Finding a Lecture

A couple of weeks ago, I heard about a lecture that interested me occurring at a nearby college. I don't think it was open to the public, but it didn't say it wasn't open to the public, so I decided to crash it. I've always been pretty liberal with helping myself to a free education.

I had looked up the building on the map before hand so I wouldn't get lost, but I still got really lost. I found the building with a common name - let's say it was "Jackson" - and proceeded to look for room 200. I went around the whole building, and none of the rooms were numbered. I even wandered into the cafeteria where I wasn't supposed to be without an ID, so I apologized and scurried out. Finally, I asked someone where room 200 was, and she said she didn't think such a room existed in this building.

Ready to give up, I found that there was a second building called "Jackson" not too far away. I understand that colleges want to honor the donors who give them the money to erect these buildings, but you've got to diversify the names a little more. Already about 15 minutes late to the lecture, I ran up to the second floor.

And there was Classroom 200. Students were still milling about, so I was glad to see I hadn't missed anything. There was a giant submarine sandwich that had been sliced up, and someone handed me a piece on my way in the door. I took it and found a seat in the back. After a minute, a professor thanked everyone for attending the first of several final presentations for the senior seminar on Gender and Philosophy. While it sounded like an interesting topic, that definitely wasn't what I had showed up for. I was in some senior class at a small college where everyone probably knew each other.

So I had a decision to make: stay and watch this other class, or awkwardly sneak out. For a moment, I resigned myself to staying. I already had a sandwich in front of me and the first girl had already started her presentation. Unsure of how long I'd be trapped there, however, I decided to bolt, leaving behind the untouched sandwich behind. I received a lot of confused stares, but none of those people knew me, so whatever.

On my way to the building's exit, I encountered a different room marked Auditorium 200. Evidently - there are not only two buildings named Jackson, but in one of the Jackson buildings, there are two rooms numbered 200. For a college that prides itself on being smart, someone should really point out how dumb this setup is. Although more than 20 minutes late, I took a seat in the back and enjoyed my time now that I was in the right place.

I always miss being in college, but nothing has made me feel this pang quite as much as being on an actual campus. You get to learn new things, there's free food, and your friends are never more than four minutes away. I don't care whether this college I don't pay to attend sets up a whole labyrinth to deter me next time - I'm still going to come back.