Photo from Alden
There is something about coming home after a long day of classes and just crashing in your dorm room that seems so comforting. Then, you realize that the day is far from over even though your classes are. Homework is a burden every student has to bare, but the tough decision is where to work for the next few hours. There are a lot of differences between working in your dorm room versus working at Alden Library.
Your dorm room is nice and comforting. It is your home away from home, plus there is a desk and chair at which to work.. After a long day of classes, doing homework in the dorms can be nice because you can look however you want. If at 3 o’clock in the afternoon you want to get into your pajamas it is not frowned upon. Another perk is that you can sit wherever you want, however you want and never get judged.
Photo from mills.edu
If you decide to venture to Alden, you have to layer up. Some floor like the second are hot while “the stacks” are freezing from fall to early spring. The good thing about Alden is that is also provides options. You are able to snag a table for you and all of your friends so that you do not have to sit at a desk alone like in the dorms. Another perk about grabbing a big table is that it allows you to lay out all of the homework that you need. I am a very visual person, so I like to have my computer, notes, planner, and textbook out in front of me. Huge tables are a lifesaver. If you are one of the few lucky students you may even be able to snag the white and green round chairs in Alden. It feels like you are doing work in a cloud and also can tune out the library chatter, as well as the bad lighting.
Photo from Instagram
Something else that affects study habits in the dorms are your roommates. Whether you have one roommate or three they can be the best distractions. Once a conversations begins it can go for hours without a good stopping point. Other times your roommate is watching Netflix and that is exactly what you would rather do than work on your paper. Next thing you know “one episode” turns into ten.
At Alden the people can be influential as well. If you go with a group of people, there are some breaks, but for the most part everyone has a list of things they need to get done before the walk back home. Also, no one is watching Netflix at the library because being in bed to do that is just much more comfortable. If you are on the second or fourth floor there are usually a lot of people. Most of them are working hard, some of them are working in groups, and some people are just snapchatting in public. The people working and low chatter be comforting. There is not dead silence so that it is too quiet to work, and you feel way more productive then the dummy on his or her phone for three hours. If you decide to venture to the sixth and seventh floor, AKA the stacks, it is silent. Everyone up there is working hard or studying. These people are inspirational when your homework list is overwhelming or when you have an exam that week.
When it comes to homework, everyone has different environments that they enjoy. Working from home can be more comfortable and fun but it is also more distracting. Most of the time an hour long assignment is extended into two hours. Alden, on the other hand, makes students work more productively, but maybe that is just because they want to get home as fast as they can to Netflix and chill.