It might not be so hard for Mary Baldwin students to imagine the following scenario: You have a class in Carpenter Academic building. Once class in Academic concludes, you begin your hurried journey to the next class. You race across campus, panting as you run up the stairs past Hunt Hall, hurry past the Spencer Center, then speed-walk towards the Pub. The, you finally reach your destination – class in Deming, one of the northern-most buildings on campus. Amazingly, you make it there with time to spare, but you’ll have to take a minute outside to catch your breath before entering the building. Today’s race is over, but remember, you’ll be doing it all over again tomorrow.
There are many complaints for living on the campus that rests on the biggest hill in Staunton. While the almost-mountain the College is built on provides for a picturesque view, the detriment of trekking uphill all the time might outweigh the pleasant scenery. Many students say that the chalky white cement stairs that cover campus are a con of being at Mary Baldwin.
Granted, fixing this issue is easier said than done. While we’d like to imagine school-funded outdoor escalators or moving sidewalks, maybe even ski lifts, it is unlikely that a solution to the troublesome stairs could be easily established on a campus as steep as Mary Baldwin’s. There are, however, some positive attributes to the unpopular stairway method of getting around campus.
Stairs are the easiest way to get up the hill from the row of academic buildings seated at the bottom of campus to the only dining hall. Often students choose to bypass the stairs anyways, taking the quicker route straight up the grassy incline. Still, stairs practically force students to exercise. Many students have gotten exercise walking up and down the various flights of stairs that they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten if they’d ridden in a car to classes or simply walked across a flat campus.
Walking the stairs provides a calorie burn equivalent to running at five miles per hour or biking anywhere from ten to thirteen miles per hour. For many students, working out doesn’t easily fit into a schedule. Instead of having to make time to get to the gym, getting to class and meals alone can serve as a workout. But, for the students that do take the initiative to exercise on campus, getting to the Physical Activities Center (PAC) is a workout in and of itself. Students at Mary Baldwin have the stairs to thank for not gaining the dreaded freshman fifteen, also!
Many students complain about stairs, but by the end of the first semester, most students have adjusted or become re-accustomed. Seniors are of the mindset that stairs are a part of life, however silly that may sound. Instead of complaining, they brush it off, even appreciated the wonderful toned calves they’ve gained just by walking to class. Hopefully, if they don’t already, the rest of the students will share this opinion soon.