Five Things I Miss About Chico State

By Christine Amorose (Journalism, ’09), www.CestChristine.com

It’s been three years since I graduated, but wandering through the campus recently still brought back brilliant memories: sprawling out in the Glenn Hall grass in the sunshine between classes, lacrosse runs (with sticks and balls) that crossed all seven bridges, wearing my ADPi letters for the first time on a Thursday. Just as I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Butte County, I was impressed by the lush green campus. Why didn’t I appreciate this more when I was a student?

I don’t know if I could ever move back to Chico: I’ve spent the past few years living and traveling around the world, and I’ve discovered I have a penchant for big, bustling cities. But the four years I spent at Chico were some of the best of my life, and there are certainly a few things I wouldn’t mind carrying with me wherever I go.

Farmers Market: I loved waking up early on Saturday mornings, grabbing my Chico Bag and walking to the Farmers’ Market. I’d get a cup of Chico Chai to sip as I wandered the stalls, picking up my favorite brown rice, seasonal fruit and vegetables, fresh flowers, and perhaps a tamale for lunch.

Bike culture: I had a beautiful lime green three-speed cruiser that carried me to lacrosse practice, to parties, to One Mile. I love how easy it is to bike around town – to get to class or work and to run errands. I also loved just going on bike rides with friends to while away an afternoon in Bidwell Park—the perfect excuse to skip the library and get outside on a sunny spring day!

Living minutes from all of my best friends: I lived in Whitney Hall my freshman year, and after that, I lived downtown for three years. I either lived with my best friends—one year I lived with eight other girls in a renovated Victorian, another with 20 of my sorority sisters in the ADPi house—or minutes from them. Keeping in touch with constant texts, occasional phone calls, and annual weekends in San Francisco just isn’t the same as seeing each other every day.

The beautiful campus: I love the springtime blooms, the bubbling creek, the smorgasbord of trees. The amphitheatre on the creek was actually one of the clinchers when I was deciding where to go to school: what other campus not only has a creek running through it year-round, but has a nearby amphitheatre with the stage on one side of the creek and the seating on the other?

The little things: I miss the mural on the side of Taylor Hall. Eating a pastry in the window at Upper Crust. Going tubing on the Sacramento River. Samplers at Sierra Nevada. Spending my mornings in the TGC (Tehama Group Communications) office. ‘80s night at LaSalles. Study parties on the fourth floor of Meriam. Tropical fish tacos at Tres Hombres. When the leaves changed in autumn and the whole campus turned a thousand luminous shades.