It’s crazy to think that we’re already at the end of January, with this new month comes a lot of pressure and responsibility, especially as college students. As Valentine’s Day approaches, so do our first exam weeks. I don’t know if you do, but I hate the pressure because I’ve never understood the importance of giving tests on the same week (or worse, day) for what, to test your mental stability? To me it makes no sense, but we all have to take them. Exam season also implies loss of sleep and zero time for distractions.
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Personally, I believe that our brains work better after having a good nap or simply a cute little “do-nothing” session. What is that, you may ask? A “do-nothing” sesh is what I call the time of day where you just need to wind down. You sit, you set a timer (preferably for more than half an hour) and you just do NOTHING related to the work you were doing previously. One of the benefits of this is when you go back to your work, your brain feels like it’s just had a spa day, relaxed and ready to go. That said, here’s a secret: our beautiful campus has some of the best places to chill. Keep this between us, but but here’s the tea:
A hole in the wall in Bellas Artes
This is one of my favorite places to chill on campus because it’s surrounded by nature. Right next to “Huerto Semilla,” close to Bellas Artes and Architecture, students took it upon themselves to build a series of unique looking chairs. Some of them look like concrete sofas, some look like an art piece that belongs in a museum, but this one is special. It’s a rectangular 3D shape that has a hole carved into it, so the hole becomes the seat. This spot is located in a great part of campus where there’s not really a lot of foot traffic, great for a “do-nothing” sesh or your next study session.
The best view of La IUPI
On the sixth floor of Plaza Universidad, Torre Norte, you can enter what feels like heaven. There’s a library there, it belongs to the Urban Planning Master’s Program and it’s honestly the best library the UPRRP has to offer. This place is great if you want to actually get some work done because its walls are lined by floor-to-ceiling windows that let all the natural light in. Better yet, it’s super cold there so you can combat the heat. You can also bring headphones and watch a movie there, but shhhh, don’t tell anyone about that.
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Sun-charged
Going to the faculty of General Studies seems like way too far a walk for most everyone in our campus. It’s been way too hot lately for that marathon, but I promise you this is worth it. Right next to the “DMN” building of Generales, there’s these amazingly innovative sun-powered charging stations. They are basically a little table with a solar panel as a “roof.” They have four power outlets on each side of the table for your convenience. Tip: if you wanna take advantage of this, go during the afternoon, before 2pm it’s almost impossible to sit down there without melting from the heat.
Lonely classrooms
This is another secret, but did you know that most classrooms on the sixth floor of Plaza Universidad, Torre Norte are almost always empty? Well this is something I discovered with my friends in my second year of college. After 10 AM, a grand majority of those rooms don’t have class in them which means you can find some relaxation there. Just be sure to ask if there’s a class in that room when someone’s already in there.
In closing, I hope you can find some quiet down-time during the semester to rest and recharge. Always be careful while being alone on campus, if at any point you feel weird or unsafe make your way to a place with a lot of people and stay there. Your safety is my number one priority. And, lastly, remember let’s keep these spots between us!