The Commons

(Posted nearly two weeks retroactively, because I was swamped with summer school and didn’t get around to removing the photo from my phone.)

Friday’s building was the Commons. I chose it because I was on a very tight schedule and needed a not-yet-written-in building close to a legal parking lot. In the summers, TAMU grants all permit-holders the privilege of parking in several close-in locations. So, I try to think of my $275 Lot 50 permit as a free tour pass, my ticket into places normally off limits to a lowly graduate student. The Southside Parking Garage is my favorite summer parking place, and the Commons is the closest non-dorm building.  

The Commons connects four dormitories, much like the crossbar of a letter H. In it are food outlets, mailboxes, and equipment for rest and recreation. Due to poor planning, I ate lunch on the road, instead of taste-testing the Commons food offerings. Eating there would have meant a difficult decision…do I try the Common Denominator grill (because it’s such a great name)?  Or do I try the Chick-Fil-A Express, to learn whether it has the same level of outstanding service as the freestanding Chick-Fil-A’s?

I may have to revisit the Commons after August. I suspect the Commons in Fall and the Commons in Summer are so drastically different that they really should count as separate buildings. Perhaps on my next visit, the sea of empty pool tables will be overrun by hordes of boisterous freshmen. Perhaps my next Commons writing session won’t be so quiet and peaceful that I could easily mistake my environment for a library instead of a dorm.

On this summer Friday, I found myself wishing for more time, as the Commons was a very pleasant place to write. I was rather proud of myself—instead of spending my writing session writing about the Commons, I spent it doing an initial database search and writing up my search terms and results. (Yes, finally, a building tour stop is filled with useful dissertation-related writing. Hooray!)