I passed a guy walking across campus with navy-blue headphones and a backpack slung over his shoulders, carrying a full gallon of milk in one hand and a banana in the other—and I thought, Yes. This is exactly why I love walking here at lunch.
My workplace is part of a university campus that includes a large hospital system, and I have an hour for lunch. Every day. An hour!
Listen, I’m a former teacher. “Lunch hour” meant whatever was left of 27 minutes after walking students to the cafeteria, making parent calls, grabbing a moment to discuss a pressing issue with an administrator or co-teacher, prepping for afternoon classes, using the bathroom (because who knew when that opportunity would come again!). Then I could stuff something in my mouth and hope it would hold off hunger until school was out. Preferably without a student choosing that exact moment to tell me they had “one quick question.”
After leaving my classroom career, I worked remotely for a few years. Those lunch times were built around Teams meetings, projects, and dog walks. No set time. Just get my work done, and divide up the allotted lunchtime any way that worked for the day. Mostly, I sat at my computer and kept working while grabbing whatever I wanted from the pantry, which sounds relaxing until you realize your “lunch break” somehow involved answering emails while eating dry cereal from the box.
So, an entire hour for lunch! An hour! It still feels awkward to step away from my desk for an hour in the middle of the day, but I’ve found an activity that delivers some fun to the day with a side of fitness.
I bring lunch — it’s the former teacher in me. I can’t shake the mindset that I need to have easily accessible, ready-to-eat options because lunch may or may not happen. So, I enjoy some food, then I pop in my ear buds, choose a podcast, and set out to walk. And a college campus is the perfect place to get some fresh air and do a little people watching.
Take today, for example. About halfway into my walk, I turned a corner to find a mass of students separated into small groups. They were singing and playing different instruments, most likely in preparation for some kind of musical competition. A little further down the path, there were food trucks, tents with vendors and organizations, and a big, clear box where students took turns being locked inside, trying to catch money and stuff as many bills as they could into their pockets. There were police officers supervising. Nearby, gardeners were shoveling mulch and planting flowers in landscaped areas.
Moving along, I came upon a group of students playing an acoustic set in the same area where I’ve seen the legendary Hacky Sack Man, who does exactly what you think, and has been a fixture for students for many years.
I noticed several moving trucks parked outside the rec center. As I came closer, I could see that workers were using forklifts to move large pieces of exercise equipment from inside the center into the trucks.
The semester is coming to a close, so I’m starting to see more parents stuffing rental vans with dorm furniture, luggage, and mini-fridges.
I pass students every day who seem bold and fearless while others look unsure and a bit overwhelmed. I notice fashion trends (hello, Birks, Hokas, and wide-leg pants!). The students are dressed comfortably and confidently, while I’m still trying to figure out whether my ankle socks officially make me elderly.
Some students look at their phones as they walk, but many of them are engaged in conversations with friends. I can pick out the D1 athletes immediately by the university-logo backpacks.
Having a lunch hour is something I’m still getting used to, even though I’ve been working here for months! It still feels strange and new and even a little awkward. If you’re used to having a lunch hour, that probably sounds silly. Like, who wouldn’t love an entire hour in the middle of the workday? Truth be told, I think I’d trade it for a 30-minute lunch period and the chance to head home 30 minutes early, but I digress. I mean, have you seen that meme that says something about being late for your house? I feel that!
But there’s something special about my walks around campus.
The fresh air clears my head in a way another hour at my desk never could. The movement helps, too. After years of teaching exhaustion and remote-work stillness, it feels good to build a little fitness naturally into my day instead of trying to force it into the margins of my life.
And then there are the people.
Every walk reminds me that a college campus is its own little ecosystem—students figuring out who they are, parents hauling mini-fridges up ramps, grounds crews planting flowers, musicians rehearsing, athletes hustling to practice, hospital employees grabbing coffee between shifts. Some people look completely confident. Others look homesick, overwhelmed, excited, exhausted, or all four at once.
For one hour each day, I get to move through all of it.
I like the reminder that life is happening everywhere around me, not just inside my office or on a screen. There’s energy here. Noise. Momentum. Diversity. Possibility. And somehow, even on stressful days, a walk around campus makes me feel a little more connected to all of it.
Plus, every once in a while, you see a guy carrying a gallon of milk and a banana like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
sharing the stairs 