Secret Places (Part 1)

One great joy I had while attending Palomar Community College, and then Cal State San Marcos, was discovering areas or events on those campuses that few students either visited or knew existed:

Palomar Community College

For a young woman who had come from a high school campus small enough to see across, Palomar College was enormous. In its center stood a Student Union mostly composed of glass walls, from which one could look out at the tall clock tower near the courtyard and administrative buildings. When my brother and I first started at the school in fall of 2007, the Union used to have a DDR machine in the far corner, opposite a coffee stand known as the “Java Shack.” On this note, I should also mention the group of students, many of whom were anime or video game enthusiasts, my brother liked to hang around with between classes—because they were one aspect of my experience there I will always remember.

In fact, the student union group deserves to have a story dedicated them.

But that is something for another time.

I spent little time in the union, and more wandering around the campus.

During my first semester at Palomar, I decided to investigate what lay in the maze of classrooms behind the administrative buildings. And they did become a maze, in the most literal sense, with overhangs that connected so it felt like you walked through tunnels. At the entrance to this, I passed the classrooms in which art courses clearly took place—and the small courtyard where I saw students relaxing near an obscure statute.

Following the tunnel for a ways, I came upon another open area with what can only be described as an abandoned café. There were tables outside, and one window looked the type to have opened at one time for someone to pick up an order. Inside, there were booths, vending machines, and even a microwave. That was to become an interesting place to have lunch, since the main people who came there also took the music courses in the classrooms lining that section of the maze. I would come and hear students practicing guitars, flutes—any number of instruments for their classes.

And it was here that I learned about the Concert Hour from a flyer posted on the café door, which took place each Thursday afternoon in a room just a little further along the tunnels. Someone had even posted signs with arrows on them showing which way to go for the performance room.

So whenever I had spare time over the semesters on Thursdays, I would pop in and see a variety of musical performances from current or past Palomar music students. Once, I even got to watch a group dressed in traditional Chinese attire do the Flower Dance. At another time, I listened as a chorus sung “Johnny I hardly knee yee” and “Red River Valley.” Each was beautiful.

Of course, it was as I went searching for the performance room I happened upon the observatory. I remember well feeling lucky because the sign in front noted this would be the last exhibition before it closed down (until the new observatory was built). I will also always remember I saw the show the week before Halloween, because after the host in the observatory pointed out constellations on the domed ceiling over our heads—they finished by giving us something very special. The stars on the ceiling disappeared, replaced by a short animation of going through a haunted house and graveyard. Outlined ghosts and monsters jumped out at every turn.

That was amazing.

As I have said, there were several incredible places to visit in the classroom maze—though I haven’t even mentioned the theater just beyond all this on the other side. But, I do not think I missed out too much by not being able to attend one of the productions. There were a lot of other things to see. 

It didn’t feel as if many students took advantage of these activities or places, or perhaps this was because I had no choice but to stay on campus from early in the morning until around six in the evenings (because of my transportation).

Whew. I have said quite a bit about the “maze,” but that is nothing compared to what stood at the other end of the campus.

Behind the Natural Sciences building and library stood the arboretum. It was a large enclosure filled with trees and plants from all over the world. A sign towards the front warned visitors about bobcats or snakes, but in all the time I attended Palomar, I fortunately never saw one. In the afternoons, it was difficult to find places near the Student Union or gym to sit and enjoy a meal in the sunshine.

In the arboretum, there was never a lack of room. You entered a human-made forest, and walked along vacant dirt paths to wherever picnic site you chose. Later, I would learn most of my classmates had no idea the arboretum was there—which was a shame since that scenic place could relax you at once. Birds would sing in the trees. The flowers smelled sweet. And if you climbed to the top of the highest hill there, you would come upon a bench and trashcan to lounge upon. From here it was possible to see the whole campus, and the form of Cal State San Marcos in the distance.

I remember sitting there while eating my lunch beneath the shade of a tree, and wondering what it would be like to attend CSUSM when my brother and I transferred after earning our AA degrees.

To be continued in Part 2…