a visit to UK

Today I took my girls for a visit to the beautiful, sprawling campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington.  The first time I visited UK’s campus was during my sophomore year as an undergrad.  I remember wishing I had seen UK’s campus before I decided to go to Morehead.  In truth, I could barely afford Morehead and UK would have been much more expensive.   The campus really is lovely with many expansive areas of grass, giant oak trees, and lots of flower gardens.    

One of many tree-lined walkways

Our tour took us through the main library which was magnificent.  Wouldn’t it be fun to explore such a large place full of who knows what!!  Actually, I hope to someday go there and read some of Heinrich’s first books.  They’re long out of print and impossible for somebody like me to buy.  Perhaps not impossible, but one I considered buying couldn’t be had for less than $1600.  That library has a copy of it, which doesn’t necessarily mean they would let somebody like me put my hands on it. 

Across the street from the main library

magnificent library atrium with skylights

We had to park a ways from where the tour started.  We were instructed to park in the #5 Student Parking Garage.  It’s a huge garage, covering nearly a city block and many levels high.  I entered and drove around and around, spiraling up the levels, looking for an open space.  We were at (I think) the fourth level and hadn’t passed a single empty space when Erin said, “You know Mom, instead of burning all this gas, why don’t you just exit and see if we can find a place on the street or in another lot?”  She made another comment and I realized she thought we were driving in a 360 circle waiting for somebody to leave – she didn’t realize we were going up to a new level with each circle.  Apparently she’s not too familiar with parking garages and the incline was so subtle she didn’t notice we were going up.  We finally found a place on the fifth level.  I got a good chuckle out of that.   

Both girls liked the campus.  We visited the University of Louisville last month.  Erin really liked it, but Emily was mostly indifferent.  It was good to see Emily at least somewhat excited about college today.  Erin said she likes them both and must start thinking about which she would rather go to.   Most likely, which university offers the best scholarships will play a large role in their decisions.  Part of the preference for Lexington may be the that the girls are more familiar with Lexington than with Louisville (we’ve been there more often).  Also, the campus is older and they like the architecture of the old houses near campus .  The freshman dorm rooms at UK are larger than the UL dorm rooms – that definitely caught their attention. 

They still have plenty of time to think about it, and it’s good for them to think about it.  They both hate high school with a passion.  I hope the prospects of going away to a new school with different kids will be enough inspiration to keep them on track for two more years.