When most students go to school, they usually take the same path everyday, always looking at their phones, listening to their music and just go about their day. They never really stop to look at whats around them, and enjoy the history behind ECC. That is what Phi Theta Kappa Advisor and Honors Program director Jason Kane said at the start of Campus as Text.

“This event is a way to look at the campus from an insider/outsider perspective and figure out what does the campus say about our community” said Kane.

Campus as Text was held on April 29, and Phi Theta Kappa invited students to see the campus like they never seen it before.

Before the event happened there was contest, a scavenger hunt where you have to look around the campus and find certain items, for example a drawing on the poetry wall, or little plush toys in a display case in the A building.

The event was inspired by City as Text which was an event at an honors conference back in November. Honors Officer Carlie Draeger enjoyed the event so much that she got the idea to bring it to campus.

“I thought it would be interesting to translate this city-wide event to our campus and see what kind of conversations we can generate.” said Draeger.

Everyone in attendance split up into different groups where they got to explore different parts of campus. Some of the locations were the A building which does science and nursing, the H building which focuses on the arts. Thr M building which has computer classes, daycare, a greenhouse, and some sciences classes, and the O building which is home to the welding program.

A favorite of the students was the greenhouse, because some students weren’t aware there was a greenhouse, while some were aware but they never been inside. Another favorite was the O building because of all of the statues in which some students have even compared it to the H building because some have considered welding a form of art.

“There is a lot of ground to cover, lots of walking around to do, you don’t get much appreciation by taking shortcuts, taking the long way around can give you more perspective,” said Scholarship Officer David Friedman.

After the event there was a discussion, where the students shared their findings. One key thought was the fact that students don’t utilize the outdoor space as much as they should, and that there is still people that smoke on campus despite the ban that went into effect last year.

Draeger hopes that the main thing that came out of the event is continued conversations about the campus and the college as a whole and to just take a stop from their daily walk and think.

“I want people to stop during their daily walk to and from class and actually think about the environment they are in. Why are things the way they are? What can we change and make better? Should anything be changed? Why hasn’t it been changed? Those are the types of questions I want students to take to heart and continue to use even after they leave ECC,” said Draeger.