March 2, 2015 - 22:18
Visiting the bench by Pensby center was a strange experience. Purple Finch was right in saying that it "feels distant and removed from the rest of campus." It felt like I was staring at an exit or entrance, like I was outside of where all of the action was happening. The site had so much going on. People were going up and down the stairway, the lacrosse team was holding practice; there was no one place you could look at without missing something else. At times, I felt misplaced. I wasn't supposed to be there, but not because this wasn't my site. I couldn't face forward or I felt like I was intruding in on the lacrosse practice. But, when I turned sideways, I was facing the stairway and facing people as they walked by.
On Purple Finch's bench, you could see the nicest view of campus. I spent most of the time wondering why this angle of campus wasn't used in brochures instead of always using the Pem Arch or Senior Row. You could see Rhoads, the library, Merion, Radnor, the cool roofing of the gym, Applebee field. It made campus seem so much bigger than it feels. This site puts the whole campus in a nice perspective. Even though you could see the other half, it didn't feel like so much was being left out compared to when the main focus is the Arch of Senior Row. I can only imagine what this site looks like in spring.