Valeria Yang ’21 (left) and Bryn van Dommelen ’22 enjoy the sitting circle on a fall afternoon.

Photo by Lisa Abitbol

Sit and Contemplate. Mika Taga-Anderson ’20, an intern for the Paulson Ecology of Place Initiative in 2019–20, created a sitting circle in a pine grove in the botanic gardens—an area that only wanderers who have left paths will happen upon. Made of stumps from a fallen white oak near the chapel, and woven with pine branches, it is meant to feel nest-like, a place that inspires “a sense of contemplation and ease amidst life’s chaos.” “My hope,” says Taga-Anderson, “is that this is a secret place for students to discover on their own, where they can sit, add to the space, create freely, and feel a sense of ease and belonging. To know they aren’t alone in their feelings of aloneness, and to encourage them to try and connect to this place. …”