I have been in a bit of an exploratory mood since I got back on campus for the year. This is my second year on campus, and I had not explored the oldest building at Arizona State University until today (Wednesday).
I was walking around anyways, going to class and picking up some supplies. At about seven in the evening, I was on my way back to the dorm and the wind started picking up. It turned into a thunderstorm later after the sun set, but it was enough to be a bit irritating. So I decided I would wait it out in the nearest building: Old Main.
Old Main is a reddish-brown mansion on the north side of campus. The colors were meant to reflect the color of the Arizona desert when it was dedicated in 1898. By quick comparison to the rising dust storm just outside the windows, the palette is appropriate.
I walked past the fountain in the back facing the street, which I have walked past many times before without considering the novelty of a fountain in the Tempe desert. There was a small flight of stairs and then I got through the doors.
I was also glad for the lights and air conditioning once I got inside. These are newer developments compared to the age of the building. This was the first building in Tempe that had electric lighting.
Old Main has lots of pictures because this is where the archives are.There were pictures from the turn of the twentieth century of teachers and students, back when this was the only building and the school was called Tempe Normal, not ASU. The pictures were black and white, but they looked dusty, which is not surprising. It's comforting that Arizona's weather is not much different than from back then.
A lot has changed since Old Main was first built. Campus has grown a lot since the Tempe Normal. Most of the buildings depicted in the pictures are gone or transformed, except this one. I go past the spots they were every day. The bells that are projected across campus on the hour come from Old Main. They sound clear from the inside. No amplification, no echo. Just bells. The courtyards still exist, mostly unchanged. The porch of Old Main has been refurbished, but Teddy Roosevelt gave a speech dedicating the Hoover Dam on that porch in 1911.
Walking around this building, I feel a sense of heritage. The building is the headquarters for the alumni association, but that's not what I mean. It's not a heritage of birthright, and that's not what matters. I spent an evening learning and enjoying learning. That's why I'm here, besides the dust storm. It's why we even go to college in the first place: to benefit the world now and later.
I'm glad I could get a reminder of that.
