Killian Court at MIT is a large grassy courtyard that faces the Charles River and Boston skyline on one end. Killian is flanked on the other three sides by MIT academic buildings, including the famous dome. Under the dome is a large lobby, known as Lobby 10 since it is in Building 10. Lobby 10 has 2-story-high, floor-to-ceiling doorways leading out to the grassy courtyard. Lobby 10 is also a highly centralized activity spot and traffice zone.

Today, an office featuring various study abroad programs was sponsoring free ethnic foods as well as ethnic performances (quartets, drums, lion shows, etc.) in Lobby 10. As you can imagine, this created quite a raucous, though exciting, scene. I seldom walk through Lobby 10 onto the courtyard, but I did today while all of the loud performances were taking place in the lobby. As soon as I stepped outside, I felt serenity …

There was no noise, no chaos, no people. All there existed were an overcast sky, misty grass, a heightened sense of the hallowed academic halls around me, and a surprising calm. It was a completely different world from the performances-filled lobby inside. For the first time ever, I felt happy and calm to be here. I felt like I was somewhere where I belonged, somewhere where I had a place that could provide me with some peace and quiet.

Killian Court is different from the Lawn, though I still assert that it was modeled after the Lawn. The lawn was always happening; it was the Lobby 10 of Virginia. Killian Court is the exact opposite; it lacked activity, which is exactly why it provided me a sense of calm. Especially given the stress and hustle and bustle of the past month, the past summer, the past year, this serenity was refreshing. It offered me a new outlet, a new outlook, a new desire to be here.