Here I am sitting in the courtyard at Georgia State University for an hour straight. I am sitting in the hot sun taking notes for my English class as students’/teachers rush by me. I noticed quite a few things during my time here, but before I say anything further I want to show this image that perfectly captures the courtyard in its entirety.

Georgia State University Courtyard- Picture by Ayman Vaid (me)

GSU is a pretty scattered campus since it is located in downtown. The courtyard is where all the students and teachers intermingle with each other and it is the heart of the school. Since our school is blue and white, it can be seen the colors are incorporated in the picture. The staircase is blue and the railing is white and the two trashcans are blue. Having this color scheme embedded in concrete and other materials makes the campus standout; it makes it feel like a college campus.

Fountain in the courtyard- picture by Ayman Vaid (me)

As seen in the picture a male in a green shirt and knee-high white socks with blue headphones is sitting on the edge of the fountain. Usually the fountain can’t even be seen because so many students sit on the edge. Sitting here I noticed that the school is quite diverse. As seen in the picture on the left, the students in the background are all very diverse in terms of race, skin color, clothing, and also religion. Students of dark and light skin tones are seen and also a female with a Hijab is seen walking amongst them. This picture captures how diverse the school is.

Fountain- picture by Ayman Vaid (me)

The fountain is in the middle of the courtyard and is quite significant in terms of direction. Students use the fountain as a landmark to direct other students to their class. The fountain can also be seen as a symbol of unity, in the way the water flows. The water is shooting out from different pipes and comes together in the middle making it one with the water. This is how the courtyard and the school is; people from all different backgrounds come together are united in one space.

Sitting here for an hour I noticed that the courtyard is used for many purposes. It is a hang out spot, meet up between classes spot, doing homework spot, chilling on your own spot, taking shortcuts to your next class spot, and many other things. Courtyard is where GSU feels like an actual school since the buildings are so scattered apart. This is where everyone comes together and it feels like a college campus and not Downtown Atlanta.