During your journey to class, you’ll likely see people rushing past you on shuttles, bikes, scooters, skateboards, single-wheeled contraptions and everything in between. “How nice it would be to have something like that,” you may think to yourself, envying their speed as you see them disappear into the distance.

Originally, I, too, wished I had a scooter. In the weeks leading up to move-in, I realized a harsh reality: Most of my courses were 25 minutes from my dorm, hidden away on the other side of campus in the Bingham Building or Millis Schmidt Auditorium, to name a couple. I began researching scooters, as the thought of walking so far every day was impossible to grasp. However, I procrastinated and soon found myself on campus scooter-less. Initially, I was grumpy with having to walk everywhere. However, as I’ve gotten more accustomed to my routine, I’ve found the daily walks through campus to be the highlight of my day. A walk can be whatever you want it to be. It can be an excuse to skip leg day at the gym or a time to watch the birds and listen to your new favorite podcast. Walks hold different values for each student.

For many of us, walks can offer a decompression from a difficult lecture or a three-hour-long lab. Walking through Case Western Reserve University’s beautiful campus and seeing the rabbits frolicking through the grass or the squirrels scurrying around is a nice reset from the lined paper and white screen you’ve been staring at all day. These walks are also a time to socialize and to see familiar faces. Sometimes, I’ll see my roommate, friends or classmates and join them on their walk. What’s nice is that it’s a time just for talking. It’s not like you’re at the library, talking with a friend when you both know that you need to get back to work. You’re also not at Leutner, trying to get some words out while your mouth is full of French toast. While you’re walking, there’s nothing else that you can do except walk and talk. Walking has physical benefits, too. After sitting for so long in class or in the library, it’s such a great feeling to be moving about. On the days when you can’t get to the gym, play sports or exercise, you can tell yourself, “I walked today.”

But most of all, each walk is a journey, a shared walk by every student at CWRU. You’ll walk through the Tinkham Veale University Center, using the blue accessibility button to hold the door for the person behind you as the smell of Dunkin’ Donuts and coffee wafts through the air. You’ll join the masses waiting at the crosswalk on Euclid Avenue and walk as a pack up the Binary Walkway that leads towards Case Quad. You and many others will step around the emblem of the Spartan on the ground to make sure you graduate on time. There’s a sense of comradery to it as everyone shares this same journey and trek. Each walk makes you feel more connected to CWRU, to your fellow students and to the campus.

It often feels important to optimize as much of your time as possible. The quicker you can get to classes, the more you can sleep in. The faster you get to the Kelvin Smith Library, the more time you will have to study. The walks through campus often feel like a transition time that should be shortened as much as possible, which has led many of us to ride scooters, bikes or take shuttles. It is important to understand that these walks are not just something that we should rush through to get to our next task. They are a time to decompress, to see familiar faces, to exercise and to feel connected to CWRU as you join the many others who are sharing the same journey.