By: Colt Woodall, Contributing Writer
Piedmont College is about to do something awesome and give us a new top-notch student center.
It’s going to look incredible with its modern architecture and new technological features.
Now imagine that same new, beautiful building with a shining blue lake as a backdrop.
Yeah, that’s nice, right? But what you and I and every prospective student that comes to tour this cozy little campus is going to see is a dull, eyesore of a hole in the ground that is allegedly some type of protected wetlands.
This campus could be incredibly beautiful if enough detail was put in to the environment that the college is creating.
In fact, there once was a beautiful lake there, before it was replaced by the dreadful Okefenokee. Several years ago, before most of us came to Piedmont, instead of a muggy, overgrown eyesore there was a sprawling, crystal-blue pond. Flocks of geese swam about, only stopping to hiss at passerbys who roamed too close to their home.
It was a more peaceful time; a more comfortable time.
Have you walked across the bridge to Swanson on a hot, muggy day?
That swamp makes me feel miserable; it is by no means a happy atmosphere.
If that hole were cleared out and then filled to form a lake, it would not only restore campus to its former beauty, but it would also provide an abundance of new activities. Students could longboard, canoe, fish, have a cookout, play beach volleyball in a pit on an actual beach.
I understand the college gets some kind of money for having a protected wetlands on its campus, but if the goal of this institution is to attract more students, the college should be doing everything within its power to make the campus look as appealing as it did several years ago. One or two new buildings can only do so much.
So students, when you’re hanging out in your brand new student center enjoying all of the fancy bells and whistles that your tuition paid for, remember Lake Demorest, and think of what could have been.
Of course, I’m only expressing this as my opinion. I fully realize that we will not be getting rid of the wetlands, but hey, a kid can dream right?
P.S. I did not mean to offend any science majors or professors in this article. psych majors, I know you feel me though, environmental psychology and stuff… I’m looking at you Dr. Daigle. And I don’t know about you guys, but I haven’t seen a gator in there in months. Now, I’m no doctor, but what’s the point of having a swamp with no gators? Think about it.