Student Ambassador Wenjun Li from China takes us on a tour of the three most popular spots on the University College Cork campus! Follow along for the beginning of her journey as she explores her new surroundings…
Because I arrived a few days before the start of school, I went to the University College Cork campus to get acquainted with the environment…
Aula Maxima:
Aula Maxima building at UCC (photo: Wenjun Li)
This picture will be familiar to all UCC students, and others too, as it is the building seen on the UCC logo! It is very recognisable as the college’s campus. The Aula Maxima looks entirely different during the day and during the night. During the day, the building looks like a historic castle, and at night it transforms through light into a magical building that looks like an amazing castle!
Main Quadrangle:
UCC has a long tradition. The tradition goes, you cannot walk across the quadrangle, only around the outside, and if you fail to do this and walk across the lawn, you will fail your exams and never graduate! Since coming to UCC I have never seen anyone walk across the lawn. Once you graduate, you can go into the middle of the lawn, because then you are no longer afraid of exams. The picture below shows new graduates who are taking pictures in the middle of the quadrangle as a souvenir!
The main quadrangle (photo: Wenjun Li)
Graduates (photo: Wenjun Li)
One day on campus I ran into a newlywed couple taking photographs! I guessed that they were graduates of UCC and wished to have one of their happiest moments here. The young couple got married in the school church, but hadn’t gotten enough pictures. They looked so perfect and happy!
Newlyweds on campus (photo: Wenjun Li)
Boole Library:
Every hardworking UCC student cannot miss this building. Even if they choose not to study here, you have to sit your final exams in the Boole Library. I usually come here on the weekends to study. It is so quiet that you can really focus and have complete peace of mind. If you encounter something you don’t
Library on campus (photo: Wenjun Li)
understand, you can go and look at the reference books on the shelves! But make sure you put it back in its place so you don’t burden the librarians!
Everyone is preparing for exams recently, so the library is full, and you may often not find a place. This requires us to book a place and time online so that you will not have a seat. You can choose a seat position online, or you can choose to discuss and study with a few friends in a study room.
Christmas on campus:
Christmas in the UCC library (photo: Wenjun Li)
When Christmas was approaching on campus, the festive atmosphere just kept getting stronger and stronger! The Christmas tree and small lanterns reappeared too, and there were Christmas trees, lights and decorations in almost all of the school buildings! Christmas is as important to Western countries as Spring Festival is to us in China, so everyone will be full of hope to welcome the new year! The promise of new year’s blessings allow everyone to have a great Christmas!
The above are the three main locations of UCC campus, next time we will meet UCC again.
Wenjun is studying Molecular Cell Biology with Bio-Innovation at University College Cork.