This is an assignment for my Creative Writing class - a short nonfiction story. I think it's adequate, so I figured I would post it here. I hope you all enjoy it.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Walking Around Notre Dame

Jacob Biggs

I have a lot of family living up in South Bend – most of my family, actually. My grandparents and the majority of my aunts, uncles, and cousins all live in some part of South Bend. My family and I travel up there to visit once every couple of months or so on average, depending on events and situations of life. Nowadays, it's mostly my parents that go up there, since I'm in college, but I still get to accompany them every now and then.

While my family is up in South Bend, we like to go somewhere and walk around for a while, sometimes with an end goal in mind but mostly just to meander. A favorite place to visit, and one that I have some nice memories of, is the University of Notre Dame. It's a scenic place, especially in the spring and summer when it's warm out and the shrubbery is green and full of life. When I think of South Bend, I usually imagine it in the winter, because we always spend Christmas in South Bend and did so recently, but in my memories of Notre Dame, it's sunny with blue skies all day long.

When my family visits Notre Dame, we usually park in a lot near a couple of basketball courts and a grove of trees that towers over us, with thick, bushy branches of green leaves. There's a small cemetery nestled in that grove, tucked away beneath the trees. It's pretty well hidden in the summer, but in the winter the shroud of leaves falls away. I think that's pretty clever.

Just near this parking lot is the bookstore. The bookstore's quite large for a university bookstore, and dual-tiered as well. It's not just textbooks they're selling – there's plenty of pleasure books for sale as well. I've bought many from the school over the years. There's also a cafe and newsstand with tall windows built into the hard wooden walls, so patrons can see outside.

There's a road outside the bookstore that extends up north for a while before ending in a loop. In the middle of this loop is a jade statue of Jesus Christ, and in the distance you can see the main building, which towers over even the trees and has a golden dome atop the center tower. A similarly gold statue of Mary stands on top of this dome.

The buildings at Notre Dame are brick like the ones at Trine, but unlike the reds and browns we have here, the buildings at Notre Dame are more of a golden tan color. Unlike the buildings at Trine, which are flat cubes, the buildings at Notre Dame have many sharp angles incorporated into their designs; even the bookstore was built in this manner. I don't know what kind of architectural style this is, but it reminds me of how churches and steeples are often built – with the roof converging into sharp upward-facing angles above the doors and windows. A campus of cathedrals... there's something poetic about that.

In the midst of all of the academic buildings, the sidewalks and pathways crisscross in an intricate and artistic pattern, the kind you'd see on an heirloom from long ago. The campus is a very green and vibrant place – there are trees almost everywhere in the gaps between walkways, and the shade that they provide makes the campus seem like a very secluded place even though it isn't. A lot of squirrels can be seen scurrying about on the ground and up the trees, if you come at the right time of the year. There's also a couple of big lakes near the edge of campus, with sidewalks running nearby for people to walk on and enjoy the view of the clear, rippling water.

Lastly, there's a big football stadium in the middle of the campus for sporting events. Sometimes people tailgate there for big games – we've gone to watch at least once. It gets really crowded, with lots of trucks, sports logos, and noise spread out over the entire parking lot. There's plenty to see if you're willing to make the walk around. The stadium itself is circular, with gray walls built high like a fortress. When you're inside and standing on the turf, looking out at the rows of seats stretching outward and upward, it makes you feel small, in a humbling way.

I don't visit the University of Notre Dame enough for the memories to be completely fresh, but I remember a good amount of what I've seen over the years. It's a very scenic college, and I think nature-lovers would find it very soothing. It's not a college I would wish to attend – too large for me – but a visit every now and then is nice.