If the sunset sounds more appealing than reading the next 10 pages of homework, there are some great spots around campus from which to watch the famous Arizona sunsets. These places are good for a bit of alone time and also serve as a great place to share time with a special someone. Also, if you need to save your eyes from the glare of your laptop every 10 minutes or so, take your work to the locations on this list. We guarantee your stress will dissipate the second you look up.
1. The tenth floor of the Gould-Simpson building
The Gould-Simpson building is one of the tallest buildings on campus. To understand just how the elevator feels, mosey on up the stairwell to the tenth floor. If you’re not a cyclist or on a sports team, you’ll probably feel a bit of a burn once you reach the top. Don’t stop there, though. Once you find a giant room with a window four times taller than you are, you’ll be able to view the entirety of the Catalina Foothills and campus. If you happen to be there during a sunset, your burning legs might just give out from the awe.
2. Open room on top of the Meinel Optical Sciences building
The west addition of the Meinel Optical Sciences building looks like it has a big rectangle cut into the top floor. Since your legs are probably jello from walking up the stairs in Gould-Simpson, take the elevator from the glass-walled basement floor. Before you go in, be sure to check out the mini-museum of telescopes and retina-bending optical objects. At the top, you’ll discover doors warning you about lasers, a study area, a kitchen and a room exposed to the outdoors. It might be breezy when you walk onto this rooftop cave, but that’s probably just the Big Ass Fan (that’s a real company name) on the ceiling. This space is usually empty, so plug your laptop in, blast some music and consider yelling obscenities at the pedestrians below.
3. Fifth floor of the Manuel Pacheco ILC
The Manuel Pacheco Integrated Learning Center is great if you need to print something or if you like to spy on homeless folks creeping on women’s Facebook pictures. But screw the basement, get to the top. Views from the fifth floor represent every side of Tucson, including “A” Mountain to the west, the Catalina Mountains to the north, the Rincon Mountains to the east and you can watch construction on Arizona Stadium to the south. There are windows on all sides on the fifth floor, and even some private rooms to study or hang out in.
4. The Highland Bowl
This is not a marijuana reference, though this area tends to stink like a skunk every other day. With plenty of open space, concrete seating along the sides and grass to lay or run in, you can do just about anything here. Play a game of football, dance or skate on the circle stage — the options only end with your creativity.
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