A two week stay in Chicago was the perfect reason to FINALLY go back to visit my alma mater. I haven’t spent any real time there since…well, since I was paying to be there. Seeing campus in its deserted state let me take all the time I wanted. And made me remember the first time I fell in love with the place as a senior in high school.
Arnie’s Arch. Ok, it’s technically the Weber Arch.
My First Dorm: North Mid Quads
My Second, Third, and Fourth Dorm: “The Plex”
So many memories…
It is what you think it is. Thank God for this place.
The Black House Porch
In four years, I set foot in Deering Meadow once. But I walked by it at least 4 times per day.
The Library
Tech: In the pantheon of uninviting structures, Northwestern’s main engineering building manages to barely edge out the Death Star
Tech Lobby: this is about as inviting as it gets. And it hasn’t changed in 20 years.
Shakespeare Garden. Probably one of the least well-known but most beautiful gems on campus. I couldn’t remember how to get there and had to look it up on a map.
I spent more time here than anywhere else in college. I worked here all four years, and in my senior year I clocked 30-40 hours per week. Many of the people I’m now closest to were also 4-year Norris-ites. This is where I moved tables and chairs for money, where I was a Center Manager (which basically meant I wore a tie and carried around about 30 keys to unlock every door in the building), where I met celebrities, where I did never-ending problem sets, where I had an office in the basement, opened my grad school acceptance letters (and cried with my mother on the phone as I shared the news), pulled finals week and Dance Marathon all-nighters, and saw the OJ verdict. When I have fond memories about my college years, its a pretty safe bet that Norris is at the heart of them.
I think I made it to Chicago maybe twice in all of college. Great city. But I didn’t find out until I’d already left.
Awesome photos. NU has changed a lot but is still the same. A fellow NU Alum.
These photos are gorgeous! Makes me want to go back myself and chronicle the places I frequented, some that would clearly overlap yours.
Beautiful!
Northwestern . . . where the cool kids went.
Great photos.
I miss Chi-town. My favorite memories of the UofC were the days I skipped class to take the 6-Jeffery bus downtown to hang out at the Art Institute all day long.