Wherever you’re reading this, you probably have a door around you. It might be a bedroom door, a front door, a car door, the door to the bathroom stall; wherever you are, you used a door to get there, and you’ll use a door to leave. We use doors every day without even thinking about it. Take a second and count every single door you’ve stepped through today.
Doors are an integral part of human society. Despite their simplicity, there is a huge amount of symbolism tied to them; protection, ownership, design, transition. There are no doors in nature. They are a purely man-made contraption, and in that way, they reflect the world we have built for ourselves and the needs unique to humans alone.
Doors can be ugly, doors can be beautiful. They can slide, hinge, fold, reveal the world behind them. They can be a landmark in time, revealing the stylistic trends, material styles and architectural limits of that era. They can be accessible, like automatic sliding doors that allow people with accessibility issues to enter and exit with ease. They can be inaccessible, whether too short, too narrow or locked. Doors tell a story.
The history of doors dates back to ancient Egypt. The first doors were installed to enclose and protect tombs of important figures from grave robbers and rabble rousers. Doors within tombs and pyramids held a symbolic purpose as well: When one crossed the threshold of that door, they were leaving a place of the living and entering a place of the dead. As technology, commerce and material availability improved, doors became more intricate and sturdy.
Jump forward 5,000 years, and doors have several uses. Your front door keeps unwanted guests from entering, protects you from dangerous or uncomfortable weather and provides a central place to welcome all visitors. But more than that, it stands as the official starting point for your home. When someone crosses that threshold, they are now in your home. You rule the roost, and they’re your guest.
Similarly with a bedroom, this door gives you privacy, keeps people out, and stands as a starting point for your personal space. Bathroom doors do the same. Doors to classrooms designate where the hallway ends and where a place of learning and experimenting begins. Refrigerator doors guard a treasure trove of delicious snacks, meals and drinks.
Doors play a huge role in literature. Think of the door in the wardrobe in “The Chronicles of Narnia,” or the door to Wonderland in “Alice in Wonderland,” or to the door in the living room in “Coraline.” Think more figuratively, and Platforms 9 ¾ from “Harry Potter” comes to mind. Think more grandly, and the Doors of Durin from “Lord of the Rings” and the doors on the beach in Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series will open themselves to you. Doors served as protection for Johnathan Harker in “Dracula,” as the titular character could not cross the threshold of someone’s house without their permission. Open the door, and you were doomed.
Doors are major thematic elements in some of the most beloved works of literature, cinema and art. Doors have been used for thousands of years to mark a transition period; cross this threshold, and a new part of your life begins.
Doors are important, and we mostly take them for granted. But they can be beautiful in their own right. Just look at some of the doors found on Texas A&M University’s campus. These doors were built as long ago as the 1920s, and the design elements and materials still hold up and hold value to this day. There is so much that can be said with the style of a door.
Symbolically, doors can mark a transition in your life. Opening the driver's side door of a car when you’re 15 is a huge step toward earning your freedom. Your residence hall door stands for another step in that freedom and a huge milestone in your education; you’re at college, you’re living independently, you’re growing as a person, and it all started by walking through the door. One day, when your time on Earth comes to end, and thousands of your fellow Aggies say “Here” around the world, the wooden door of your coffin will close, and finalize a transition for you and a transition for your family and friends.
This summer, Aggiebound is highlighting nine beautiful and important doors around the Texas A&M campus. Going to college is a major transition for young adults, and one that should be taken seriously. For the first time in your life, your day is completely up to you. You choose when you go to class, you choose which electives and extracurricular activities you want to participate in, you choose where you live. This newly introduced freedom is a huge blessing for 18-year-old freshmen ready to become independent and productive members of society, but it is also a hefty responsibility. One has to be ready to open that metaphorical door, cross the threshold into adulthood and begin the next phase of their journey through life.
If you come to Aggieland, you’ll likely walk through most, if not all, these doors. Whether they were built in the 1950s or the 2010s, their beauty transcends their structure or design. Whether you’re walking into your residence hall for the first time, or walking through the doors of the Zachry Engineering Complex for your first class, or walking through the gates of Kyle Field for your first Aggie football game, becoming an Aggie is a huge milestone.
You’re not just becoming a college student, you’re joining the Aggie Family, a community of more than 600,000 people from around the world working in all industries. Former Students, current students, faculty, staff, administrators, your relatives and friends. And it all starts with walking through a single door.
If you’re on the edge about attending college, grab the door handle, open the door and step through. The rest of your life is waiting for you on the other side.
Doors are an integral part of human society. Despite their simplicity, there is a huge amount of symbolism tied to them; protection, ownership, design, transition. There are no doors in nature. They are a purely man-made contraption, and in that way, they reflect the world we have built for ourselves and the needs unique to humans alone.
Doors can be ugly, doors can be beautiful. They can slide, hinge, fold, reveal the world behind them. They can be a landmark in time, revealing the stylistic trends, material styles and architectural limits of that era. They can be accessible, like automatic sliding doors that allow people with accessibility issues to enter and exit with ease. They can be inaccessible, whether too short, too narrow or locked. Doors tell a story.
The history of doors dates back to ancient Egypt. The first doors were installed to enclose and protect tombs of important figures from grave robbers and rabble rousers. Doors within tombs and pyramids held a symbolic purpose as well: When one crossed the threshold of that door, they were leaving a place of the living and entering a place of the dead. As technology, commerce and material availability improved, doors became more intricate and sturdy.
Jump forward 5,000 years, and doors have several uses. Your front door keeps unwanted guests from entering, protects you from dangerous or uncomfortable weather and provides a central place to welcome all visitors. But more than that, it stands as the official starting point for your home. When someone crosses that threshold, they are now in your home. You rule the roost, and they’re your guest.
Similarly with a bedroom, this door gives you privacy, keeps people out, and stands as a starting point for your personal space. Bathroom doors do the same. Doors to classrooms designate where the hallway ends and where a place of learning and experimenting begins. Refrigerator doors guard a treasure trove of delicious snacks, meals and drinks.
Doors play a huge role in literature. Think of the door in the wardrobe in “The Chronicles of Narnia,” or the door to Wonderland in “Alice in Wonderland,” or to the door in the living room in “Coraline.” Think more figuratively, and Platforms 9 ¾ from “Harry Potter” comes to mind. Think more grandly, and the Doors of Durin from “Lord of the Rings” and the doors on the beach in Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series will open themselves to you. Doors served as protection for Johnathan Harker in “Dracula,” as the titular character could not cross the threshold of someone’s house without their permission. Open the door, and you were doomed.
Doors are major thematic elements in some of the most beloved works of literature, cinema and art. Doors have been used for thousands of years to mark a transition period; cross this threshold, and a new part of your life begins.
Doors are important, and we mostly take them for granted. But they can be beautiful in their own right. Just look at some of the doors found on Texas A&M University’s campus. These doors were built as long ago as the 1920s, and the design elements and materials still hold up and hold value to this day. There is so much that can be said with the style of a door.
Symbolically, doors can mark a transition in your life. Opening the driver's side door of a car when you’re 15 is a huge step toward earning your freedom. Your residence hall door stands for another step in that freedom and a huge milestone in your education; you’re at college, you’re living independently, you’re growing as a person, and it all started by walking through the door. One day, when your time on Earth comes to end, and thousands of your fellow Aggies say “Here” around the world, the wooden door of your coffin will close, and finalize a transition for you and a transition for your family and friends.
This summer, Aggiebound is highlighting nine beautiful and important doors around the Texas A&M campus. Going to college is a major transition for young adults, and one that should be taken seriously. For the first time in your life, your day is completely up to you. You choose when you go to class, you choose which electives and extracurricular activities you want to participate in, you choose where you live. This newly introduced freedom is a huge blessing for 18-year-old freshmen ready to become independent and productive members of society, but it is also a hefty responsibility. One has to be ready to open that metaphorical door, cross the threshold into adulthood and begin the next phase of their journey through life.
If you come to Aggieland, you’ll likely walk through most, if not all, these doors. Whether they were built in the 1950s or the 2010s, their beauty transcends their structure or design. Whether you’re walking into your residence hall for the first time, or walking through the doors of the Zachry Engineering Complex for your first class, or walking through the gates of Kyle Field for your first Aggie football game, becoming an Aggie is a huge milestone.
You’re not just becoming a college student, you’re joining the Aggie Family, a community of more than 600,000 people from around the world working in all industries. Former Students, current students, faculty, staff, administrators, your relatives and friends. And it all starts with walking through a single door.
If you’re on the edge about attending college, grab the door handle, open the door and step through. The rest of your life is waiting for you on the other side.