After a two-year construction project, students can stop asking, ‘Is it done yet?’

SE Campus’ new science facility had been needed for a while. What was once a campus meant for 5,000 students in 1996 now boasts 15,000 students and is still growing.

I enrolled in a biology class in 2008. On the way to lab each week, I encountered a voluminous number of students sitting outside. The equipment was a joke. The lab experience was like trying to share the lab with a younger sibling. There were never enough microscopes or test tubes to go around. It was a first-come, first-served basis.

I’d walk around the lab and ask other students, “Can I borrow that microscope when you’re done?” Not having a laptop at the time didn’t help. SE Campus’ library was always jampacked, the campus learning center was sure to be occupied and the science learning center was just horrendous.

Although it’s not TCC’s fault, nobody thought SE Campus would grow to more than 15,000 students. It’s no wonder the campus gets a “It’s like a high school” stigma.

Jan. 10 wasn’t just the day the Science Building officially opened to the public, it was also a day that freed frustrations for students like me.

Take a look around the building. You’ll see new computers, a bistro and bigger labs. Professors and faculty no longer have to share an office. Anatomy students don’t have to attend another campus to find more or better lab equipment.

It’s not just the much-needed equipment that should be acclaimed. The building offers some perks that have nothing to do with science but should be praised. From the second or third floor, you’ll get a great view of the campus. The elevators tell what floor you’re going to. SE Campus has additional parking as well.

In the original building, students would have to sit in awful seats in the hallway or sit on the floor. Now they have couches on each floor to study and lounge on.

New students who enroll on the campus won’t have to experience some of the nuisances that previous students faced.

At a time when more people are going back to school, the Science Building was right on time.