Description of the Science Wing Lounge

When you first walk into the Academic Building of Lewis University you are greeted with a warm embrace of light and decorum. As you walk through the halls you can't help but imagine all the learning and intellectualism that goes on beyond the closed doors of the classrooms and lecture halls. You look upon the posters that advertise upcoming events and organizations, as well as stare into the display cases that exemplify Lewis University's past and modern technology or advertise paraphernalia and school pride. Eventually you're drawn to the lounge, as you follow the luminescent streaking rays of light as they shine into the square, multi-leveled room, bordered by far reaching windows on three sides. You can't help but feel content embracing all the natural light that flows through the windows and gazing at the walkways, shrubbery, and planes as they land just outside your window. You walk through the spacious room, gawking at its contemporary design, and sit on one of the many soft and comfy chairs. Depending on the time you arrive, you can either be greeted by an array of students socializing or studying that dwindles into pleasant background noise or a quiet empty room with only the purr of fans and vents in the background. The room is kept clean, with no lingering smells to disturb those that come to relax or study. The lounge fits the rest of the university, in that it furthers the University's emphasis on learning and professionalism. It not only encourages learning and conversation by offering a location for students to be able to simply sit down and escape some of the stress or pressures they are going through, but is a perfect place for the random passerby to get a taste of what Lewis offers.

Vintage Ad

Letting Go of Caddying

When I first started caddying in the transitional summer from 7th to 8th grade, I was really eager to be the best caddy I can be. This position would be my first actual job, and provide me with my first source of income since shoveling houses and doing chores at my house for money, and it would have also given me many benefits including prizes, networking, and even scholarships. This was multiplied by the fact that I already had friends that were very successful caddies, and I aimed to take after them. Despite all my motivation and effort however, the tolls and expectations of being a caddy were simply too much. On my golf course at least, the caddie master expected the caddies to devote their entire summers and the beginning/ending parts of the school year to it. He wanted us to come in every day at 6:00 AM and potentially stay until 4:00 or 5:00, sit in a crowded and stuffy caddie shack the entire time, and to not complain if you didn't get a loop after 2 or 3 days. This was worsened by the fact that the process of selecting which caddies would get loops was based on the idea that everybody would put their name on a list when they walked in, and names would randomly be plucked out. But, it just so happened that mostly the highest ranking caddies, with a few new caddies thrown in, would randomly be selected first. By the time that the pool of caddies was diluted so much that the low ranking caddies would be guaranteed a spot, the honor caddies would come back, put their name on the list, and be 'randomly' selected again. Also, caddies weren't allowed to work on Mondays, their one day of the week off, but the caddie master would still expect the caddies to come in on that day and play golf on the golf course and would judge and criticize any caddy that didn't. I really tried my best to be a good worker and respect standards that were expected of me, but his expectations were simply too much. I wanted to be able to sleep in some days and go to the beach with my family or hang out with friends on another. I wanted to be able to have a flexible schedule and a boss that was willing to accommodate to my needs and not pretend to not punish those who didn't devote their lives to the golf course. However, after two years of doing my best to satisfy his expectations and still be able to relax, I realized that he was fixed in his methods and that I would not progress at all in the golf course if I remained and continued doing it as I was. I decided that by the next summer I would be old enough to become a lifeguard, and was able to transition to a job that I was proud to do with coworkers and managers that respected me and my time. When I first started caddying, I wanted to be a good caddie and rise through the ranks and become friends with many of the members I worked for. I wanted to be able to earn money through honest labor and improve my work ethic. I wanted to have a chance to get the Chik Evans Scholarship which would've paid up to $100,000 of my college tuition over 4 years. I wanted to be able to look back on my experiences with pride and content. I wanted to do all of it, but the unreasonable expectations and deniability of any punishments for not reaching those high expectations was too much, but it did lead me on to do better things.