As a college student, you are faced with grade-breaking projects, unforgiving professors and overwhelming stress, all of which can lead to some well-deserved cry breaks. However, if you’re an underclassman with a judgmental roommate, a commuter who lives 20 minutes from campus or if you really can’t hold your emotions in after a bad test, sometimes crying in public is necessary. Members of HC Pitt are pleased to provide you our top picks for the best campus buildings to cry in.
(Photo by Unknown on The Pitt News)
1. Posvar
Constructed to be what seems like a London bomb shelter during WWII, Posvar is a giant slab of concrete with a delightful yellow art statue that literally no one understands. With departments such as Political Science, History and Statistics, students have more than enough reasons to have a breakdown in Posvar. Especially if the ol’reliable escalators break for the 17th time in a single month, getting out of the building and to your home in time for your cry can be difficult. However, with plenty of bathrooms to run and lock yourself in, new study booths to hide in, tissues to stash from Einstein Bagels and comfy chairs at the Global Hub, this building has ample locations to choose from.
My own personal example includes doing a frantic run/walk to the nearest bathroom from the Political Science Department and crying silently in a locked stall as someone does “her business.”
(Photo by Unknown on University of Pittsburgh)
2. Hillman Library
Hillman Library is a staple for all Pitt students, and with its 24/5 hours of operation, students have every opportunity to hunker down and cry into a textbook. But wait, there’s more! With each level varying in volume, you can choose your floor depending on your needs. Need to have a slightly concerning cry that includes loud hyperventilating and sniffling? Come on down to the ground floor where your noise can be drowned out by sleep-deprived laughter, squeaky whiteboard markers and the chewing of definitely-not-hot food. Need a good movie-perfect, vogue-ready silent cry? Join us on the silent 4th floor where everyone else is probably already crying.
Emma puts it best when she says, “everyone is already crying there anyways.” So, I guess if you can’t beat ‘em, join em!
(Photographer Unknown by Mascaro)
3. Chevron
I’m not sure if it’s physically possible to name a single Chemistry student who hasn’t cried in Chevron. Located between upper and lower campus, Chevron is artfully designed to be inconvenient to travel to for every Pitt student. This cement block of a building hosts a wide array of lecture rooms that were built in the ’70s fitted with outdated chalkboards and a handful of slightly unnerving tunnels that lead to nowhere.
Kate suggests visiting “the really comfy chairs on the balcony of Chevron! [They’re] perfect to curl up in and hide your face!”
(Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash)
4. Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning, Cathy, is Pitt’s unofficial second mascot and home to the humanities and falcons that eat their own young. Beautiful from only the first three floors, Cathy hosts thrilling activities like going 60 mph in an unstable elevator, breaking your back on a wooden slab being disguised as a desk, mourning the loss of Chick-Fil-A or thinking of ways to finally break into the Early American Nationality room. While non-Illuminati members are unable to access the E.V. Babcock Memorial Room on the 40th floor, feel free to cry in any available nationality room. If you’re lucky, a random old couple can tour the room and stare at you like a zoo animal for a whole 15 minutes.
Monica says “Cathy on floor 1-3. The gothic nature of those floors makes my tears more tragic and really adds to the theatrics.”
(Photographer Unknown by University of Pittsburgh)
5. Alumni Hall
Alumni Hall is home to cults such as the Blue & Gold Society and Pathfinders, and on special days, you can find lone physics students staring blankly at a wall in the basement computer labs. Elegantly decorated with questionably Masonic symbols and fitted with an eerily too-quiet third floor study space, make Alumni the location for your next big cry. Hey, spend enough time there, and maybe one day you’ll be able to answer, “How many windows does the Cathedral of Learning have?”
Eva writes “a personal favorite [spot] of mine is Alumni hall in the basement at the far end of the floor where nobody can hear you because hardly anyone goes down there.”