I am in the Queen’s University Student Union building, and it’s an hour before I have to be at a reception. I can walk there in less than 15 minutes, so I have 45 minutes to chill, find an ATM, pee, fix my hair, apply lipstick, drink water, and try out my new umbrella. Seven things. A bit over six minutes to do each one.
There is something compelling about a student union building. Here is where you will buy the books you will stay up all night with, the coffee to help you stay awake, the candy bar to chase away the hunger pains from skipping lunch in order to finish that paper.
You meet friends here, get cash from the ATM, grab a hot meal, look for information. Today at some student unions you can find computer repair shops, hair dressers, and banks. Posters advertise movies, concerts, plays.
You can get office supplies here. Right now I am thinking about the QUB journal I just saw. My dance card is filling up, and I need to write down where I need to be when to make sure I don’t miss that all important waltz with the really important person.
A student union building has its own culture. Music? Current pop popular in the area. Cuisine? Whatever the cafeteria here is selling. Usually it is burgers, potato and leek soup, scones, and spaghetti. People? Youngish, usually, some more mature. They move slowly, surely, trying to slow down time. Here it is relaxed. Once they step out that door into the real world, their life becomes one of study/work/lecture/rushrushrush. The student union building is a place of refuge. Why would anyone ever want to leave?
There is something compelling about a student union building. Here is where you will buy the books you will stay up all night with, the coffee to help you stay awake, the candy bar to chase away the hunger pains from skipping lunch in order to finish that paper.
You meet friends here, get cash from the ATM, grab a hot meal, look for information. Today at some student unions you can find computer repair shops, hair dressers, and banks. Posters advertise movies, concerts, plays.
You can get office supplies here. Right now I am thinking about the QUB journal I just saw. My dance card is filling up, and I need to write down where I need to be when to make sure I don’t miss that all important waltz with the really important person.
A student union building has its own culture. Music? Current pop popular in the area. Cuisine? Whatever the cafeteria here is selling. Usually it is burgers, potato and leek soup, scones, and spaghetti. People? Youngish, usually, some more mature. They move slowly, surely, trying to slow down time. Here it is relaxed. Once they step out that door into the real world, their life becomes one of study/work/lecture/rushrushrush. The student union building is a place of refuge. Why would anyone ever want to leave?