The Secret Side of CSM, Hidden in Plain Sight

Every individual who goes to Mines requires their own specific requirements for living comfortably. Some students can make do with minimal possessions, while others need to transport their entire lives from home to Golden. Even different faculty members prefer divergent tools for teaching, whether that is using the electronic smart board coupled with an LCD projector or just doing it the old-fashioned way with chalk on a board. The bottom line is each person needs and wants a unique combination of distinctive facets to live happily at Mines. Amidst all the chaos and asperity of such a difficult engineering school like CSM, getting the minor details right will ultimately lead to success.

The people who come to Mines hail from all different walks of life and originate from vastly different cultures. A chemical engineer living in one room may come from Alaska, while the petroleum engineer right down the hall could come from the opposite side of the United States on the East Coast. Because each person is different, every member of the Mines community will have their own set of demands. Some students or faculty also might have special needs, be it in the classroom or out. It is fairly easy to forget how vital fulfilling basic needs are when everyone is caught up in the middle of the school year. There are people who would flat out suffer without a certain amenity they crave. Maybe there is a student who cannot wake up in the morning without a nice, hot cup of coffee, or maybe there is a teacher who cannot live without exercising at the gym.

Perhaps the most demanding of lifestyles is of those who must take care of more than themselves, in raising a child. What does Mines do to provide for those people? What could possibly lie in the undiscovered parts of campus that can help these people, and finally what awesome luxuries does CSM have that most people are not aware of?

As it turns out, tucked deep within the long, sharp-turning halls of the student center at the very heart of campus lies the Mother’s Room. The Mother’s Room is essentially the Isla de Muerta, the forbidden Aztec cursed island from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. It can only be found by those who know where it is hidden. (The Mother’s Room is located upstairs in the Student Center near Ballrooms D and E.)

When the location of the “Mother’s Room” was discovered by The Oredigger, mystery and curiosity sparked. Upon investigation, suspicion was proven to be 100% correct as when Jenn Mazzotta, Director of Student Activities, was asked to comment on the purpose of this highly secluded room she detailed, “the room literally has just an outlet and a rocking chair. While locked, those with child in need of a private place to nurse are freely allowed in.”

It seems as if there are lots of cool places hiding within the Student Center, as Mrs. Mazzotta’s office itself hides quietly behind the Blastercard Office. Student Activity offices and niche purpose rooms such as the Mother’s Room are not the only cool places available at Mines. For those looking for a more general purpose place, taking a left after entering the student center and going past the fish tank is the iclub. While not some marketing scheme by Apple to transform part of the Mines campus into prime real estate, the iClub was once the old student dining center that magically transformed into a modest household of schoolwork filled wall to wall with tables, chairs, sofas, and most important above all else free-to-use whiteboards.

The Colorado School of Mines has many attributes to discover, and two of those are as simple as places to retreat to.