On December 1 we went to the University of Nevada, Reno, a sister school to the California Universities. When we were finally close to the University, there was a large, full rainbow that filled the air and kept our attention. On the way up to the mountains, we stopped at Subway for an early lunch, and finally, made it to the school’s parking lot.
The campus is large, but not too big, and it is beautiful with Manzanita lake as a beautiful place for studying. They’re all very enthusiastic about their wolfpack, sporting their school’s ear warmers and sweatshirts on the winter day. On the day we came, they were having their last football game, and to show their spirit, they smashed a car with the Illinois State colors on it. College students could pay, they got a helmet and a hammer and they went at it, trying to break the windows or add yet another dent.
UNR has a great college of Education, but they aren’t as big in the language arts department. Sciences are a big thing for them, something Anna was excited to hear about.
They had made many multi-million dollar renovations to their buildings, but many of them still had their old time, 1870’s feeling, which drew the majority of us to it. They have a large library that’s five stories high, with an attractive quiet room right at the top. Their robot, MARS, retrieves low-use books for the students that need them with just a tap in the catalog.
During our tour of the campus, we saw a rose garden with a few standing granite walls with lists and lists of names. When we asked, our guide, Gabby, explained that these were the names of the people who graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Something to strive for, we joked.
Eventually, we said our goodbyes with a personal bag of chocolate rocks as a parting gift and we bought some Starbucks, and took the long drive home.
