Past and Present

When students come to Athens for their first campus visit many of us are not familiar with the hilly terrain of southern Ohio. For many of us the very first thing that we take in is the beautiful scenery that this campus has to offer. As a junior in high school my parents and I arranged my very first college visit. Naturally I was nervous and excited to see what my first college visit would look like. After a four-hour drive south I had finally arrived, but before I could step foot on campus I was blown away by the incredible environment around. It might sound foolish and maybe it is but from that very first moment driving down 33 south into Athens I knew that this would one day be my future school and home. However, before myself and the other thousands of students who have attended this great university came the hills had different residence. 

Before all of the buildings, roads, and pedestrians Athens was once a place of even greater natural beauty then it is currently. The hocking hills are a special location in Ohio home to, "The lush undergrowth contains a profusion of ferns, shrubs and wildflowers including roundleaf catchfly, lady's slipper orchids, devils walking stick and sullivantia which are some of the state's rarest and most unusual plants. A wide variety of lichens and mosses cling to the rock faces"(HockingHills.com). This wonderful environment was home to many plants and animals but also was a unique location to meet. "Equally fascinating is the cultural history of this area, for it was once the rendezvous of numerous Native American tribes. So although we may see Athens as a rendezvous for education and maybe a bit of fun along the way this fascinating place has been home to so many before us.

Citation:  "A Little History of Hocking Hills Ohio." HockingHills.com. Web. 6 Dec 2012.