It’s hard not to be inspired by a shining college on a hill¹ that had the foresight to build on a hill, especially with the bonus of overlooking a large body of water.

Cornell had the same foresight. Even in the depths of winter—and Ithaca had depths of winter, not Minnesota-like, but wet and dense, like the winters off of Lake Michigan—if I could force myself out of the dorm room and look east to lib slope, the inspiration the college on the hill provided was enough to climb toward it.

And when it was time to leave, I’d descend to my dorm room for rest, and, later, descend to our Ithaca house rental.

When convincing people to work hard, inspiration makes a difference.

I’ve visited other beautiful campuses, and while the architecture is often grand and the foliage impressive, if your college isn’t on a hill, it’s missing something. Isn’t that why it’s called “Higher Learning”?

Looking west, down upon Mission Bay from a position of higher learning.