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Slice of life: A glimpse of Oxford once a week

By Kelly Burns, Audrey Davis, Joey Hart, Alison Perelman, Britton Perelman and Kevin Vestal

Armstrong Student Center - Kelly

"4:15! Anybody need a break?" one of the workers at Mein Street calls out. No one does. Instead, they mimic the other Armstrong employees and stand in a circle, talking with each other.

There are no lines for food. Empty chairs surround empty tables and the few students who are here sit alone, eating or working quietly on their laptops.

Families occupy a few tables, poring over maps and handouts from Make it Miami.

The quiet is interrupted by the occasional Mein Street employee calling out order numbers or a snippet of conversation from a nearby table .

A girl with a pink notebook gets up and walks to the table behind me.

"Hi, I'm with the Miami Student. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions for an article?" she asks.

The girl doesn't mind and they sit together, talking quietly for a minute before they go their separate ways and it grows silent again.

The only constant sound is the radio, which is often overpowered by the sound of students conversing. Today, it sounds prominently over the relatively silent people who sit in the normally boisterous room.

1

Tappan Hall lobby - Alison

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Someone usually occupies the couch or one of the chairs in Tappan lobby - working on homework or talking on the phone. But right now it's empty, even the quad outside seems still.

Then a guy in a plaid shirt walks briskly across the lobby from one closed hallway to the next.

A minute or so later and someone else, wearing only a light jacket, stomps down the steps and heads out the back door, untangling his earphones and putting them in.

It's silent for the next few minutes before Emily Williams, an RA, walks across the lobby, the heels of her boots clicking on the tiled floor.

The guy wearing the plaid shirt returns, but this time from outside and with a full basket of laundry. At the same time, another guy emerges from upstairs with an empty basket and keeps going to the third floor.

Another guy wearing a slightly puffy silver coat comes in with a bag of food - it looks like snacks from McCracken Market.

Doors can be heard squeaking and clicking and slamming shut from everywhere else in the building.

A girl in a red jacket and ponytail walks in carrying two packages and heads upstairs.

And then the lobby falls silent again, save for the hum of air conditioning and buzzing of the florescent lights.

3

The corner of Poplar and High - Britton

The Ed Sheeran song playing from Brick Street ends and is replaced with something a little more upbeat. An Adele remix I think.

Six friends sit around a circular table on the patio, a pitcher full of beer and a handful of cups in front of them. But a few minutes later, they laugh and desert their table. It finally got cold enough for them to move inside.

It's 36 degrees outside and the wind bites a little. The sky is an ominous gray, like the clouds might burst with rain soon.

Cars of all shapes and sizes rumble along on the red brick.

Students hurry by, clad in black coats and frowns.

A group of three girls lead their parents across the street, heading somewhere warm for an early dinner - probably 45 or Mac n' Joe's.

Voices and laughter bubble up from the patio outside Brick, but they don't last long.

A couple walks up Poplar, Jimmy John's sandwiches in hand, and split up in the alley before SideBar. An employee at the Woods, wearing only a thin T-shirt, carries a case of bottles inside, stocking up for the night ahead.

People come and go, just passing through on their way to somewhere warmer, someplace better.

Shriver bus stop - Kevin

The wheels on the bus crash to a halt. The Level 27 doors swing open, but no one emerges from inside. The engine chortles as it waits for no one.

A girl waits outside one of the cubicles, her eyes fixated on her phone.

A man with olive skin and a long navy scarf stares silently at the sleek blue bus, but does not get on.

A few stragglers climb on to the Level 27 bus from the sidewalk, their timing finely tuned to the schedule of the bus stop. They too are unphased by their surroundings, and soon after boarding they are whisked away to their homes for the weekend.

The man with the scarf moves inside the bubble. It's not raining, but perhaps his new position will summon another bus.

Four minutes have passed since the man entered the bubble. Still no bus. With a sigh, he flips his scarf and leaves his post. He looks both ways before crossing Maple Street.

U2 pulls up, immediately followed by U3. A girl in tangerine slips out the back of the first bus as a short line begins to form up front.

The girl on her phone breaks contact to survey the new arrivals. She hesitates, unsure which bus she was waiting for. With a nod, she flip flops over to U3 and swipes her card.

U2 seizes the moment and turns right down Spring before any pedestrians can intercede.

A girl in a snowball white jacket scurries up to U3's door. It is closed and far from the sidewalk, but the driver understands. She looks elated as she takes her seat, spared from having to walk across campus.

Seconds later U3 takes off to its next destination, leaving Shriver's bus stop empty once more. Another girl in a cranberry jacket and neon green backpack takes up the post of the girl on her phone. The cycle continues.

4

Kofenya - Audrey

A young guy gets out of his car and puts change into the parking meter in front of Kofenya before heading inside.

He walks to the front counter where he is greeted by two baristas.

Two friends are seated in green arm chairs right next to the front entrance.

7

"In Cruz's speech, they took out everything besides the words Jesus, Trump, Texas and something else, and it was still over two minutes long!" one friend explained to the other.

Snowflake stickers still cover the window of the front door and a small cardboard person wears a Santa suit. Random artwork hangs on the walls.

The whole place smells strongly of coffee.

The seats are all filled with people sipping coffee and sharing stories. Only one girl sits alone at a bar stool facing the front window and working on homework.

Two friends walk through the front door and head for the counter.

"Yeah, he had a shirt with DTF on it. But it didn't mean what you're thinking. It stood for Donald Trump Forever!" they both laugh hysterically.

A mother and son walk in together. The son gives a quick explanation of the place, pointing to the artwork and then to the chalkboard menu behind the counter. He orders right away, but she takes a while to decide.

"Have a nice day!" calls one of the baristas as the mother and son head back out the front door, drinks in hand.

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Rec Weight Room - Joey

The room is packed - 10 males for every female. The guys take turns using the benches and dumbbells and miscellaneous grunts and groans can be heard throughout.

A middle-aged woman in black sweats shuffles around the room looking for a bench to use. After finding none she retreats out of the room.

Two guys discuss parties for the weekend, popping out one earphone each to hear each other.

"Yeah, that's gonna be hella dope," one of them says.

Everywhere guys rub their upper arms and look at themselves in the mirror, two girls try to use the calf lift machine.

"Wow, look how small I am," one says, adjusting the machine to the shortest setting. "This hurts your back."

A lot of people stare at me, including a 50-something man who gives me a perplexed glare as he works out on the tricep press.

Two guys stand next to the pull-up bar and watch people play racquetball from behind a glass wall.

"That just seems like a game where no one really knows how to play," one says, mesmerized.

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