Kaley: Five Reasons BU’s “City-Campus” is a Non-Issue

Preface: When I visited BU junior year, the campus scared me. It seemed too long, too straight, too nonexistent. It was also an open campus in a city, so my parents were fairly scared too. After a semester and a half, though, I’m compelled to put “city-campus” in quotes, because quite often I find myself forgetting that we are one.

 

1. BU’s safety precautions. They’re incredible. As a student you receive BU emergency alerts immediately when an issue arises, any necessary updates as it unfolds, and a final alert summarizing the outcome. This has only happened twice during my time here, and I have never felt unsafe while on-campus. If I did, though, the BU Police number is printed on the back of every BU ID, so help would literally be in my back pocket.

2. The dining options. At many city schools, breakfast, lunch and dinner are a 10-minute walk away. This is far from the case at BU. As a freshman, if you live in freshmen housing, you won’t even need to walk outside to enjoy a nice personalized, dining-hall-cooked omlet.

3. Getting around. Com Ave is a long street, and when I visited, that was an immediate turn-off. Was I trying to give myself such a long walk from one end of campus to another? No. Here’s the thing, though: classes are at most a 20 minute walk away, and that holds true at many other, more rural universities as well. At BU, however, the T runs the entire length of campus. Feeling lazy? Missed the BU Shuttle? The T is there for you. Rural campuses have no green-line train, and the fact of the matter is, other city campuses don’t have access to public transportation in a way that’s even remotely comparable to the way the T runs down all of Com Ave.

4. City perks. My friends at rural schools will snapchat me on a Sunday, from a van filled with other college kids, saying, “Trip to Target today!!” They will then proceed to tweet about how the half-hour drive to the nearest store was so worthwhile, and then text me admitting that, yeah, it was pretty hard to convince one of the upperclassmen with a car to take them, but they really needed to run some errands.

I didn’t even realize that those sorts of day trips existed until they told me about them. At BU, there’s a CVS and a Star Market every corner. Newbury Street is a ten-minute walk off campus, for all of your wardrobe needs. And, of course, there are cafes and restaurants galore.

5.The “campus feel.” You won’t believe it until you feel it -I know I was super skeptical. But BU, more than other city campuses, has a definite college-campus vibe. Maybe it’s the red signs that are every 15 feet on Com Ave, or maybe its the beautiful, gothic architecture of the most central classroom buildings. It could be the immaculate interior of our gym or the size and number of turf fields and arenas. Whatever it is, many other city campuses don’t have it. BU does.

Tiffany: Sweet Spots for Building a Snowman on Campus

Tiffany ImageBU’s unique, city-like campus, at a glance, doesn’t appear to have huge patches of grass like the typical college campus. But that is exactly what we love so much about BU – a place where you can feel like you are safe and at home while still living in an active, exciting city.

However, if you do ever get the urge to spend some time in a sizeable spot of greenery, there definitely are a few sweet spots on campus. When the weather heats up, students tend to flock to these spots to throw the old pigskin around or simply soak up the rays and get their tan on. I, however, like to visit these spots in the wintertime when they are rather unpopulated, but filled with fresh snow. They are the perfect spots to make snow angels and build a snowman! Excuse the native Californian in me who still gets extremely excited at the first snow of the year.

Whether you prefer to lay out in the sun and tan, or like me, make your own Jack Frost, here is a list of the best places to do so on campus:IMG_0967

IMG_0990COM Lawn

We are the only college in the university that has our very own beautiful lawn and fountain right in front of our building. It couldn’t be more convenient to be able to soak up some sun right before class or have a snowball fight after.

BU Beach

Located right in the middle of campus behind Marsh Plaza, BU Beach is a popular spot for throwing the football around in the snow or sunshine. If you are lucky, you might even catch BU’s quidditch team practicing here.

Nickerson Field

Right in the hub of popular freshman housing in West Campus, the athletic field doubles as the biggest message board you’ll ever be tempted to post on. Students often write messages in the snow for all of West Campus to see and when we play against our cross-town rivals in hockey, the field often has BC Sucks etched intoIMG_0392 the snow!

Stuvi 1

A bit more secluded and quiet, the lawn right in front of the high-rise student apartment building is perfect if you are in the mood to feel like a kid again and just play around in the snow. It’s where I built my first ever snowman!

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