115 Things I'll Miss About the University of Chicago

In less than a month, I will have completed my 115 total academic weeks at the University of Chicago. Here are 115 things I’ll miss.

  1. My dorm, Snell-Hitchcock.
  2. The House Table.
  3. Botany Pond.
  4. The Quad on a snowy afternoon.
  5. The Quad on a sunny afternoon.
  6. Theater rehearsals in the Logan Center.
  7. Rosenwald Hall.
  8. Studying in Harper Library.
  9. Sneaking food, drinks, and photos inside Harper.
  10. People-watching from inside Mansueto.
  11. Making friends with baristas to get free coffee.
  12. Dollar Shake Wednesdays.
  13. Scav.
  14. Dorm parties.
  15. Apartment parties.
  16. Rolling out of bed and just making it to class on time.
  17. The Pub.
  18. The gargoyles everywhere.
  19. Mandel Hall.
  20. Powell’s Books.
  21. The Sem Co-Op.
  22. An almond croissant from the Med.
  23. Long Sunday mornings at Salonica.
  24. Introducing visitors to Valois—and correcting their pronunciation.
  25. Doc Films.
  26. University Theater.
  27. The Dean’s Men, UChicago’s resident Shakespeare group.
  28. Hyde Park Produce.
  29. The beep card readers make when you tap into a building.
  30. The clock on the façade of Cobb.
  31. Bartlett Dining Commons.
  32. The Campus North wind tunnel.
  33. Nichols Park.
  34. Lake Michigan.
  35. The Point on a warm summer day.
  36. The Red Line.
  37. The Core, honest to God.
  38. Build Coffee.
  39. Signature Courses. Professors design special courses that are only offered for one quarter, and they’re always interesting.
  40. The seal in Reynolds Club.
  41. The outside of Rockefeller Chapel.
  42. The inside of Rockefeller Chapel.
  43. The 53rd Express.
  44. Café 53.
  45. Late night film screenings for class.
  46. House Meetings.
  47. Explaining the difference between UChicago and UIC.
  48. Attending random talks and lectures for the fun of it.
  49. Attending random talks and lectures for the free food.
  50. Drifting off in the Harper armchairs.
  51. Losing myself in the Reg stacks.
  52. Running into friends on campus.
  53. Kuvia.
  54. Fourth Meal.
  55. Spotting Dean Boyer on his bike.
  56. Having a discussion that finally makes the reading make sense.
  57. The Chicago Maroon.
  58. The Chicago Shady Dealer.
  59. Productive office hours.
  60. Resident Heads. The heads of your house are some of the first and best people you meet at UChicago.
  61. Resident Deans. The heads of your dorm are just as cool and often lead events for the dorm.
  62. Reading period.
  63. The feeling of closing all your open tabs after turning in a huge assignment.
  64. Honey the duck.
  65. Spending hours in Hallowed Grounds.
  66. Saying hi to the dogs on campus.
  67. The Polar Bear Run.
  68. Open Produce.
  69. The University Church rummage sale.
  70. Homecoming.
  71. O-Week.
  72. The decorative stone corn on Snell-Hitchcock.
  73. The lights of Giordano’s blinking through my apartment window.
  74. The truck that would loudly back up to Searle every morning outside my dorm window.
  75. Showing visitors around Hyde Park.
  76. Snail Thai.
  77. Harold’s.
  78. The food trucks on Ellis.
  79. Meeting cool professors.
  80. The unblinking red light inside Ryerson.
  81. Stagg Field.
  82. Ratner Athletic Center.
  83. The first Heisman trophy.
  84. The Midway.
  85. Burton-Judson.
  86. I-House.
  87. Plein Air Café.
  88. Robie House.
  89. The Smart Museum.
  90. The Court Theatre.
  91. Performances in Goodspeed Hall.
  92. Walking from Stuart to Cobb on a cold winter day without ever going outside.
  93. Summer in Hyde Park.
  94. Browsing the selection outside Hyde Park Records.
  95. Walking under the Metra tracks.
  96. Watching the ivy turn as the seasons change.
  97. Running into Lake Michigan at sunrise on the first day of classes.
  98. Invoking the spirit of Arley D. Cathey.
  99. Washington Park.
  100. Jackson Park.
  101. Lorado Taft’s Fountain of Time.
  102. Reading a book outdoors on campus.
  103. Ponding various House officials.
  104. Going to see various friends’ exhibits, performances, projects, presentations.
  105. Cooking dinner with my roommates.
  106. Watching good movies on rainy days.
  107. The 61st Street Farmers Market.
  108. The 172, a CTA bus that cycles through Hyde Park.
  109. Hearing the carillon.
  110. Voting with my tips in Grounds of Being, the grad student-run café in the Div School.
  111. Poking around in unfamiliar buildings to find the right classroom.
  112. Class discussions in huge old ornate rooms.
  113. Accumulating so many books and t-shirts.
  114. A campus that has always felt like home.
  115. Everything.
Submitted by Liam F. on Friday, May 13, 2022