The construction on campus is creating a nice, fine layer of dirt on almost everything. There seems to be no part of campus that is not in the vicinity of some fenced-in area in which construction workers are gathering — and working.
Last year, campus wasn’t such a mess. Yes, there was work on Small Hall’s physics lab and on the new Sherman and Gloria H. Cohen Career Center, which is opening next month, but it was small and relatively confined. The campus was not the mess of dirt, as it is now.
Over the summer, I drove through Williamsburg a few times and walked around campus. During this time, I thought that the construction was only for the summer, and would not continue into the fall semester. I was wrong.
Arriving on campus a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked by all of the construction, metal fencing, and tall mounds of dirt around. I was annoyed that, walking behind Washington and Ewell Halls, my path was blocked by this clutter. I was annoyed that there was a very large fence in front of the Sadler Center, allowing only a narrow path for two-way traffic. I was annoyed that neither of the construction sites from last year was completed. And mostly, I was annoyed that the campus lost some of its beauty. It was no longer quiet and peaceful, but noisy and dirty.
I complained about the construction to some friends, and we discussed the various problems. After awhile, I realized that even though it may look ugly now, and serve as nuisance on my way to class, the construction is something that is much needed.
I thought it silly that I was getting annoyed about walking a bit out of my way near Sadler when the construction was to benefit not just the faculty and staff of The College of William and Mary, but the students, too. The construction is happening here to help us to have better places to learn — and better places to live.
At the College, we seem to pride ourselves on being innovative and open-minded. We work hard to do our best and to get the best, and that applies to our facilities and grounds, too. After the work on campus is completed, we will have a new career center for students, with a new building front and new landscaping, we will have better facilities at Small to attend both class and labs, and we will have a better something or another beside Ewell. Most importantly, we will have a better campus.
So, even though it is annoying getting too close to someone in front of Sadler, or forgetting there is a massive fence blocking the path on which you are walking, we should be grateful that our campus is gaining these new facilities. We should look at the construction as creating a better future for the College — a more modern school a which students can get a better education— even if its campus will still be under construction.