do live in a society of instant gratification. We tend to do things on a “now” basis. If I want it now, I get it now. Fast food, drive-thru banks, all kinds of time-saving 24-hour markets, and don’t forget about the Internet.
The problem with this is that it means we do not like being delayed. If the original plan for the Union was to have it open for Spring 2008, then it would not have angered as many people. If it opened early, we would have been happy it did.
But it did not. It got pushed back and pushed back some more. People just are not used to having to wait, especially for something that was already scheduled for a particular instance.
It does not help that construction zones littered the campus for a while. The Union, McCool, Lee – face it, that entire block of campus was completely useless. Trying to get from the Drill Field to the Bakery was like a marathon track.
By the time this semester came around, I was so put down that I just couldn’t hope the Union would be any good. How could they possibly make up for the headaches they had given me? I simply had not gotten what I expected too many times.
The semester started and the time came on Tuesday morning when I had an hour free. What could I possibly do in an hour? The library? No. The answer came up in front of me as I left McCool and turned north. The new Union! Dare I brave it? Should I even dare to hope that it would be a fraction of what I wanted it to be?
It was lunchtime already and students began to gather in and around the building. A few students sat rocking themselves lazily on the porch with a set of rustic looking rocking chairs.
Admittedly, I might have been caught in a moment of weakness at this point. My house has rocking chairs sitting peacefully on the front porch. I unconsciously associated those pleasant feelings with the building I came to evaluate.
“Stop that,” I told myself harshly. I was going to try to hate this building for the pain it and the other construction sites caused. I opened the door and found myself in a glowing white lobby. It looked welcoming more than anything else. After walking down a flight of stairs I found myself looking at the equivalent of a mall food court.
I was impressed. There was enough seating that everyone looked comfortable. I guess by “enough,” I mean it was an adequate use of the space in the room. There were other tables, chairs and couches scattered among the various levels.
I was OK with the food selection available. It had enough variety for me, even though they would have done better to plan ahead by putting in an extra place for expansion of the number of vendors, but overall I was satisfied with the food.
The building is laid out beautifully. Everything has an “open” feel. The large windows and glass doors allow light to flood in. I can’t vouch for safety if another set of tornados threaten the area, but I did think the building was pretty.
I had seen the signs around campus advertising the annual poster sale. I decided to check it out, but not for the posters. It is the same sale every semester. I wanted to see the ballroom. I liked what I saw. The first things that caught my attention, however, were the open doors in the back of the room.
I stepped in and found myself looking down a large round hole in the floor at the Mississippi State emblem. I could not help but feel pride in my campus as I stared at it a moment more. I am proud of the improvements being made at Mississippi State. The outcome of our patience and lack thereof was well worth the wait.