College is a place to explore and find out who you are, but you’re also paying for a higher education. It’s good to go out and have fun, but you want to make sure you don’t let dust build on those textbooks and watch your grades drop like flies. It is possible to have fun and get above average grades! Sometimes you just have to find the perfect spot to study!
I’m sure you’ve all heard of both JMU’s Libraries: Carrier and Rose (Rose formally known as East Campus Library, or ECL for short). But where exactly are those quiet spots no one knows about?
If you are going to be spending the majority of your time over on the Quad side of campus, the Carrier Stacks would be the perfect spot to study. They are tucked around the corner and hidden in the back of Carrier past the circulation desk. The Stacks are a quiet and non-crowded area where students go to get copious amounts of work done without distractions. The third floor also has double decker cubbies that a lot of students tend to forget exist. And if you like to be completely secluded, the basement of Carrier is hardly ever crowded.
Over on East Campus, the third floor of the Rose Library is the quietest floor with group study rooms covering the perimeter. If you don’t like being in a room alone this would be the spot for you!
Maybe you’re not a library person at all (and that’s totally OK!). JMU has more hidden gems on campus as well as off for you to sit back, relax and absorb your lecture notes. All the dorms offer study rooms on every floor for you to get work done. I recommend taking advantage of these dorm study areas; they are very convenient so that you don’t have to travel across to a library, or for when you just want to lounge near your room in your sweats.
If you have time to kill between classes, the Quad is a prime location to open the books. I sit over by the Burruss fountain when it’s nice out and a lot of my classmates will do the same. If you want to catch a bite to eat Market One, Chick-fil-A and various other dining halls will have tables open during the odd lunch breaks some schedules offer. Students sit in there during those hours to grab a bite to eat and get some work done.
Warren Hall, next to your mailboxes, has little couch areas for students to get work done. Taylor Down Under (TDU) connected to Warren also has a ton of tables and chairs available for students to lounge, socialize and get work done. Over on East campus, the lower drum of Festival has huge bean bag chairs and tables for you to get work done and grab a bite to eat upstairs when you finish.
Off campus across from Memorial Hall is a little coffee shop known as Greenberry’s. I know a lot of Dukes who go grab a cup of coffee and sit in the shop to study for their final exams. It’s not very busy and has exquisite coffee from what I hear! Panera Bread and Barnes and Noble offer some nice off campus study atmospheres as well.
What are you going to do when you move off campus and don’t have the luxury of study down the hall? Don’t worry! Most of the apartment complexes JMU uses for student housing offer study areas and lounges, too. Good thing you will always have a place to escape if your roommates are a little too loud or you just can’t focus in the comfort of your own home!
This is just a short list of the many places on and off campus to fit your studying environment needs. I recommend exploring on and off campus to find the perfect place for you to succeed!