Happy finals season—if you haven’t spent nearly every waking moment since Thanksgiving break stressed (or actively repressing stress), I envy you. You can almost feel a palpable cloud of anxiety hovering over everyone on campus, filling up every room. It’s hard to find the motivation to finish this semester and sit down to finally get all your work done, so I’m here to share my favorite (and least favorite) study spots on campus. The first step to finals success is making sure you’re in the right environment, so check out these spaces on campus for prime study locations.
- The pods
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Honestly, when 172 Tremont opened this semester, I never thought I’d use the building, but life changed when I studied in the Octopod for the first time. There’s something so simply satisfying about the giant octopus on the wall, waiting to be colored with dried out markers. You may have seen me in this room for hours on end, watching Gilmore Girls and pretending to be productive. All of the pods are cute in their own ways (there’s a different animal in each! It’s adorable!), but something about the Octopod just does it for me. Please don’t steal this room from me now.
- Library study rooms
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Like pods, but without the cute animal coloring opportunities. I like to study alone or with a small group of friends, so I appreciate individual study rooms for giving me a space away from everyone else’s stress clouds. I have spent hours in these rooms with no idea how much time has passed or whether the sun has gone down yet. I’m especially partial to the study rooms on the fifth floor of Walker for no particular reason other than that it feels like I’ve had a class in every room on Walker 5, so it’s like a second home.
- The Piano Row second floor lounge
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This room has comfortable chairs, and the Max is right across from it, so what more could you ask for? There are windows so you can actually feel somewhat connected to the outside world, and you can, well, lounge. I’d save this spot for when you can finally start to chill a little on your work because it’s easy to want to just take a nap here. Good thing you can grab a coffee about 15 feet away.
- The Piano Row quiet room
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The lounge’s scary older sibling. This is where you get things done. I’ve only been here a few times and have left a little unsettled each time. I remember it being kind of dark and, yes, extremely quiet. This is not the study spot for the faint of heart, but if you really need a quiet spot to just bang out a day’s worth of work, this is the place for you. At least the chairs are pretty comfy.
- The Lion’s Den
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The Lion’s Den is pretty spacious, so you can likely find a quiet nook if you’re not going at a peak dining time. There’s also coffee and food right at your fingertips, so you don’t even need to leave (but for your sanity, I hope you do at some point). The big ex-Whisky Saigon bathrooms are also some prime real estate spots for crying if things go south. The only thing I’ll dock the Lion’s Den for is that it’s closed on the weekends.
- The library
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I like the library, but it felt a little too cliche to put higher up on this list. I will say that the various segments of the library are helpful to surround yourself with considerate people. Trying to study with a group? Use the collaborative space. Want to be alone? Check out the back tables, which are right by the windows for some easy access to vitamin D if the sun decides to come out. What I will not recommend is sitting on the floor between the stacks, which I have done on a few occasions. That is a struggle spot, and reality will cease to exist if you try to write five papers here like I did.
- Common rooms
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I haven’t tried to actively seek a common room to study in since freshman year, but they’re a hit-or-miss. If you live in a dorm with a lot of common rooms, you can probably stake out a spot for the day and live #unbothered. But you never know who’s going to walk into the room, and that’s some unpredictability that I simply can’t deal with during finals. There’s always inevitably that person will walk in on a loud phone call while you’re studying, and then you just end up spending 20 minutes listening to a girl fight with her boyfriend. A fun study break, but probably not what you need right now.
Whether you’re using these spots or you’ve found your own hidden gems, remember to take care of yourself. Take regular breaks: eat, sleep, and spend time with friends, as long as you’re not procrastinating. Even if it doesn’t feel like it now as you sit in the Octopod for the fourth straight hour, you got this.