Seattle University: good views

This is the student center.  Photo from here

I had a really depressing dream about SU last night; I received a full scholarship including room, food, and a stipend, but because I accepted it 3 months too late the offer was rescinded. 

For those of you who don't know SU, SU is a private Jesuit University in the heart of Seattle on Capitol Hill.  It was established in 1891 and has a long tradition of excellence and acceptance. 

I worked in the student center, shown above, for 3 years (2008-2011) as a lunch lady for Bon Apatite.  Because I walked through SU every day from home to my school at Seattle Central Community College, I knew a lot of the structures throughout the school.  Here are some of the cooler ones...

photo from here 

Above is the inside view of Saint Ignatius Chapel in Seattle.  What I always found amusing was that Saint James Cathedral, the main cathedral of all of Washington state, had a priest that could not compare in sympathy, activity, or enthusiasm in worship to the priest of SIC.

Photo from here

This is a view of the chapel from the outside.  The architecture is very natural in its inspiration and coloration, but modern and refreshing and...oddly inviting.

Photo from here

This is the centennial fountain.  It wasn't really the highlight of SU for a lot of people but it's nice all the same.  The tree in the background is really massive; I couldn't appreciate how large it was until I was riding my bike up the hill and had to swing out of the walk way onto the grass.  The tree is literally so large that it sometimes prevents passing on the designated walk way.  The prettiest sight in Seattle around Christmas time was this tree; they'd professionally string it with lights.  It's also a bit of a controversy on campus; the campus is officially devoted to trying to be as ecologically friendly as possible, and every year there's always some assembly of students trying to prevent the lights for that year.

photo from here

The stairs on the inside of the new section of the library are more fun than they should be.  The stairs connect between the 3rd floor and the 2nd floor, the top one actually housing most of the books and a lovely magazine-reading room.  The second floor houses the computer room and a cafe.

Photo from here

The image above is a generated image of the new library.  Construction started just after I started working in 2008-2009.  It was done by 2010 or 2011, and it was worth every penny (according to the students I talked to).

OK, the things that can't be substantiated by photos; the attitude of SU.

Frankly, there are 3 attitudes in SU amongst the students:

1. The Rich A**hole: this accounted for a small but vocal and active population of the student body.  Only about 10% of the students were afflicted with this condition, but they did quite a bit of damage in the process; spending thousands of mommy and daddy's money on temporary fashion trends and cars and unnecessary classes; stealing tones of food from my employers; skipping classes and tests to go to the latest high-rise club; coming into the cafeteria every Saturday morning reeking of alcohol, vomit, and stupid...The symptoms are endless.  However, while difficult, this condition is curable; a quick dose of reality is usually the trick.

2. The Nerd: I use this term in the looses manner possible; even the nerds in Seattle look good.  But these were the students who would make a burrito last all day because they were so deep in their studies in the lunch room.  These were the students who typically balanced full time school, academic activity, and charity work all in the same hour.  And these were the best students to deal with.

3. The in-between: The student who managed to get in but didn't know what they wanted to do with their education or life.  However, by Junior year, every one of them knew they path and had quickly converted to being a nerd.

The general atmosphere of SU is pretty good; the faculty and staff are VERY accepting of all students, regardless of political leanings, race, religion, sexual orientation, blah blah blah...what struck me as being particularly wonderful was the way the school embraced and protected its LGBT community on campus; gay clubs, awareness of the issues, and they would take bullying very seriously.  I had some openly-gay students tell me they felt safer on campus than they did back at home.

The school in general, while catholic, is pretty liberal; there were sex-ed weeks, tree STD testing, condoms given out, and the school nurse would even recommend people to see Planned Parenthood if it was needed.  In general, SU was a school with values...one of those being to not persecute people for their differences.

It cannot be stressed enough how excellent of a school SU is.  If you're ever in Seattle, check it out.