Even before I opened my acceptance letter, I dreamt about all of the amazing places I could study on Kenyon’s campus: Ascension’s dark academic reading room, below the skylight in Chalmers Library, at a table in the dining hall with my friends… the choices were endless. Prior to arriving on campus, however, I never expected to spend as much time as I have doing work outdoors. As someone from the San Francisco area, it was often too windy or chilly to be able to take my work outdoors — and when it was possible, the threat of seagulls overhead was enough to send me running back indoors. Kenyon’s rural setting and beautiful campus combined with the lovely humidity of an Ohio summer and early fall created the perfect environment to open a textbook outside, and I took full advantage of it immediately. However, I wasn’t expecting the amount of insects that would join me — paper wasps, small spiders, praying mantises, and ants hung around my work spaces. But rather than being irritated, I found myself falling in love with my new study buddies, and it helped me focus better!
The very first assignment I completed in my first semester was done outside, on the porch of the Anthropology house, while a small white spider climbed onto my notebook and scurried around. It remained within my immediate vicinity, and whenever I needed a break from reading my textbook, the spider provided a great distraction that wasn’t my phone. Throughout that semester, grasshoppers often joined me on the benches along Middle Path and in adirondack chairs, where small armies of ants also traversed. Every time I wanted to avoid the heat and go inside to study, the pull to see a new species of insect I rarely got to witness outside of zoos in San Francisco pulled me back outside.
Just casually seeing a huge praying mantis standing on the arm of a chair would be the highlight of my afternoon. My camera roll began filling up with pictures of small bugs sitting amongst my pencils and on books, and I actively sought out places where I knew more insects would show up. My friends have photos taken from their dorm windows of me abandoning my work for a moment to crouch down in the dirt and observe whatever crawling thing captured my attention. It became a sort of hobby, a challenge to myself to commit to: taking time in the sunlight and paying close attention to the natural world around me.
It was difficult to adjust to the demands of college work. Instead of having a very full day of classes and a set list of assignments, I found myself struggling to figure out how to fill those awkward two hours between classes and study for classes without structure. Having chances to remind myself of my beautiful surroundings and the academic opportunities that my college experience has presented helped ease the transition. Recognizing the inner workings of the natural world helped ground me in those moments.
The disconnect between our work and technology-filled everyday lives the the beauty of the Kokosing Valley has become more obvious as winter has set in and fewer students are spending time outdoors. As we put away picnic blankets in favor of library booths and many insects become less active, it is easy to forget the small joys that our surrounding environment provides. As spring nears closer, I invite both Kenyon students and those at other schools to take in their natural surroundings at hand with their coursework and explore new outdoor places to study. You may discover some new, very tiny friends.