The Benefits of Living on a Beautiful Campus

It’s midterm time again here at Fordham and this year, I have been particularly swamped. Finals are typically more stressful because they cover a semester’s worth of material. However, I actually prefer finals because they take place in the spring.

If you’ve ever visited Fordham’s campus in the spring, then you already know what I’m talking about. Fordham in the spring is honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The bare branches of winter give way to big, pink blooms, Eddie’s goes from barren to taken over by students playing Frisbee or soccer and the beautiful fountain by Dealy Hall get’s turned on again after its months of hibernation. So even though finals can be difficult, there is beauty everywhere I look and it is so comforting to be able to take my books out on Eddies or even to the Botanical Gardens right across the street.

Midterms, however, don’t have that silver lining. Yes, Keating always looks stunning during the snowfall and my friends and I had an amazing snowball fight this winter. But I miss being able to just unwind somewhere beautiful without freezing in the cold. So last week, as I trudged back to my dorm with only papers and projects to look forward to, I talked about it with my friend who had a similar feeling. However, she suggested that we go visit the blue chapel.

The blue chapel is a chapel tucked away in Keating Hall. My friend and I first stumbled upon it after we finishing a particularly difficult exam our sophomore year. The inside was beautiful, covered in light blue curtains and tan stonewalls, it felt like (however cheesy this sounds) we had gone back in time. We sat and relaxed after our hours of cramming which gave way to some silent prayer and reflection. Soon, we were sitting by the window, looking out over the grand steps of Keating and discussing everything on our minds, from the philosophical to the personal. It remains a favorite time in our friendship that I have never forgotten.

So during this midterm stress season, we are making an effort to visit all the beautiful chapels and rooms tucked away inside Fordham’s beautiful buildings. And there are tons of them. It’s been a fun experience, discovering all sorts of nooks and cranny’s in our school while the winter wind howls outside. I’ve even found my studying to be less stressful, as I sat next to one of the giant, floor to ceiling windows in our library that looks down on the bustling city streets outside. And it is nice knowing that, with a chapel in most of our academic buildings, there is always a place to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.