#32 New Places to Wear...School Clothes?

In my last post, I introduced the new theme of my blog, Things I'm Doing. Like I said in that post, I was inspired to write about my new life in college one day in my early morning architecture class when we took a sort of class field trip to the beautiful courtyard of Goldsmith Hall here on my campus. Seeing it made me realize how much I'm enjoying my time here and how much I want to share my time with all of you. (Side note: the courtyard at Goldsmith is a microclimate, which is an atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the climate of the surrounding area--in this case, the microclimate is created by the building itself because of its square shape and open middle. The microclimate is a tropical one, so it is the only place on campus that can grow palm trees, which of course reminded me of home!)

For those of you who don't know, I've recently begun my college years at The University of Texas at Austin. I know I've said before that I don't like to assume that I have readers who I don't know personally, but in the off chance I don't know you and you don't know where I go to school, it's UT! Since I got here about seven weeks ago, a lot of my time has simply been spent exploring. I'd been on the UT campus before since my uncle is an Austin resident and former Longhorn himself, but I was no where near acquainted with the campus when I moved here. Even seven weeks later I still don't exactly know where all of the buildings on this giant campus are. UT is referred to as the Forty Acres because that was the size of the university when it was first founded. Since then it has expanded tremendously, so getting around it is no joke. Forty acres would be a cake walk compared to what it is now. Anyway, because this campus is so large, there is constantly something new to discover, whether it be a cool looking library, a beautiful spot beneath trees, or even a nook between two buildings that can become a good study spot. The possibilities are endless.

I just love finding new places (on campus--not new places to wear diamonds. Sorry Marilyn, all I wear is school clothes) because it reminds me of the fact that there is always something new to see. Even though I may not be the biggest fan of change, I do enjoy finding new things that can make the changes easier. So far, that has come in the comfort of an old library, the sense of home from the palm trees in the Goldsmith courtyard, and the constant view of the iconic UT Tower.

To get to the message of this post, you don't have to be just starting college or just starting something new to find new things. There is new in the familiar. It is just a matter of going out and being willing to find those new things. We miss a lot in the day to day hustle of life, but if we stop and look around we are able to see the cool things that we might have missed out on before. So look around. There is beauty all around; it's up to us to find it.

Below are some images I've taken of places I love on campus. I do not claim to have any photography skills--just a cell phone enabled with Instagram!

Top row (from left): My architecture classroom that looks like a movie theater, the ceiling in the Life Science Library, and the Architecture Library

Middle row (from left): The iconic UT Tower, the Goldsmith courtyard that gave me my inspiration, and the modern Norman Hackerman Building

Bottom row (from left): Lounge area in the Student Activity Center, my favorite 100,000+ capacity Darrell K. Royal football stadium, and the Littlefield House