As you drift into sleep at the end of a long day, do you ever find yourself wondering what might be out there or pondering what might be visible only in the dead of night? Students with late night campus jobs have shared what they’ve seen, both on the trek back to their dorms and what they’ve noticed within the seemingly still and quiet residential halls and places of study.
Sophomore Catey Gross works at the Golden Auditorium — a popular place to attend screenings and watch movies, especially late on Friday nights when they host their 35mm film series. She explained her experience with the wildlife that comes to life late at night.
“There are a lot of deer,” Gross said. “They stare at you. At first you just make eye contact with one and then you see there are seven more also gawking at you.”
When night falls, it seems it can feel as though campus becomes a haven for deer — they run and walk freely and initiate fights. Interestingly enough, deer are not nocturnal, however they make themselves scarce during the day as 3,000 students traverse their way to class. Gross revealed she felt as though she was interrupting their lives on her walks back from the auditorium.
“I did feel like I was intruding. [Especially after] the way they stopped what they were doing,” Gross said. “I’ll admit I was scared, especially when the leader even stomped a little. I hurried quickly back to my dorm.”
How many other species think the campus is solely their home? Sophomore Kiersten Boos works at the Case-Geyer Library. Leaving late at night, she often sees clusters of bunnies freely bounding through the snow up and down the hill.
Boos also reflected on what it’s like inside the library when she leaves while it’s still open.
“At around [10 p.m.] when I leave it’s so quiet inside, even the not quiet floors are silent. There’s usually still plenty of people working [though], especially earlier in the school week,” Boos said.
Junior Emma Shinsato, a former Community Leader (CL), explained what it was like at night within residential spaces.
“I did notice the quiet nature of our campus, as I would rarely see people out and about on a Monday night at 11 p.m. for instance,” Shinsato said.
As a CL, at the end of the day Shinsato would have to do rounds, meaning she walks around all the buildings in the Residential Commons she lived in. She found that the quietness spoke to students’ impressive work ethic.
It goes to show that it’s pretty easy, when you take a step back, to notice what different people like to do and their daily habits. Just like how if you take a minute to go outside at night when most people are asleep in their twin XL beds, you’ll probably notice a few intimidating deer.
