Issue date: 6/3/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Gail Hernandez [Click to enlarge]

Early in my collegiate career, I once failed a test so miserably that it nearly brought me to tears. Dejected, I left the classroom to pout and wander aimlessly across campus seeking some sort of comfort in the face of my first epic failure since I had left the nest. Seemingly, nothing could be done to ease my self-loathing, and I wasn't about to call mommy for reassurance. Not this time.

My journey took me past happy couples in front of the Century Tree and kids playing frisbee on the green lawn in front of Sul Ross. Birds were chirping and the sun was shining bright, but still nothing could be done to calm my mind in light of my hatred of my own insufficient knowledge.

Eventually I was drawn toward the Memorial Student Center, and it was there that I managed to find my solace.

Upon entering, the aura of bustling students and the melody of the piano keys proceeded to cleanse my troubled soul.

That day, I sat in a comfortable chair in the students' living room and an anonymous piano player backed by the heart of the spirit of Aggieland put my troubled mind at ease.

In that room I relaxed and my trivial matter was put into greater perspective as I realized how lucky I was to be a part of this University's amazing atmosphere.

Each day that the MSC's doors are open, thousands of students pour in and out to work, study, chat, people watch or relax. Besides offering services like the post office, meeting spaces and campus-wide dining facilities, the MSC is a home for the student body to do what it pleases at its own leisure, and that has by far been its greatest service. Now that our home is getting a new facelift, how will the student body cope without our living room?

Bill Bielamowicz, director of the Rudder Theater Complex, says that the official capacity of the MSC living lounge has been shifted to the Rudder exhibit hall area.

The administration has done its best in reallocating space for all of the various MSCC organizations to continue operations, but they will never be able to replicate the ambience of the MSC Flagroom and how that area serves as the epicenter for all student activity.

Continued...

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