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The search for the perfect study spot
Finding the perfect study spot in college was like finding a date on Valentine’s Day: complicated and impossible. The perfect spot was illusive, a dream in the far distance taunting me everyday. The search for my study spot was long, difficult and fruitless at first. With midterms coming up, projects to complete and parties to attend, the study situation became particularly dire during November. As I tried to balance all of my responsibilities, the only thing that kept me going was the hope that soon enough I would find my study spot and get my work done. In my head, a study spot, equaled study success. Study habits in college are what you make of them. I find myself staying up later, with more work to do and seemingly less time to do it. It's not uncommon to find me and my friends in my dorm awake at 3 a.m., sitting in the lounge or kitchen busting out papers for Academic Writing, or cramming for Microeconomics. The more time I spent in the lounge with my friends, the more I realized how counter-productive it was. Although my books were always out and my laptop was always open, the majority of the time I was socializing, on Facebook or making Easy Mac. As much as I loved these late night/early morning study sessions, when midterms came around I knew that I would have to find a new place to satisfy my study needs. A week before midterms, I climbed up to the fourth floor, with books, highlighters, pens and pencils in hand, ready to get to work. The first half-hour of sitting in the creaky, wooden library chair was successful, but soon enough the silence took over. The mind numbing, monotonous quiet was more distracting than I could have imagined, and I quickly realized that this was not my study spot. The next candidate was a somewhat obvious one, although a little more risky. I decided to try and study in my own room with the comforts of my desk and learning utensils there to keep me company. I turned on my music and dug into my work. It seemed to be working for the first half-hour until something (or someone) became very evident that I had not taken into account; my roommate. As soon as 11 p.m. rolled around, I found my roommate pulling on her pajamas and asking me to turn off the lights. Once again I had the problem of silent noise pollution, and once again, I had not found my study spot. Throughout all of my searching for the perfect study spot, I started to question just how important it was to find a specific spot. At the end of the day, no matter how much I liked the place that I was studying, how comfortable it was or how much noise there was, I was still going to have to get my work done. I couldn't plead to my teachers to give me an extension for midterms because I found the library too quiet, the lounge too noisy and my roommate too inconvenient. Midterms were approaching rapidly, and study spot or not, it was my job to be prepared for them. Eventually I found my study spot at one of the most unlikely of places, "Late Night." At Ithaca College from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., one of the dining halls becomes "Late Night"—a place for students to get dinner after regular dining hall hours. This ended up being my haven, a place that I could sit in a comfortable but sturdy booth with huge tables and lay out all of my work. With all of the other students at Late Night, the noise became the background soundtrack to my studying without being too distracting or overwhelming. And the best part of it all were the cups and cups of free coffee Late Night offered that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else. Equipped with my special study spot and hot coffee, I was able to study and cram and study some more for midterms, with very positive results. At the end of the day I wouldn't give up my spot for anything, but on most week nights you'll find me in the lounge of my dorm, studying. And by studying, I mean socializing. Past articles
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