About a year ago I learned to stop studying in just my room. Don’t get me wrong, I study plenty in my room it would be insane if I didn’t.
What I learned though is that I don’t enjoy being cooped up. If I’m in my room for most of the day I get stir-crazy, especially if the assignment I’m working on is causing me plenty of frustration. If I’m tired it gets even worse because I might convince myself to nap instead of being productive.
So began the quest to find a place on my campus to study, give me a change of scenery and keep me from burning out.
And I found some good ones.
My school’s main library. There is a quiet study floor with some large cubicles. I can completely sprawl out on them and also have a power outlet. All of the elements of a great study space. But sooner or later, I became restless again. So I went to some of the other libraries in the school.
In one of the building I actually have access to an organization’s office, which is a quiet study space with a large desk.
Consistently though, I found fault in all of them. All of them were way too confined. I wanted some place with a good view.
In one of the buildings on campus there is a sixth floor with seating and a good view. Pretty good spot, sat there a few times, it had a great view, and some comfy chairs.
In our campus’ science building there is a balcony, I thought I would give it a shot.
And it was alright, there wasn’t really power, or an incredible view, and the seating wasn’t amazing, but it did give a dose of fresh air. I was hooked… On the fresh air that is.
So I scoped out a couple of more balconies around campus. And I found the one that is objectively the best on campus. Here is a list of reasons why:
- It has an incredible view. It overlooks most of campus and although it comes incredibly close to a roadway a pair of headphones drowns out all of the sounds of the cars, which is soothing regardless.
- It doesn’t have a bunch of people. I have nothing to hide, privacy isn’t the issue for me, the problem is that even in “quiet” zones some people believe that answering a phone call is a quiet activity.
- It has good Wi-Fi and cell reception. Some places on campus don’t have any cell reception at all, but this balcony in the great outdoors, has the best of both worlds.
- It has power.
- It had alright seating. This by all means was not a studying balcony, it was just a balcony that was shoved into the building design, so the only seating available was a desk that was splintery and bumpy and a single plastic chair. A towel over the desk meant that I could put my laptop on it and avoid splinters, so it worked out.
- It now has amazing seating. I don’t know who did it, but somebody put a honest-to-goodness non-splintery flat desk and a cushioned roll-y chair.
- No bugs. The balcony is about 4 stories up in the air, sure there are some flies, but other than that there is nothing. No mosquitoes.
- It has an overhang. This means that unless it is freezing or melting outside, I can comfortably sit on the balcony and breathe in the fresh air.
I don’t know why I wrote this blog post. I guess I could pawn off some meaning like “try diversifying your study spaces” or “try getting a breath of fresh air every now and then.” Whatever the reason I enjoy this place and I guess I just wanted to brag about it.