Why I Chose This Place: I chose this spot because it’s a natural transition point for me. Most of my classes are in Old Main, the kind that honestly turn my brain into mush. While on my way back home, I usually cross paths with this place. It’s where I come to breathe. It’s also where I usually stand to call my parents back home. So it reminds me of being back home with them. It’s a simple, everyday space, but it’s become a constant in my routine.
What I’ve Enjoyed About Connecting With It: What I’ve enjoyed most is the silence. Even when it’s windy and freezing, there’s a veil of silence here that helps me reset. It blocks me out of the world and just allows me to exist alone. As someone who’s come from a place where the only 2 climates there are hot and very hot, I’ve loved watching the seasons change in front of me. Seeing the blanket of snow, then watching it melt, and seeing the dead grass turn green. It’s been surreal to witness it firsthand.
Course Theme: The easiest concept to connect here was ‘landscape as a text’ from Chapter 6. This view isn’t just an insignificant viewpoint, but it’s something you can read. I can see the ‘gritty’ side of it, the trucks passing by that remind me that this place is a part of the food supply chain. It provides a path towards the destination of the trucks. How this place is connected to the bigger picture of agribusiness, because this route is somehow in some way a reason why it’s so much easier for big corporations to shift food production from biological processes to global food manufacturing. It holds significance in its own way. This topic was the easiest to connect to.
Why I’m Grateful to My Place: I’m grateful to this spot for the perspective it gives me. When I’m stressed about something regarding studies or work, this place shifts my mood. It separates me from the other world and allows me to be present by myself. Without the need to speak, it allows me to feel alive when the wind is cutting through my clothes or the sun is piercing into my eyes.
Why My Place Might Be Grateful for Me: Well, there are 2 reasons. The first being that it’s grateful because I’m there to admire it. A painting can never truly show its beauty until there is a person to witness it, to admire it. That is my purpose for the view. I just stand there and admire it for what it is without changing it to something else. The other reason being if I somehow come to terms with the fact that the way I’m living right now, my daily habits, it would lead to this place not existing in the future. If I’m able to realize that, then there might be a reason for my place to feel grateful for me.
