Writing Project #1 draft

Rochelle Skorka
English 101
September 17, 2012
Writing Project 1

What Space?

Hidden from the sweltering heat of the desert sun, in the center of the Hassayampa Academic Village, a dining hall stands to serve as more than just a cafeteria. To students here, the “Hassy” dining hall can serve as a place to unwind after a never-ending afternoon of studying, a rowdy pep rally before a Sun Devil football game, or simply a favorite hang-out spot for friends. Following stagnant mornings, the fast arriving twelve o’clock hour swells with students of all types, from committed early-morning athletes to weary, up-all-night book worms and groggy, late risers, who all wait patiently in a line that seems to span a mile long and a mile wide. As kitchen staff inside hurriedly prepare each station, anxious students flood the space, which is bursting with maroon and gold decor, in search of tasty food, an available seat, and good company.  The afternoon hustle and bustle of the crowded room generates what is initially an overpowering buzz, comprised of lunch line orders, the latest gossip, and casual chit chat, but which eventually blends together into the background, becoming merely white noise behind the concentration among your own lunch time conversations. To some, the Hassayampa dining hall may register simply as just another over-crowded, college- life cafeteria with dirty tables and empty ketchup bottles, while to others, Hassy can be identified as a personal, noteworthy place, one where friendships were born, where embarrassing moments transpired, where close friends routinely meet up to enjoy each other’s company, or as a bigger picture, where everyone can come and feel like part of the Arizona State University community and family. Through this local place, people connect, converse, and find personal connection to a place that becomes a home.

Vanclay begins his piece Place Matters by explaining that “space” is transformed into a “place” when it becomes meaningful to an individual: “Ultimately, however, it is individuals themselves who must connect with a locality-who must develop their personal attachment to place. ‘Place’ exists when the individual can tell a story about a specific locality that indicates personal meaning” (Vanclay, 4). Everyone who utilizes the Hassy dining hall has some kind of connection to the space, whether they are aware or not, that is unique to them because “Place-making happens at multiple levels and in multiple ways…”(6). In the back corner, a tight-knit group of friends squeeze into the large, round, corner booth, paying no attention to the lack of elbow room, constantly chatting and laughing, even long after they have finished their meals. At the soda machine, a witty young man passively compliments a shy girl in a small effort to flirt, while at a table nearby, a couple holds hands and shares a soda or dessert in the same spot where that once nervous boy finally asked the girl from the sandwich line to their very first date. Pairs of acquaintances fill the span of the parallel middle tables engaging with one another based on the fact that they found someone else with a common hobby, friend, or home town.  In merely a moment of observation, one could discover that Hassy has become more than just a dining hall because of the people and the intimate connections they have made there with the space because of each other.

The people among the hall obviously enjoy their time there, as it has become more than just an eatery, and grown into a bustling hub for fun and activity. “Thus, the perceived ambience of a location, its perceived safety and security, the level of background noise, any evident odours, the level of ambient light, and the view and the elements in that view (and more) are all part of what makes up the personal experience of space, and therefore are part of place” (4). When anyone makes a personal, emotional attachment to a place it is based off of the details in which affected their emotions, so that a specific smell may trigger the feeling of love, or the long line reminding one that all of their friends are waiting inside, with stories to make them laugh until they can’t breathe anymore. Everyone that makes connections to this space has at least one story to tell, whether it be about the time they collided with the attractive boy from their English class and dropped their plates, or the story about meeting their current significant other, and those stories are another example of how we as people intimately define space and identify with it. Based on the volume of students, their interactions, and their steady routine visits, it is fair to say that the Hassy is one of those places that has become filled with stories and personal attachments, transforming from simply a space to an inviting place.

Everyone inside once looked through the full length windows of Hassy into a space that they had yet to experience, a blank canvas, with no memories or stories to tell, but from the moment each person stepped through its doors for the first time,  the space that we now know as “Hassy” has transformed into a personal dimension of place. At a glance, an outsider may only see a space crammed with busy people, milling around absorbed in their own reality and routine, merely stopping by as they go on about their classes, studying, or hobbies, when in fact, the Hassy dining hall is a place where a community gathers, communicates, celebrates, and ascends from a solely individual connection to an ultimate communal identity where each individual can build a true sense of belonging. It is human nature to have a sense of belonging and places are the portal which allow us to develop that feeling of connection. Feelings of being bonded to a community are important for an individual’s self-worth, their well-being, their involvement in their own work, and their success. Since everyone in the dining hall undoubtedly makes some sort of personal connection to the place, there is ultimately a sense of community. People come to the dining hall not only to spend time with their friends one on one, but also to bond with their fellow classmates and Sun Devils before a Saturday night home  football game, to dress up for themed dinners, or to find out what is going on during the weekends. All of these things require personal communication between all groups of people using the dining hall and creates stories and memories that bring everyone involved together, as a community, or sometimes like a family. This sense of connection to the space, both on an individual level and as a community, helps all of us student feel a sense of unity and togetherness which gives us confidence throughout the rest of the university, leading to more involvement,  enjoyment, and success .

Vanclay makes the profound statement that places are “… the contemporary everyday connection individuals have with their local spaces that gives their life meaning in the present…Place is fundamental to humanity…to be human is to have and to know your place” (9). It is fundamental for us as humans to make connections to the spaces we encounter and turn them into places that we can connect to and find a sense of belonging. In the college setting, this is crucial for students to know as we come across so many new places, faces, and no true sense of property or home. To find that sense of togetherness, which happens through the creation of direct connections to places, one needs to recognize and appreciate the feelings and reactions they have to the space around them. The lens that Vanclay utilizes throughout his piece explains that when we find that personal meaning and connection to a space it becomes a place- in real life application, Vanclay’s idea is analogous to the aphorism of a house becoming a home.