Returning to Pace this semester as a sophomore had me thinking of all of the changes students have to get used to with the construction. With the rerouting to classes, dining options splitting in half, virtually no commuter lounge, and no lovely chickens to wake you up on your way to class, it was easy to see that this semester was going to be vastly different from the previous year.

These aspects of our campus, that may seem simple, are truly being missed now that we are without them. Playing pool in the commuter’s lounge while hanging out with friends is no longer a common pastime among us in the Student Center. Going without the mailroom and mailboxes conveniently located in Kessel only adds to hassles we did not have to endure pre-construction.

Getting to class at Miller in five minutes without walking across Timbuktu and not having to take a trip to OSA to get a workout at the gym are becoming fond memories for those of us who do not enjoy the extra mandated exercise.

I realize that Pace is doing all of this for the greater good of the campus, but these hikes for food, class, and events are getting to be just a bit too much.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming the University for wanting to better our campus with a more updated college look and feel. I’ve seen the Master Plan and its intended, completed look, and it seems incredible. I believe this campus will be amazingly accommodating and functioning fully at the end of construction.

However, this transition period is engulfing these freshmen students who are adapting to college life, away from their families, with an unfamiliar and challenging course load, encouragement to join clubs and get involved.

My heart goes out to the freshmen students. The Pace they are coming to know isn’t the one I represent.

The complaining word around campus has been that we pay all of this money for this new and improved campus that most of us will never see fully completed. Some of you may not know that all of this construction is being paid for through donations and outside investors. It has nothing to do with our tuition or fees.

You may then start to wonder why our tuition has gotten more expensive if none of it has anything to do with the Master Plan. If it is completely separate funding, why are we being asked to sign our souls over to more loan officers to ensure an even longer sentence of debt post-graduation?

We are paying an ungodly amount of money to “invest in ourselves” for a loud, inconvenient, eyesore of a campus.

I think that I will feel a lot better about the state of affairs when I start to see some actual, functional progress on campus.

So Upperclassmen, let us never forget our charming campus for what is was.

And, freshmen, let us brave our way towards a sustainable campus with fantastic buildings and a bright future, so long as we survive years of construction in the meantime.