Last Saturday, professor Blalock gave us a fascinating tour of West Campus. Before this tour, I thought I know a lot about West Campus. I know where most buildings are located, I explore different dining halls, and I have an idea of the accomplishments of the professors whom each house is named after. But the tour made me realize how little I know, and that West Campus is not just a group of dorms that look gorgeous under the sunset. It has many secrets and a lot of history behind it.

Our first stop of the tour was Noyes. I was pretty confused when professor Blalock brought us there, because Noyes doesn’t seem special at all to me and I can’t think of any secrets that this ordinary community center could have. But it turned out that it had a lot more resources than I thought it would. It has a badminton court where I can play my favorite sport on Saturdays and don’t have to lament on living far away from Helen Newman. Free food and free massages on every other Tuesdays are also appealing and would sure attract me to go to Noyes more.

Our second stop was in front of Lyons. In the drizzle, professor Blalock talked about the history of the two war memorials: McFaddin Hall and Lyon Hall, and we were able to take a look at the memorial room in Lyon. The room was small, quite and clean. It reminds how fortunate I am to be born in a world of peace, and how I should cherish my current freedom and happiness.

Our last stop was the tunnel between Rose and Becker.  On the event description a secret tunnel was mentioned, and I thought it might be a small tunnel in the basement of one of the Gothic buildings. But when we ended up walking to Rose through the tunnel, I was amazed and appreciated Cornell’s effort in building a safe residential community for us.

Overall, this tour helped me learn more about the history of West Campus, the history of Cornell, and moreover, incited me to learn more about this great University that I am attending.