With springtime comes reinvention.
The trees regrow their leaves. Baby birds learn to chirp. We remember to actually take care of ourselves now that we've traded shoes for sandals and everyone has to look at our weird feet. Looking around, it's strange to see change. While we were freezing and oversleeping during a long winter hibernation, we expected the world was doing the same. But it's not like that. While we were in the dark, the world was slowly but steadily pushing toward spring. And now we must take our Zyrtec and catch up.
Since 1969, the home of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications has been in the Carolina Coliseum. More specifically, in the basement of the Coliseum. Windowless and cramped, the basement has housed the school for over 40 years — a significant chunk of time in any context, but especially in the field of communications. In that time, the Coliseum has seen steady growth in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications' enrollment and consequently added television studios and computer labs, which the school has already outgrown. While members of the J school have been walking in the seemingly endless circle that is the Coliseum's basement, the outside world of journalism has been evolving at a near-constant rate. It's been a long, long hibernation.
Just like how one day you wake up and all of a sudden your car is covered in pollen, the sun is out and you don't need your winter coat, the construction of the new journalism building has quietly — and quickly — bloomed. What used to be the Health Sciences building on the historic horseshoe will be the new home of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. On the corner of Sumter and Greene streets, the facility will be approximately 55,000 square feet, feature many windows with natural light (a welcome change for J school students) and even house a broadcast studio inside a greenhouse. Construction is on track and the ribbon-cutting is scheduled for July.
None of this is new information, but seeing something grow is much different than just hearing about how it will grow. The journalism school is coming up for air. You can see it getting a little closer every day. The greenhouse studio's infrastructure is up. President Harris Pastides has toured the building, commenting on the ambience and view from the rooftop garden. Faculty from the journalism school have even picked out which offices they want. Set to open for classes in Fall 2015, the new journalism building still has meaning for current students, whether they're in the journalism school or not. Like any blossoming dogwood tree or cloudless day, it is a reminder of why every winter is worth the wait for spring.
We are relearning how to communicate, and how to connect. Leaves fall and the tree stays bare for a long time, but not forever. The field of journalism is not dead, but evolving in ways we might not have even noticed. Students aren't unaware of the news — they're immersed in it. It's in our hands, whether on a page or a screen. The world is always changing, even if we don't actively notice. The new journalism building's beautiful location on the horseshoe, open architecture and pleasing yet functional rooftop patio will remind its students what's on the outside, inspiring them to get out there and report on it. Moving the School of Journalism and Mass Communications will breathe life into the program, and give it fresh air.
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