Hallowed Grounds

photo courtesy of www.change.org

Hallowed Grounds

University of Chicago - Chicago, IL

Guest Blogger: Margaret Lazarovits

Yeah, the lighting’s kind of shitty, but it adds to the ambience in the classic, college coffee shop way. It’s more of a blanketing glow, as opposed to the harsh lighting found in most classrooms. Plenty of windows offer natural light, stimulating caffeine-hyped brains to work or socially engage, to create. After sun the goes down, when the Chicago city lights are just as faint as the stars in the sky, the glow is contrasted by the cool blues outside, warming me from the outside in. The white noise of general social interactions is occasionally and harmoniously shattered by the sharp clack of pool balls. The gothic architecture of the grand fireplace at the back wall gives weight to this café’s sacred name, yet the pool tables in the middle of the room hold the center of the maturely colloquial scene, effortlessly blending all the sensually appealing features of the space: the soft, alternative music, the faint yet pervasive scent of coffee, the wood furniture gleaming in the light’s glow and the cozy stuffed chairs. This scene is so needed to escape the everyday droll of dorm life. Personally, here is where I can come to polish an essay or challenge my friends to pool. And in both cases, I will end exhausted, either in my mental capacity to get my all my ideas on paper or in my physical energy from laughing too hard at how many calculations I put into each shot and how disastrous each turns out. Nonetheless, Hallowed Grounds is a place to be, bond, or build. And the coffee’s not bad too.