My alma mater, how I miss thee

I spent 6 amazing years of my life at the University of British Columbia - 4 spent getting a B.A. in linguistics, and 2 more trying to get a B.Sc. in climatology. I also met some of my favorite people there, including hubby. It's no wonder, then, that I'm filled with nostalgia and longing whenever we're in Vancouver and I get to see my old campus.

Here's the Main Mall where I walked into a lot of dangling caterpillars every fall (my sister is yelling "yes!" in an annoyed voice as she reads this because she, too, experienced this).

A lot of construction has been going on at UBC, so there were many new additions to campus that have sprung up since I was last there a couple of years ago, such as this fountain at the intersection of West Mall and Main Mall, outside the Biological Sciences, Education, Commerce, and Chemistry buildings:

But some things remain the same, like Buchanan, the general faculty of arts building where many classes are held. 70s flashback, anyone?

Buchanan

West of Buchanan is the Rose Garden where I spent many hours with friends enjoying the breath-taking view at this end of campus - water, mountains, flowers...ahhhh.

Rose Garden

While chem was never my favorite subject at university, I have fond memories of being trapped in this building until well into the evening. By trapped, I mean having to do the Chem 100 labs. And by labs, I mean torture. My long-time friend Francesca will back me up on this.

Dept of Chemistry

The Astronomy/Geophysics department now has a new home. Back when I was attending UBC, the joke was that the only seismometer in Vancouver was housed in the least earthquake proof building (which was the old building of the A/G dept). I wish I'd been smart enough to major in astronomy. I love that this building reminds me of my failure and biggest regret. #sarcasm

Astronomy & Geophysics

Behind the Astronomy/Geophysics building is the old Geological Sciences building. (Geological Sciences has since been renamed Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, or something like that.) Back in the days of yore, we had to physically show up at this building to pick up computer punch cards to sign up for science and math courses; computer punch cards for arts courses were at Buchanan. Wow, primitive.

The best thing about this building is that it houses a giant slab of the Burgess Shale. Absolutely awesome piece of rock it is too.

the building formerly known as Geological Sciences

Last, but not least, is a well-known UBC landmark: the clock tower in front of the Main Library. In an episode of The X-Files, a sniper shot at people from up there.

I dropped by the Math Department too to see if my favorite calculus prof was still around, but he no longer had an office. I figured he was long retired, though I wanted to tell him again how much I learned in his class. I loved his Math 200 course...along with my geophysics, sociolinguistics, and sensation and perception courses.

You probably couldn't tell I miss my alma mater, could you? Heh.

What about you? Do you miss yours? Where did you attend university or high school and do you go to visit whenever you can?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams