Story and Photos by
Mark Graven
Staff Reporter
Roosevelt Park, 14 acres of undulating greenery abutting the western edge of CNM’a Main Campus, provides a convenient place for students to relax, according to park users.
Aaron Reynolds, 36, of Rio Rancho, is slated to enter CNM’s Computer Science program in the fall. He said he had come to Roosevelt Park to play the 18-hole disc golf course on a recent weekday afternoon.
“It is beautiful with all the trees,” observed Reynolds. “A lot of disc courses in the area are like dessert, with no trees or shrubs.”
Reynolds said he also likes the varied landscape of the park’s hills and undulations.
Reynolds said he discovered the park when researching the possibility of attending CNM after the University of New Mexico told him that that would be his best first step.
A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Reynolds said he came to the Southwest after being recruited into the U.S. Army by his brother.
Reynolds said he spent 7 years at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, before moving to Albuquerque.
He and his wife have two children with another on the way, he said.
Reynolds said he is currently driving a truck, but by getting his Associates Degree in Computer Science at CNM, he is hopeful of obtaining a 9-to-5 job in “an air-conditioned office”.
The park, with its playground, jogging path, picnic tables, and disc golf course, could then provide a good way for him and his family to stay in touch with nature. He said he would be coming to the park, regardless of which CNM’s campuses he attends.
Reynolds said he likes the weather in Albuquerque, especially when compared to Wisconsin, explaining, “I just don’t like cold weather.”
He feels a certain kind of freedom with the disc course at Roosevelt Park, especially when the course is not busy.
“You don’t have to play the holes in in order,” he noted. “You can just pick a hole and go.”
Gabriel Sedillo, 20, a former CNM student, was at the park recently to relax by playing his guitar.
Sedillo said he got in the habit of coming to Roosevelt Park as a youngster with his father, who lived near the CNM campus, but has since passed away.
“I come to the park to reminisce and play music,” Sedillo said.
Sedillo said he took classes online at CNM while going to high school at Albuquerque Talent Academy.
The classes were in Financial Literacy and were “a bit challenging,” he said, because he was not used to the online format.
Sedillo said he is currently working at a Panera restaurant and finishing up his GED.
Even though he lives in Southwest Albuquerque he does not mind taking the time to come to the park.
“This park is a good place to get stuff off my mind,” said Sedillo. “It is therapy.”
As a final thought about the on-going allure of Roosevelt Park, Sedillo offered: “I just like the way the light comes off the green land.”
