If you happened to not have a loft with you........you could rent one of these black metal ones. My daughter uses a wooden one, built by my stepdad. Its very sturdy, but takes up a bit more room than the standard ones.
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After the moving-in was sufficiently accomplished, I bid my daughter farewell and took a stroll around campus. Most enjoyable! Bordering the sidewalks and buildings were gorgeous flower beds and endless, well-tended landscaping.
I wonder what these plants are which look like some sort of space-age cabbage.
This bright pink flower had a huge bloom........too bad it was vined around a utility pipe.......but it was still showy and pretty!.jpg)
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I haven't visited very many college campuses, but I think UNI's is very pleasant, with the venerable old buildings and trees, and is not quite as sprawling as the Iowa State campus in Ames. UNI is the smallest of the three state schools, with the others being the U of I in Iowa City and ISU in Ames, of course. UNI specializes in training teachers, and their Business and Accounting programs are reportedly top-notch. I've been impressed, too, that UNI helped develop prairie plant seed mixtures to be used along highway ditches and right-of-ways in Iowa, usually after new shoulders and roads are put in. They drive along with a machine that blows the seed and mulch mixture out to cover the bare ground. A truly good idea, I think. UNI has great music programs, too........it is a good school, and we are fortunate to live close by.
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The campanile towers above the old section of the campus.
One time, back in my high school days, our band marched in the UNI Homecoming Parade, and then we spent the rest of the day on campus. One thing we did was climb the stairs to the top of the campanile. As I recall, there was a big keyboard sort of thing up there that was used to play the chiming bells. The campanile's base is dated "1926" and says "In Memory of Founders".
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If you click this photo below, you'll be able to see the words "Iowa State Teachers College" above the pillars, with the date, "1900", above that. When I was a kid, my parents would refer to UNI as simply "T.C.", for "Teachers College". I believe by then, its official name was "State College of Iowa".......I think so, anyway. It became "The University of Northern Iowa" when I was a teenager, I think. I'm open to corrections on this information.
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Hidden in a shady Hosta garden on the south edge of the old part of campus is this stone marker, which I'd never noticed before. "I.S.N.S. - AD 1895". That would stand for "Iowa State Normal School". In my old World Book dictionary, the definition of "normal school" is: a school where people, usually high school graduates, are trained to become teachers, especially a separate institution for teacher education offering a two-year course and a certificate.
My grandma attended this "normal school" after her graduation from eighth grade country school in northern Blackhawk County. Her parents sold their farm equipment and livestock and moved to Cedar Falls so she could attend "college", as she called it. She earned her teaching certificate after two years, and then her family moved back out to the farm. Grandma taught in country schools near Dunkerton for several years. Dunkerton was one of the first rural school districts in Iowa to consolidate. In 1921, I believe, the big, new brick school building was built. It now houses the Dunkerton High School. My grandma taught there for one year, before she "retired" from teaching to get married to the neighbor guy across the fence, and be a farmer's wife. Before she passed away in 1991 at age 90, I was able to tape-record her talking about her country one-room schoolhouse teaching experiences. Most interesting!! I wish Grandma could have lived to the computer age, with its ease of writing.......she told me she had written many stories when she was younger, but had thrown them all away when she got married. Oh, my.
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Grandma.......this post is dedicated to you!! I should blog about Grandma sometime.......we loved going to her house; she had a color TV, lots of toys, and a CANDY DRAWER in the kitchen! That's the first place we headed for!
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Here's my post from a year ago when I attended my daughter's freshman college orientation day at UNI. This was from back in the days when my blog had no readers, but I enjoyed blogging, anyway!
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(I've been blogging like a manic fool the past week. It is so much fun.......reminds me of when I was yearbook co-editor in high school, choosing photos, and writing copy and captions.......makes me feel young again AND keeps my mind busy!! I do thank all visitors for stopping by, whether you have a blog of your own or not.......it doesn't matter, and whether you leave comments or not, it doesn't matter, although I do enjoy your comments! To you fellow-bloggers, I say a hearty "thank-you" for continuing to visit here, commenting or not, when I have not been getting out and visiting your blog. Now, I'm going to take a few days off to visit other blogs and catch up on what's happening in your lives.)
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11 comments:
Jeannelle, thanks for this mini-tour of the UNI campus! My cousin's son, Al Joyner, was an adjunct professor of mathematics there a few years back, and possibly still is. We have lost touch.
You taught me a new word -- "campanile" -- and I promptly went to dictionary.com to find its definition. Oh, and that "big keyboard sort of thing up there that was used to play the chiming bells" is called a carillon, I believe, or is at least part of the carillon, which includes the bells.
I like how you search out unusual things to photograph, like the panther and the "I.S.N.S. - AD 1895" stone marker, and how you tied the latter into telling us about your grandmother.
See, this is why I think you are definitely a "K.A. Blogger," and I think it started way back when you were your high school yearbook's co-editor.
Long may you wave.
Interesting post and photos, Jeannelle. Before you were born, I also attended a state teachers' college that was a 'normal' school (now the University of Central Arkansas.) I had thought I would become a teacher, but trying to teach Spanish to 4th graders (when I was a sophomore)was enough to send me in another direction entirely. The experience instilled in me a deep appreciation of and admiration for those who can teach.
Hi, rhymsie!
Oooch.....I fainted and bumped my head a few moments ago after reading your comment and finding out I actually used a word you didn't know!!!
And, thank you for enlightening me as to what a "carillon" is!
Thank you again for the K.A. Blogger award, and I will get around to blogging about it later this week. We have to bale again today.....
I'm going to look up Al Joyner on the UNI website and see if he's still there.
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Hi, Pat!
Oh, that's neat, you attended a "normal school". I wonder, did each state have an official "normal" school, or more than one? I'll bet you would have made a wonderful teacher!
So glad you stopped by Na-Da Farm, and visited me, Anne Marie...thank you for your kind words. Those pictures are breathtaking of the greenhouse!
Peace.
Anne Marie
Hey Jeannelle, I think the cabbagey things are "flowering kale" and I think the pink one is from the mallow family. I can't think of the type right now, but I used to grow them when I lived in MI.
Those cabbage things are flowering kale and people plant lots of them around here. I love the tour of the campus and the tidbit about your grandmother. Keep on writing.
What a nice post, and a beautiful campus where your daughter attends school. My son's campus was also very nice and I loved visiting when I could. Also loved your remembrances of your grandmother! Imagine, having a teaching certificate after only 2 years. What stories she must have had.
anne marie,
Thank you for visiting.....you have nice websites, and busy farm & homeschooling activities going on, it appears!
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Sherry and egghead,
You two both mentioned flowering kale, so that must be correct. Thanks! And, I've never heard of "mallow" flower before, either.
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countrygirl,
College campuses always seem to be pleasant and well-cared for, and a joy to spend time in. And, of course, all that academic thought in the atmosphere there, too!
Oh, and for rhymeswithplague,
A search of the UNI website turned up no Al Joyner on staff. Wasn't that the name of an Olympic runner from awhile back, too?
It's changed a lot since I graduated from there! I enjoyed my time there. I never lived in the dorms, I lived in the upstairs apartment of a house on the north side. I have a long and interesting story to share someday about our downstairs neighbors, an old Polish man and woman that had survived the Holocaust.
Hi, kelli of sugarcreekfarm!
Oh, do tell your college story sometime! Thanks for stopping by.
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