Studying All Over the Place

As I sat in the comfy couch of my dorm lounge, catching up on my international politics reading, I was reminded of the importance of “discovering” favorite study spaces in college. In high school, my options were pretty limited - it was either my room or the kitchen - but when you live on campus, there are more than enough options.

First, there are the libraries, the most obvious choice. There are the special interest libraries like the Dana Biomedical Library, the Feldberg Business & Engineering Library, the Kresge Physical Sciences Library and so on, but the most central and most used is Baker-Berry Library. It is literally on the center of campus, near the classroom buildings and dining halls. Baker-Berry is then divided into different parts; you can pick and choose based on your tastes. Some have the classic Ivy League wood panels and green leather chairs, the ones that tend to be featured more often on college brochures. The more newly constructed parts of Baker-Berry are bright and wide-open with florescent lighting and electric plugs all around for laptop charging. Baker-Berry also houses the stacks, which is basically a part of the library that stores most of the book collections in rows and rows of shelves. There are some desks in there that are really good for serious studying. The extremely industrial atmosphere seems to silence everybody and put people to work.

Then, there’s Novack Café on the lower level of Baker-Berry. Novack is open 24 hours and the café is open until 2 AM in the morning, so it provides the steady flow of midnight snacks and caffeine boosts I need for that paper due in 4 hours. During midterms or finals week, the libraries can get pretty crowded, so then, I tend to go to the smaller special interest libraries.

Sometimes I venture to other spots. Top of the HOP (what we call the Hopkins Center for the Arts) is a large open space with big cushy sofas and windows that reach from floor to ceiling. (I've fallen asleep there a couple of times.) Studying in dining halls can also be a good idea if you need food to keep you awake. Sometimes I go to the Dartmouth Bookstore or Dirt Cowboy Café (a local coffeeshop) down on Main Street as a change of scenery.

This week, however, I have been feeling extremely lazy and so I simply set up camp in a floor lounge in my pajamas with a hot cup of tea. If I feel even more sloth-like, I’ll simply go upstairs and read on my bed.