Birds love Simpkins Hall

“Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?” – David Attenborough

Most students who frequent the halls of Simpkins are familiar with the persistent TAP TAP TAP tapping at the glass windows. The little birds that nest in the bushes outside of Simpkins have earned themselves the title of simply “the bird.” Class will be progressing in its usual fashion when suddenly there comes a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at…Simpkins’ window. Whispers will quietly break out in the room “Oh, it’s the bird again” or “Oh look it’s the bird,” and for a brief moment, a magical thing happens in those longstanding classrooms. One student will turn to another and whisper “While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,”: another student will chime in… “Hope is a thing with feathers…” and finally one student will finish off “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” One small bird for a brief moment manages to grab everyone’s attention, and in that moment everyone’s worries of the day fade into the background. Students laugh, forgetting all the papers they need to type, and the professor grading those papers takes a break from their lecture to smile.

The source of the bird’s strange behavior is probably due to it seeing the skies reflection in the glass, but my colleagues and I choose to indulge our imaginations. We instead choose to believe that the bird and his friends simply want to obtain a wholesome education. Perhaps the bird is a fan of Dr. Morrow’s Shakespeare class, or Dr. White’s Young Adult literature class. Whatever the birds’ preferred academic focus may be, one thing is for certain: birds undoubtedly love Simpkins.