The Best Places Outside of Your Room to Study

Last year my go-to study spot was my bed (not the best idea, I know). Sure, I had my desk to work at, and there was a study lounge downstairs, but nothing seemed as perfect as curling up in my bed on a Sunday afternoon with philosophy reading in my hands. This fall, however, vowing to start the school year off with strong habits, I decided to venture out from underneath my blankets and discover some study spots that lay beyond my residential hall.

I first headed to the most prominent study spot on campus, the Walsh Library. The Library, or Club Lib as it is colloquially referred to by some, is certainly not a secret study location, but, with the exception of the few times I went to there to make copies or check out books, I didn’t frequent its halls until two weeks ago. In the Library, there are two study options. The first is to find a study rooms, which are perfect for group projects but hard to secure by lone studiers like me. The second option, which I ultimately settled for, is to claim one of the many desks scattered throughout the wings. I picked a secluded wing on the second floor without many distractions, and I learned that the Library is perfect for those that need absolute silence to stay on track.

Unfortunately, I quickly found the walk to the Library quite the haul, so I began to haunt Hughes Hall, home of the Gabelli School of Business, which is much closer to my dorm. Just like the Library, Hughes has several rooms designed for group meetings that are very popular. There are also booths and tables throughout the first and second floors, and the occasional person, like one of my friends, even studies on a ledge by the windows in the back staircase. My spot, however, is a table on the second floor overlooking the main staircase. While space is never limited, one of the downsides to Hughes is with all the classes that are conducted there, it has more traffic than in the Library. Still, though, Hughes is the perfect spot for a student that needs a little background noise to get work done but isn’t easily distracted by passerbys.

Sometimes study locations get a little creative.

That brought me to my final campus study location: Eddie’s. It’s hard to resist Eddie’s calling my name on warm Sunday afternoons, so I caved in, packing my backpack and choosing a shady tree to study under. However, proceed with caution: on sunny days you may find yourself on Eddie’s with up to one thousand of your closest friends. Some of those people have the same idea as you and go to Eddie’s to catch up on reading while soaking in the vitamin D. Others, unfortunately, have a completely different agenda. While the upside to studying on Eddie’s is that it comes with arguably the best view on campus, it’s very easy to be tempted into not working; it takes extreme dedication to continue reading Aristotle when your friends are beside you tossing around a frisbee. I find Eddie’s perfect for Saturday studying, a day when I know I am not going to get anything accomplished anyway.

The obligatory Keating picture

Rose Hill has so many more study spots than these three, and students can be seen studying anywhere from O’Hare and Martyr’s Lawn to the student lounge in McGinley to the caf. Ultimately, it’s up to you for finding your own perfect spot. I’ll keep looking for that and, hopefully, will be able to get out of bed for good.