If you spend a lot of time on campus, you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say it feels different after 6 P.M.
During the day, it’s loud, predictable, and full. At the halfway point of every hour, the lecture halls empty and are reoccupied, creating rushes of students that happen like clockwork.
People move quickly, creating a constant soundtrack of scuffling and chatter.
Once the clock strikes six, and the majority of students have gone home for the day, this structure leaves with them.
As the crowd thins out, the hallways only feel bigger. In the tunnels, for example, where you usually wish there were fewer people in your path, you now hope to see just one other person when you turn the corner.
Mostly just because it’s a little creepy to be down there alone.
Faces also become familiar. People who also stay late each week for labs, group work, screenings, or night lectures have become familiar to me. There is less urgency in the faces and the paces of these people.
I always find myself wondering if they are as tired as I am.
For me, despite yearning for my bed, these empty hours on campus make it easier to focus. The quiet hum of the buildings and the lack of distraction from my friends make it extra productive. More space also helps.
You can sprawl out your things in the library in an entire nook without worrying about being obnoxious or rude. Sometimes it’s lonely, but if you manage to lock in hard enough, that can disappear pretty quickly.
It might not disappear, and for others, I know it feels isolating. I enjoy campus in the evening, but my friends have told me they find the silence weighing on them, drawing attention to the passing time.
The space that was once energizing to them suddenly feels dull and distant.
I can understand both sides, but no matter who you are, there always comes a time to call it and head home. I only know a couple of classmates who have fallen asleep studying on campus, and I don’t intend to be one of them.