Under The Live Oak
Tree Tag #2455 on Baylor's Sustainability Map
By Kyler Beaty for Dr. Joshua King's ENG 2301: British Literature class, Fall 2025
This reflection is part of a series of “Tree Stories” by Baylor students that take root in their observations about a tree on campus, branch into connections between their tree and their experiences and education, and leaf out into a creative response to the tree.
Welcome
When I first stopped and really looked at the Live Oak in front of the Fudge Football Facility, I didn’t expect it to teach me anything. But over the semester, this tree showed me calmness, strength, and even a new way of paying attention to the world around me. My hope is that anyone who reads this story sees how even something we pass by every day like a tree can help us slow down, think differently, and notice things we never realized before.
Roots
My first real encounter with my tree happened on a normal day walking to football practice. I had passed this Live Oak hundreds of times without thinking about it, but something about it made me stop and actually look. The tree stood wide and strong, its dark, deeply grooved bark showing age and toughness. Its thick branches stretched far over the sidewalk, giving shade to anyone who walked under them. But on the other side, I noticed scars places where trucks had hit branches and broken them. At the bottom, acorns covered the ground and squirrels ran back and forth. The soil was rich and dark, almost looking like it held the tree in place like a foundation.
Once I looked up its species, Quercus virginiana, I learned that Live Oaks can live for centuries and that they’re some of the strongest trees in North America. Their wood was even used for shipbuilding, including parts of the USS Constitution. Learning this made the tree feel even more meaningful to me. Its strength, age, and history matched how it seemed to stand confidently through every season.
These physical qualities made an impression on me because they reminded me that there are things much older and tougher than the daily stress I experience. This tree had stood through storms, heat, construction, and people constantly passing by. That combination of strength and calmness is what first made me want to keep coming back to it throughout the semester.
Branches
One of the most powerful moments I had with my tree happened on a windy afternoon when the branches were swaying and making a deep rustling sound. As I stood there watching, the tree bent with the wind but never looked weak. It moved almost like it was breathing steady, controlled, and flexible. In that moment, I realized the tree was showing me something about strength. In football, school, and life, I often feel stressed, like everything is pressing against me at once. Watching the tree bend instead of break helped me understand what real resilience looks like.
This moment made me think about William Wordsworth’s poem “Lines Written in Early Spring.” He writes, “To her fair works did nature link / The human soul that through me ran” (Lines 5–6). After reflecting on this line, I understood that Wordsworth believed nature connects directly to our inner lives, even when we don’t realize it. Standing there with the wind blowing around me, I felt exactly that, like nature was calming me down and connecting with me without saying a word.
A different visit gave me another meaningful experience. On a cold morning with almost no wind, the tree was completely still. The branches didn’t move, the acorns sat quietly on the ground, and everything felt muted. The tree looked almost like it was waiting for something, bored even. That stillness made me think again of Wordsworth’s line, “And 'tis my faith that every flower / Enjoys the air it breathes” (lines 11–12). At first, this line had seemed strange, but after seeing the tree so still, it clicked. Trees, like us, depend on their environment. Without wind or movement, the tree looked like it was holding its breath.
Through these experiences, I started noticing more about trees everywhere on campus. I began paying attention to whether they looked healthy or stressed, something I never cared about before. This Live Oak helped me slow down, observe nature, and realize how connected we are to it even during busy, chaotic days. My time with the tree taught me patience, awareness, and that nature has lessons to give if we take the time to notice.
Leaves
Introduction
For my creative response, I plan to create a short poem inspired by my visits to the Live Oak. I want the poem to reflect the qualities I’ve observed over the semester strength, calmness, flexibility, and the quiet presence the tree brings to a hectic campus. I think poetry is the best form for this because it allows me to talk about all the simple moments in a meaningful way, using rhythm and imagery that can help readers feel the same peacefulness I experienced.
My main inspiration will come from William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring.” Wordsworth writes about nature in a way that blends human emotion with natural elements, showing how the two reflect each other. His lines “To her fair works did nature link / The human soul that through me ran” helped me understand how deeply nature can affect our emotions, even when we don’t expect it. I want to share this idea by showing how my tree affected my thoughts and stress levels without ever speaking a word.
I also want to use Wordsworth’s gentle, observant tone. He notices small details such as flowers, branches, and air to use them to explore bigger emotions. My poem will try to do something similar by focusing on the wind moving through the branches, the stillness on cold mornings, and the strength in the tree’s roots. My goal is to create something that helps readers slow down for a moment and feel the same sense of peace the Live Oak gave me.