Summer Soap (Episode 5): A tour of UCC... and Natalie is impressed

The day after she fully settled in, Natalie decided it was time to finally find the university she’d come all this way to attend.

She wanted to make note of exactly how long it would take to get from her own accommodation hall to the campus. She consulted Google Maps the moment she stepped outside, twisting her phone this way and that to make absolutely certain that she and her phone had the same left before setting off.

After a week of being thoroughly humbled as far as her navigational skills were concerned, Natalie was worried about finding campus. It seemed simple enough on the map, just a walk down Washington Street and turn right.

That said, Natalie thought a walk to the Bookshelf from the Imperial Hotel seemed simple enough, until she was ten minutes walking by the river on South Mall before she turned back and realised she hadn’t needed to cross the street in the first place.

That morning, she was happy enough to finally find her breakfast for the day, but recalling it afterward made her want to put her head in her hands.

Natalie was banking on a college campus being easier to spot than a coffee shop, but she’d never visited a city campus, so she couldn’t be sure.

 She’d seen pictures of some of the campus buildings, but those were photos taken from the inside of campus. Who knows what they looked like from an outsider’s perspective?

As it turned out, universities were incredibly conspicuous, much to Natalie’s relief. With a gate of wrought iron and the school’s crest hanging above the students heading to campus, Natalie had no trouble finding her way long before she hit the intersection.

Before crossing to her final destination, she decided to duck into a coffee shop. She opted for an Americano, took a sip, and her face immediately scrunched in on itself without permission or warning. It took six packs of sugar to salvage her coffee and she remembered what she actually came here for.

She exited the shop wondering if she should start looking up what went into all these coffee options before ordering them.

While she waited for the light to turn, she shed her cardigan. She’d put it on when she checked the weather and seen autumn temperatures, but now that she was standing under the afternoon sun, those fifteen degrees felt much warmer than expected.

Natalie was beginning to regret wearing long sleeves until she took her first steps onto University College Cork.

The weather had been indulgent in its welcome. Three days of uninterrupted sunshine meant the River Lee ran quiet and smooth as glass under the bridge as she crossed it into campus proper. The trees lining the path provided a welcome reprieve from the late summer sun and kept the sounds of the busy road at bay.

Natalie couldn’t believe that she was still in Cork, the dancing shadows on the mossy road and branches reaching overhead felt more forest than city.

She’d planned to find a map of campus as soon as she could, and start learning where everything was. She had orientation the next day, so she wanted to at least find the Quad today instead of in the morning and risk another 20-minute detour when she had a schedule and a place to be again.

All that being said, Natalie found herself quite content to follow the road up the hill just to see where it would take her, passing the stairs that probably led to the rest of campus without a second thought. She wanted to enjoy the tranquil atmosphere, even if only for a few moments more.

It wasn’t long before the incline evened out and Natalie noticed people standing at the railing to her right taking pictures. She followed in their footsteps to see what they were looking at, and wasn’t disappointed. The road’s elevation gave way to the best view of the city she’d seen so far.

Framed by the river below, the city rose before her in rows of white plaster and red brick below a cloudless blue sky. Natalie was there for five minutes, taking it in and snapping a few photos of her own.

Then she turns around and there it is. Proud and old as cut stone, Aula Maxima was one of the most impressive buildings she’d ever seen. Windows made of stained glass and gothic angels gave the building a decorative feel Natalie had only seen in museums, churches, and other historical landmarks one didn’t just walk into. Places meant to be visited, admired, and then vacated for the next group of tourists.

The Quad was no mere decoration, still perfectly functional even as the campus had since grown beyond it. In fact, Natalie herself would have classes in this very building.

As she took in the sight of it Natalie’s breath was stolen not only by the understanding that such a place really existed, but that she had earned a place inside its halls.

She made it.