If you have been in Wyoming for longer than a month, you probably have heard of the state’s two true seasons: winter and construction. Likewise, this stands true for the UW campus, where there is often a heavy overlap between these ‘seasons.
The idea of campus construction makes most people who work and learn on this campus groan no matter what season it occurs in.
However, when it is accepted that construction is a favorite and familiar topic of complaint for most Wyomingites, it becomes plain to see that construction on campus may serve more good than bad.
Besides the obvious benefit of improving our facilities in the long term, construction often also creates a new norm for those who must deal with it every day.
College students are usually rather adaptable people. Even though complaints about a specific sidewalk being closed may last much longer, it often takes only one instance of a regular path being blocked to learn a new one.
That is to say, no matter the issue, we as college students tend to adapt very well.
Adaptation leads to evolution. Evolution leads to improvement. Construction is nothing if not improvement. While our campus is being physically improved, our own sense of resilience and adaptability also benefits.
One prime example would be the 15th Street construction which came and went in what seemed like a flash between early September and late October of this year.
Coming face to face with a massive excavator, an eight-foot chain link fence and a gargantuan hole in the ground on the way to class every morning is not an ideal start to anyone’s day.
However, many students living in the dorms––myself included––may have taken for granted the fact that 15th being closed made the commute to class far smoother than it would be otherwise.
For the roughly two months that 15th Street was closed, the majority of construction did not take place directly in the path of most students crossing the street.
For those readers unfamiliar with the intersection of 15th and Ivinson, it is a complicated, spidery situation with four different crosswalks and cars coming from three and going in four different directions.
Many complain that the time to cross is far too short, and that the wait between the little green men appearing and the audible countdown is far too long. You can truly have some fascinating conversations just while waiting to cross 15th.
The same was not true during the brief period of construction, however. For less than a week, student’s paths had to deviate slightly when crossing the intersection, so as to avoid large construction equipment and even larger piles of dirt and broken asphalt.
Such tiny deviations were nothing in regard to the sense of ease and safety with which one could cross 15th.
Usually, this intersection can make getting to class feel like a thrilling adventure, where an inattentive driver or one misplaced step of your own could either get yourself or someone else hurt seriously, or at the very least get the rest of your college paid for.
Miraculously, not a single speeding vehicle or campus bus could be seen on 15th for that short and blissful time.
The construction closed the intersection to motor vehicles, and indeed made life slightly more difficult for those looking for parking spots near the dorms, but this too could be turned into a win, if adapted to properly.
A parallel parking spot was open on the block of Ivinson closest to the dorms far more often when it was a dead-end street because of the construction.
Even pulling out of Fraternity and Sorority Mall was less painful, as traffic was entirely stopped from one direction.
While some facts of this reality may have seemed unnecessarily complicated or painful during the period of construction, I cannot help but see all the overlooked benefits when looking back on those few weeks.
We love to hate construction and all the chaos it seems to introduce to our lives. However, that chaos is far tamer than what would ensue if no construction happened at all.
The topic of public works and government funding is a hefty one, and one for another day. For now, I think each student, faculty member, and citizen of the great two-season state of Wyoming owe themselves a little bit of truth.
Construction season––whether it lasts all year round or just a few short months––is just as much a blessing as a pain.
So next time you see safety orange or hear the wonderful scrape of steel-on-asphalt, smile a little. Smile because you know that something, somewhere is improving, and that construction will not last forever.
Soon enough, things will return to normal, and waiting impatiently on the corner of 15th and Ivinson will again be an everyday experience.
