I remember my Chemistry professor dismissing his lecture every evening, myself sighing with relief that another hour of Chem lecture was finally behind me. I would walk with a couple friends out of Forum, stroll back to Pollock dorms, and ride an elevator back to my dorm room, where I hoped to get a good hour or two of homework out of the way before dinner. What I found myself doing instead was hearing a few knocks on my door, and letting a few floor mates in my room to hang out and chat. Our conversations lasted for hours, through dinner and the night. After running through topics about classes, friends, boys, and so on, they would finally bid goodnight, saying they were heading off to bed. That’s when I finally turned back to my homework, only to find that it was 1:00AM and that I hadn’t even made a pencil mark on a single assignment. Crap.
I quickly learned that my dorm room was just not a great place for me to study. It was too small, and though I tried to focus, I would find myself hanging out with my friends in my dorm building. If you’re like me, you need a space away from your dorm: some place that can help you focus and get everything you need done, and NOT lose any sleep in the process.
What I found myself doing the most was just stopping by the library in between classes. The Pattee-Paterno library has 5 floors with millions of study nooks. There are cubicles found throughout the floors, and even various group study areas, if you and your friends want to study for a big exam together. A few of my friends study in the Stacks of the library. It is the most quiet space the library has to offer. It may be a little claustrophobic for some, but a lot of people manage to get a lot of homework done there.
Sometimes, it would be late at night, and traveling to the library at that time just didn’t agree with my lazy self at that hour. I found that there are some study lounges on some dorm buildings’ ground floors. My roommate and I would sometimes sit down there and silently do our homework. This was convenient for me because I wouldn’t get distracted in my room, and it was still relatively close in case I forgot anything I might need (which was almost always the case). For those of you who may be living in East, I know a lot of my friends found it extremely difficult to study in their dorm rooms, or even their dorm building itself. If you’re someone who needs to just get out of the building entirely to study, there are a bunch of students who will walk over to the Business Building at night. It’s quiet, it’s nice, and it’s the perfect place to focus and study.
During the weekends prior to a big exam, a group of my classmates and I would essentially camp out in a classroom somewhere in Boucke, Osmond, or even Thomas. Most buildings on campus are open during the weekend, including the classrooms, that have rows of desks and chalkboards to sit down and study, or even to bust out a few problems on the board. That’s exactly what my friends and I would do for our math and physics classes. It was my favorite way to study for a big exam coming up. We’d order food to our room, or make a quick run to get food. We’d blast music through the classroom’s speakers. It made studying seem pretty chill in the end of it. Plus, we were helping each other solve concepts or problems others couldn’t quite get.
These were some of my prime locations for studying, and there are tons more. The best way to learn about where the hot spots to study are is to just ask friends or your WEPO mentors/rovers! We’ve been there, and we’ve all got our own study spots around campus. Coming to Penn State, I found that there were so many amazing things to do and amazing people to meet. A lot of this can be a distraction from academics, but I soon learned that finding a good location away from some of those distractions is the key to keeping your GPA in line. So try out some of these locations, and see what you think!
Anna George is a sophomore majoring in Civil Engineering, and is a Rover for WEPO 2015!
What I found myself doing the most was just stopping by the library in between classes. The Pattee-Paterno library has 5 floors with millions of study nooks. There are cubicles found throughout the floors, and even various group study areas, if you and your friends want to study for a big exam together. A few of my friends study in the Stacks of the library. It is the most quiet space the library has to offer. It may be a little claustrophobic for some, but a lot of people manage to get a lot of homework done there.
Sometimes, it would be late at night, and traveling to the library at that time just didn’t agree with my lazy self at that hour. I found that there are some study lounges on some dorm buildings’ ground floors. My roommate and I would sometimes sit down there and silently do our homework. This was convenient for me because I wouldn’t get distracted in my room, and it was still relatively close in case I forgot anything I might need (which was almost always the case). For those of you who may be living in East, I know a lot of my friends found it extremely difficult to study in their dorm rooms, or even their dorm building itself. If you’re someone who needs to just get out of the building entirely to study, there are a bunch of students who will walk over to the Business Building at night. It’s quiet, it’s nice, and it’s the perfect place to focus and study.
During the weekends prior to a big exam, a group of my classmates and I would essentially camp out in a classroom somewhere in Boucke, Osmond, or even Thomas. Most buildings on campus are open during the weekend, including the classrooms, that have rows of desks and chalkboards to sit down and study, or even to bust out a few problems on the board. That’s exactly what my friends and I would do for our math and physics classes. It was my favorite way to study for a big exam coming up. We’d order food to our room, or make a quick run to get food. We’d blast music through the classroom’s speakers. It made studying seem pretty chill in the end of it. Plus, we were helping each other solve concepts or problems others couldn’t quite get.
These were some of my prime locations for studying, and there are tons more. The best way to learn about where the hot spots to study are is to just ask friends or your WEPO mentors/rovers! We’ve been there, and we’ve all got our own study spots around campus. Coming to Penn State, I found that there were so many amazing things to do and amazing people to meet. A lot of this can be a distraction from academics, but I soon learned that finding a good location away from some of those distractions is the key to keeping your GPA in line. So try out some of these locations, and see what you think!
Anna George is a sophomore majoring in Civil Engineering, and is a Rover for WEPO 2015!
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