I want to profess my love for Kent State, but it’s hard to do without sounding annoyingly sentimental. I’ve tried to write this column before, but it just didn’t work out. I tried to write it at the end of spring semester last year, which tells me that warm weather really has an effect on my senses and moods.

But I’ll embrace the effect because I like feeling happy. I like enjoying my walks around campus and realizing that despite the mountain of work standing in between me and my summer break I can still find it in me to appreciate the shade of blue the sky is today and the lone tulip that bloomed in the middle of that flower bed.

So before I lose you in wordy, trite description, I have a suggestion because I want you to love Kent State, too. So, do Relay For Life in between working on a final paper for your Intro to Film class. Stare at your laptop while listening to Taylor Swift and just try to type out a coherent sentence about the differences between British and American humor as seen in “The Office.” Do this for a few hours in the middle of your Saturday.

At about 5 p.m. walk at Relay for an hour. Run for the next half hour. Eat cereal for dinner. Take a nap. Wake up and try to do that paper again. Cry. Turn up Taylor Swift and crank out a few more pages of semi-coherent sentences. Take a break for coffee and donuts with a close friend who is also having some difficulty doing his homework.

Return to work an hour later after tearing yourself away from YouTube. Work on your paper some more. Take a nap around 3:30 a.m. Walk another hour at Relay from 4 to 5 a.m. Get a snack at Rosie’s. Stare into space. Sleep. Wake up at 9 a.m. and grab your iPod and a digital camera.

This is where it gets good. I had an assignment for my photo basics class to do a photo essay. I decided to do mine about the art and little monuments around campus. If you haven’t fallen in love with Kent State yet, go out early in the morning with a good playlist, iced coffee and your little point and shoot.

This campus is beautiful. I wouldn’t expect anyone to see it right away; I definitely didn’t. But it only took a year for me to learn to appreciate the sharp edges on the Risman Plaza fountain and the seemingly cold exterior of the library. The trees and bushes are in full bloom this time of year, and if you aren’t busy sprinting to class, try turning your head and admiring them.

Maybe I was imagining things this weekend. Maybe you can only fall in love with this campus when you’re delusional from lack of sleep and The Format is whispering in your ears. Maybe the iced Caribou Coffee is laced with something.

I’m hoping none of that is true. I’m hoping this campus is just as beautiful as my dinky little lens made it out to be. I hope you’ll take my advice and try looking at Merrill Hall and all its ivy through your camera. I hope you’ll find the carved tree at the front of campus, and the peace sign on the sculpture in front of Taylor. I hope you’ll miss something about this place if you’re leaving it for the next few months or leaving it forever. And I hope it doesn’t rain or snow the day this column runs. Stay beautiful Kent State.

Kristine Gill is a sophomore newspaper journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].