Student Sanctuary

It was not so much a place to just hand in your assignments as it was a ‘chill out’ lounge for students, but to many of us, the Student Center or better known as the Clinic was more of a sanctuary.

With the sofas and a mini see-through coffee table in the middle of the room, it wasn’t surprising to see students rushing for assignments sitting on the carpeted floor with their laptops on the glass table using a piece of the assignment sheet as a mouse pad.

That, or the fact that some of us just found the sofas extremely comfortable – to the point that we could use our bags as pillows when we take naps on it. Okay fine, I admit, that was probably just me.

Then again, there were far worse things done at the clinic (but in a way, amusing things). Apparently, there had been many occasions in which college couples were caught making out on the sofas. Thinking that they were all alone, it turned out that, well, they weren’t.

Honestly, I do wish I had managed to spot some of the ‘action’ myself. Not that I’d have done anything about it, I just think it would’ve been a good, funny experience.

Another recurrent experience that I wouldn’t forget though, was the zapping plant that sat quietly and seemingly innocent at the corner of the Clinic. There was this thing about the old campus of IACT that it was freakishly easy to create static.

At first, we realized it was between two individuals as they brushed off against each other. Then it was between our palms to the door knobs. And as it got worse and more frequent, we found out that event the plants in college were ‘zapping’ us.

But all in all, one of the best things about the Clinic was not about the untold stories, the pain from the zaps or that it was a relaxing place to rest or do your work. It was about the company that was almost usually there with you. All the stories shared and memories made together.

They could’ve been your classmates, group members for discussions or even the lecturers. But when we are all down there, nothing else really mattered and it was each other’s company that made all the difference.

The Clinic was essentially a place of bonding, a place where everyone knew who the person next and opposite to him or her was. And that was what the college campus back in Damansara Uptown was all about for a long time to many of us.

By Jc Lam