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GCU MAGAZ I NE • 1 3
PART 5:
Hanging out here
“I hardly ever leave. There’s
food, there’s stuff to do, you
can hang out with friends,
go bowling, do just about
everything. It’s like your own
little home away from home.”
Brenda Ochoa
, junior Business Administration major
It doesn’t have a catchy name, like GCBC. But the cozy new outdoor
furniture under the trees in front of Kaibab Hall, on the north side of
GCU Stadium, quickly has become a preferred place to study and relax.
“I call it the ‘couches outside,’” freshman Jannah Gaudia said.
“Sometimes I take a nap here. It’s actually very comfortable.”
Faith Brandt, a senior dance education major, was lounging on a sofa
with her laptop, the branches of the tree providing shade. She was the
picture of late afternoon contentment.
“I like that it’s outside but still has comfy seating. It’s usually pretty
quiet unless there’s a soccer game,” she said.
Daniel Hull, a sophomore majoring in Marketing, calls the outdoor
lounge “the patio by the taco stand,” referring to its proximity to the
Taco Trueno cart.
He said such new hangout spots are one of GCU’s many homey
improvements. “I don’t have to get off campus a lot,” Hull said. “I think
they’ve done a good job with it.”
Another new hangout area that has caught on is an even more shaded
spot between Thunder Alley and the Lopes Performance Center.
“It’s cooler and shadier,” Desiree Rey said while studying math with
another freshman, Vernon Williams.
One of the most social spots on campus, Rey said, is The Grove at
night. Students fill the lawn, playing sports, watching sports and other
shows on laptops, picnicking and just hanging out.
But there also are plenty of other places to get away from it all.
Basketball player Joshua Braun, the most high profile athlete on campus,
appreciates that.
“Sitting on my balcony in my North Rim Apartment is nice,” he said,
“just to read and relax and quiet down, get in the space, spend some time
with the Lord.”
****
It doesn’t take long for visitors to get caught up in the GCU culture.
When more than 2,600 high school students from across Arizona
came to campus in early November for Health Sciences, Engineering
and Technology (HSET) Day, Ashley Rios of Tempe High School
realized that her dream of entering a scientific profession is within her
grasp — and GCU would be a great place to pursue that goal.
“I feel like these are my people, like it’s a place I could fit in,” she said.
“I am seriously considering applying.”
Ariana Iturbe gazed at the purple-clad crowd on a near perfect day
and said, “I see a happy environment. It’s clean, beautiful.”
A whole different world.
Jeannette Cruz, Karen Fernau, Mark Heller, Laurie Merrill and Rick Vacek
contributed to this story
The new seating area between
the Lopes Performance
Center and Thunder Alley is a
wonderfully shady spot to relax.