Tyler Logue
Sep/1/2009
First Day of College

There it was right in front of him. Celeb Hawthorn pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of his Midnight Blue Mustang. It had been a Graduation present from his parents the following May. He looked around and on all sides and saw the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia. At their peaks fog was settling. He got his backpack out of the Stang and proceeded up the parking lot to a large two story brick building. In front of the building was a three tier stone fountain with an angel holding a scale. Water was pouring out of each side of the scale and it was perfectly balanced. Around the fountain were benches made of a sturdy oak and kids of all ethnicities were sitting or standing. Then around them was a large circular driveway done in the signature Georgia clay brick that the entire parking lot was done in. Around the driveway several large vans were parked and kids were exiting them walking in all directions. Those were the shuttles that carried kids from the dorms to the campus and other places. He checked out his watch and realized he had some time to kill before his first class so he thought he could check the campus out. He walked into the two story building, as he did he noticed the sign on the side of the building that was done in large golden letters, it read “Carter Center”. He walked into the building through a set of glass doors and found himself in an atrium of sorts. The ceiling was a large triangular glass dome and a balcony ran the length of the room. Directly in front of him was a staircase to the balcony. Forty or fifty kids walked around the room or sat in seats next to the walls. On either side of him were large wooden doors. On his right side a door was open and he saw into what he guessed was a theater. A man was walking on a stage and the next minute was jumping around on it. He looked to his left across the atrium at the other doors he guessed, by the sounds of instruments being played, that it was a music room of sorts. Caleb decided instead of going upstairs he would keep walking through the building. Then behind the staircase he saw a long hallway that ended at a pair of glass doors. Sunlight was flooding through them. He walked down the hallway it was slightly darker then the bright atrium. There were a lot of smaller and brighter wooden doors on either side of the hallway. Caleb passed several classrooms and noticed that they were mostly History, Literature, or Sociology rooms. “This must be the humanities building” he thought out loud. He got to the doors and walked out and what he saw was breathtaking. There was an endless looking pathway with large green shrubs following the length of it. At the end of it was a behemoth of a building. From his distance he thought it looked like a Greek forum. He began to walk down the pathway towards it. The pathway was made of light stone; almost what he thought was cobblestone. Caleb passed groups of people ranging from three to one back to three and then to five and so on. He got to the large building and realized it was a forum and it wasn’t the end of the pathway. The forum was the biggest thing around. It had about eight steps going around it on all sides. In each of the four corners stood groups of three large whitewashed columns. The roof was a dull green color and made of glass shingles. He walked to the top and up there was tables and chairs and benches made of wrought iron and at least fifty or sixty people. Caleb realized he could see the whole campus. The other building ranged from one to two stories and were made of brick and spaced out over about 12 acres of rolling green hills. To his right were twin two story buildings connected by a glass two story hallway. One building read “Maple Hall” and the other “Oak Hall” in the same golden lettering that was on “Carter Center”. You could see people moving on both floors of the glass hallway. Also too his right between the pathway that connected Carter Center to the forum and the pathway that connected the two halls to the forum was a colorful garden with a statue in the center. Caleb picked out Pink roses, Blue violets and yellow sunflowers. The statue in the center was a copper color and it was faded. He thought it was of a woman but was to far away to see. He turned and looked back straight ahead down the bright stone pathway, lined with the same tall shrubs, at a big two story building with a two story wing on each side. The building looked older than the rest. The clay bricks were faded and that whole side of the campus looked less manicured and cared for then the area where he was standing. On the side of the main building read “The Library” in old faded black letters and on each of the wings was a name. The right one was the Science and Lab Center and the left was the Computer and Math Labs. Caleb saw that the building was built on a hill and at the base of it were several students playing Frisbee and football. Caleb then turned to his left and saw the remainder of the campus. There were two more buildings both looked brand new. One was a long one story building that was named the “Student Social Society” or the (SSS). The other was the tallest building on campus besides the forum. The front of that building was all one story but the back was a tall almost three story building with large oval windows near the top. Caleb saw the sign on the taller part. “The health and Fitness Center”. He decided to check out that side of the campus. He followed the stone pathway. It was curvier then the others. He came to a fork in the road. One way was to the social society and the other way went to the Fitness center. He decided to check out the Social Society first. As he walked down the pathway a breeze came through the valley were the campus was situated. The trees blew in the wind. They reminded him of someone waving. Caleb got to the Society building and stood looking at it. The windows on this building were larger than the others on campus and they seemed to glisten in the sun. The bricks on the building were lighter and made the building look more inviting. He walked into the building and straight into a blue carpeted foyer. Several kids milled about or were sitting in chairs. On his left side were two light wooded doors with big plate glass windows. On one door in big black letters read “Registrar” and on the other in the same type of lettering read “Financial aid”. He looked on his right and saw two more identical doors one leading to the business office and the other to student affairs. Straight ahead of him were four glass doors that lead into a large game room and cafeteria. The game room was on the left and was done in the same blue carpet as the foyer. It had pool tables hockey tables and several big screen TVs. On the right a small modest cafeteria done with modern gold and blue chairs and tables was serving about seven or eight choices of food. He wanted to go to the game room but looked at his watch and saw his first class was starting soon. It was in the Carter Center. He turned to leave and ran into a girl. He apologized and helped her gather her books that had fallen. He looked at her. She had on a black skirt and blouse that looked good with her blonde hair and blue eyes. “Sorry “he said again. “No problem umm... I’m Kara Dawson.” He nodded and said “Caleb Hawthorn” She smiled “Nice to meet you” He glanced back at his watch. “I’ve got a class now but it gets out in an hour would you like to get some food then.” She nodded “Ok see you here in an hour.” They parted and Caleb walked back to the forum. He stood at the top looking all around the large, colorful campus. “I think I’m going to like it at Blue Ridge University” he said aloud.