When was the last time you laid your pen down in the Garver Room to examine the ornate details of the space’s ceiling? Have you ever noticed the wood-carved eagle perched above the double doors leading from the Garver Room to the Dole Room?
Too often, Andover students overlook the beauty of the spaces we inhabit on campus. It is hard to blame us. Loaded with assignments, extracurricular activities, and (hopefully) social obligations, it is easy for Andover students to lose sight of what is around them. This wasn’t always the case.
Andover’s campus is made special by its history. Walking along the paths, we see the same Foxcroft Hall that was built in 1809, the same library constructed in 1929. The divots in the stairs were made by students walking in the 1930s. In the past, Andover students placed more value on these historical spaces. Indeed, upperclassmen used to hold the privilege of sitting upstairs precisely because Commons’ second-floor ceilings are particularly ornate. Students would value the details of our campus even in the face of academic and extracurricular commitments, thinking about these details even when deciding something as simple as where they’d like to eat.
Now, we rarely hear offhanded praise of our unique campus architecture, and upperclassmen no longer sit where they believe is most significant. Over the years, perhaps we have taken for granted the impact that our campus architecture has on us. If all of our buildings were suddenly to be made anew, it would surely change the way we feel on campus.
Admiring our imprinted steps, our ornate ceilings, and our English desks etched with words of wisdom are all small ways to appreciate our campus. Andover certainly will not stop challenging us anytime soon, but if we encourage ourselves to notice the history embedded in wood and stone, we may find a sense of steadiness and perspective even as we hurry to our next test.
