An Impromptu Trip to Campus

When I first started writing for the MyUVicLife blog in October 2019, I never thought a simple trip to campus would inspire me to write a blog post. Some days I barely thought there was anything special about it. 

I usually dreaded making the half-hour drive from Langford to UVic every day during in-person classes, just like I did Tuesday morning when I needed to pick up a book for my directed reading class from the McPherson library. I felt like I was wasting time that I could’ve spent studying or managing the huge assignment load at this point in the semester. 

The mentioned library book, Compassionate Authority by Kathleen B. Jones

However, I was pleasantly surprised with how gorgeous the campus looked today on a sunny Tuesday morning and how much I truly missed being here. 

The campus was practically a ghost town with few people walking around and studying in the pandemic-safe study spaces. I saw two students sitting down and working in the otherwise empty Bibliocafe, and from what I could see the library had very few people inside. 

What really made me enjoy the visit however, was sitting by the Petch fountain outside the library. The water was turned on for the first time I can remember seeing it since I started my first-year at UVic in September 2019. I don’t know if the fountain was on by the time Covid shut down UVic in March 2020, but I unfortunately have no memory of seeing it at that point. Therefore, seeing it in full glory in the sun made me appreciate the campus I haven’t seen up-close in so long. 

Something about the beautiful weather and quiet emptiness of the campus made me really grateful that I made the drive this morning. Even more so, it made me more excited than ever to (hopefully) return to campus this fall.