Great Escape: Inside the Pages of a Community Journal

It's easy to get so lost in our own individual worlds—the hustle of a busy schedule, the disappointment of a lost love, the confusion over life’s choices—that we forget that everyone around us has their own individual worlds, too.

There’s a spot in College Park where all these worlds collide. It's not just a Great Escape, but a reminder that we are pieces of some greater puzzle.

This spot is the Marsha Guenzler-Stevens Bench beside the Memorial Chapel on the University of Maryland campus. Within the bench there is a book, and inside that book are journal entries by people from all walks of life, looking for someplace to confide, to celebrate, to remember.

“I feel, like others, so grateful for this space. There is a theme of discovery in this journal—a ‘Hey! Look what I found!’ This place—a lovely surprise,” someone wrote in the journal on Nov. 10, 2010.

Indeed, this spot could easily be overlooked. Several journal entries are by students who regretted not finding the bench until their second, third or fourth year of school.

And still others intentionally visited, sometimes to find comfort. One writer mourned for the loss of a father. One returned to the chapel years after being married there – and then separated. But she still found peace as she wrote in the journal.

Seniors wrote in the book on their last days on campus. Others wrote stream-of-concious like, even sketching a fortress designed for the apocalypse.

Some wrote of gratefulness for their friends, others for their lovers.

On Feb. 20, 2010: “I love you Josh – Grace;” “I love you Grace  – Josh.” And written alongside more than a year later, “I still love you, and I love you more.”

Several didn’t sign their full names, or even their first names. Perhaps it’s the anonymity, but every writer seemed to pour their hearts out into this one journal, and it often returned to the joy of finding such a spot to get away from the rest of the world—and our own worlds.

Dec. 2, 2010: “I feel this is a cherished secret, but such a gem to discover from fellow Terps.”

And Nov. 9, 2010: "I feel calm with a sense of belonging," one wrote after her friend introduced her to the journal for the first time.

The journal is nearly full, but just a short stroll away is a second bench, and a second journal. It's mostly empty, and the pages are waiting for your Great Escape.