Fall quarter finals week creeps up on all of us. One week, we’re happily eating turkey and pumpkin pie with friends and family, and the next we’ve got seven days to study before the first test. The transition from vacation to perpetual work can be jarring. To get the most out of your study hours, it’s crucial that you put yourself in the right place to get work done. Fortunately, we’ve got a great guide to the best study spots on campus.
First, let’s go over two places to avoid:
1. The library. During regular school weeks, the library is a great place to get work done, but even then it’s difficult to find a seat. During dead week and finals week, it’s nearly impossible. Save yourself the headache and steer clear of the library, unless you plan on showing up at some obscenely early or late time.
2. Residence Halls. Don’t try to get serious work done if you’ll be close to your friends, ESPECIALLY if they don’t have work of their own. Most residence halls are noisy and filled with distractions. Not to mention, there are always those kids without finals who are thrilled to have a ‘free week’.
Studying in your room can cause other problems, too. It’s good to have some distance between your personal space and your workspace. Studies show that people who work in their bedroom struggle to sleep afterwards.
Now, here’s the list of places we recommend:
1. Alumni Science. You probably have no idea where this building is. Alumni Science is on the northern edge of campus, right next to Lucas Hall. It’s a big, quiet building, out of the way of the rest of campus. There are always open classrooms for studying.
2. Kennedy Commons. If you live in Swig, Dunne, Walsh, or McLaughlin, this building is perfect—it sits right in the middle of these residence halls. Open until midnight, it has 4 big rooms with plenty of space for getting work done.
3. Drahmann Tutoring Center. In the Benson basement is a large room, filled with tables. While it’s usually used for tutoring, it’s open at night for studying. There’s always plenty of space, and lots of whiteboards, which make group studying easier. Easy Cellar access makes this one of the best spots on campus.
4. O’Connor Hall. While this building may be hell during the day, it’s a great spot to study at night. The large first floor classrooms have plenty of space to get work done.
5. Kenna Hall. Kenna has the same advantages as O’Connor: large classrooms that tend to be unoccupied at night. Kenna 104 is a large computer lab, making it the perfect place to type up a paper late at night.
6. Lucas Hall. Lucas can sometimes be as crowded as the library, but it has many of the same resources. It has a café, empty classrooms, and plenty of space to get work done.
Finding the right place to study is key to succeeding in your classes. This list is for people who are struggling to get in the groove for finals week. One of the toughest parts of going to college is getting work done in a new environment. Many freshmen struggle with studying well into their first year. Once you find where you study best, your grades will pick up in no time.