The University of Delaware is a lively place. The qualities of the school and the community around it make it somewhere you want to be. I see people walking on campus, smiling and chatting with friends, and families who pass by Morris Library, The Green, and Main Street, appreciating campus even though access is restricted for the time being. Amidst the chaos of an online semester, there is still a beating heart on campus.
One way the spirit of UD is alive in Newark is through small, safe activities. One activity I would recommend is a trip to the UDairy Creamery, like the one I recently took with friends. Although the ice cream we had at the University’s own ice cream shop stands on its own–might I suggest “All Nighter,” my favorite flavor–the real joy of the night was interacting with the campus in the way we all might have a few months ago. The whole event was completely outside, and we ordered ice cream with masks on from the window on the side of the creamery. Past that, my roommates and I found a place set apart from other customers to enjoy our ice cream and the nice evening. We found a bench on South Campus that faced a field of cows near some charming gardens. We had walked over just before sunset, so the sun was setting as we were ordering, giving us the privilege to watch the sunset over the field of UD cows.
We watched the cows as they settled for the night, many of them heading back towards the barns, and others still waiting by the fence, closer to us. They seemed to be intrigued by the humans around them, including us and a family at the other end of the enclosure. We finished our ice cream and walked closer to the fence to greet the cows that had been saying “hi” to us.
Before the sun fully set, we were able to admire the gardens on South Campus, which are all beautifully maintained and full of enchanting flowers. I later found out that the garden we were sitting next to was the UD test garden. We receive many plants from around the country, and they get planted in that specific flower bed to see if they fare well in Newark, DE. A lot of them were able to succeed here, some even doing so well that they were overtaking the intended spots for other plants.
I would have never learned about the test garden if I hadn’t decided to take a small trip down to the creamery. Although many might already know about it, I was happy I looked at what was right in front of me. Without describing the night in much more detail, I want the takeaway to be that there are so many opportunities for us to appreciate what the University, and in a more general sense, what life has to offer us, and I would encourage everyone to stop and smell the roses. Be creative with what you can do safely and respectfully in your community, wherever you may be reading this from.
