My Go-To Places to Study On Campus

With finals week just around the corner, I’m sure most of us are stressed out and also eager to end this semester with a bang. I personally cannot wait to finally go home after my finals and spend time with my family for the holidays. It seems like it’s so close yet so far and the only hurdle that’s getting in our way are finals. I’m sure most of us can resonate with being burnt out even towards the beginning or the middle of this semester. With classes being remote and COVID-19 restrictions, not many of us are given the chance to switch up our study spaces. In previous semesters, whenever I have an exam coming up, my go-to study space would either be Snell Library or the Curry Student Center. But with the situations that we’re given this semester, I definitely do feel uncomfortable to study in those spaces. Until just recently, I’ve done most of my studying in my own room or in the living room of my apartment. However, while doing so gives me the peace of mind of not having to worry about being possibly exposed to COVID, it has most certainly tired me out. This is when I decided to find other study spaces on campus, not only to change up my surroundings but also to make sure that I can’t just decide to lay in bed and procrastinate whenever I want.

My first to-go study space on campus is Kariotis Hall. I realized that not many people know about this building but I’ve been coming to this building to study since my freshman year. While in the past, this building usually held in-person lectures during the day, with this semester however, there aren’t a lot of in-person classes being held in this building which is perfect if you want to have a private study room. Kariotis Hall is one of the closet academic buildings near where I live and I could almost always find a room to study without any distractions. This building has large windows so it helps to keep me motivated but also it’s nice to stare out the window during my study breaks.

My next go-to study space on campus is Richards Hall. It’s almost always open and it’s also easily accessible through the tunnels even if the doors are locked during the weekends. While it is kind of hard to find a study space in this building as it is located on central campus, I personally really enjoy studying here if I do manage to secure a study space. While this building is a bit far from where I live, I personally enjoy the walk back home after I’m done studying just so I can get some steps in as I rarely walk or go anywhere nowadays.

My final go-to study space is Snell Basement classrooms. The good thing about this study space is that you can almost always find an empty classroom to study in and that because it’s in a basement, it is always quiet which is great if you really need to concentrate. However, because it is in a basement, there are no windows in any of the classrooms which can feel a bit suffocating. I personally enjoy studying in places with lots of sunlight and since the classrooms in Snell Basement don’t have any windows, I rarely find myself going there to study or do work.

Due to the nature of this semester, it’s been personally challenging to keep up with all the work and feel motivated to study. But with a change of scenery, you might find some motivation to get your work done! We’re almost at the end of this abnormal semester. I wish you all the best of luck on your finals and that you are able to find some time during the holidays to spend time with your family and your loved ones!