Hillman Library, the place where practically every Pitt student has spent a few hours studying…or procrastinating…at some point during their academic career. Whether you’re a regular or a minals (midterm-finals) kind of person, you’re bound to see some pretty interesting things go down within the walls of Hillman.
We asked you to share your best Hillman stories, be it cringey or wholesome, and the responses are in!
“My favorite thing about Hillman is sometimes when the Cup and Chaucer is closing and they have extra bagels, they announce there are extra bagels left over and everyone kind of looks at each other to see who moves first. The charge towards the bagels is the best. It’s the little things.”
“I have no idea who this man was, but I walked into ground floor minding my own business. I started studying, and then I smelled food like someone’s cooking. I look over to see a man three tables away with a small grill- he is grilling hot dogs. Freshman year finals week takes the cake for best times in Hillman.”
“Once, a chill dude I know made hot dogs on the ground floor of Hillman and gave them out to people.”
“I was on G of Hillman around 20:15, set up at a table WITH OUTLETS and covered two chairs for my study partners. I reserved that prime table before someone came along and snatched it, and then this older man (50 years old or so) who looked like a heavy drinker and REEKED of cigarettes came and sat down at my table (insert infuriated emoji). I picked up my things and left. He obviously was not a student and had no purpose being there. I DETEST smokers and smoking. Long story short, Hillman G floor is a gamble.”
“On the first floor at like midnight, some dudes were doing flips.”
“One time I went to the library drunk to make out with a boy who had a midterm the next day. That was probably my peak.”
“There is a guy that LITERALLY lives in the library. He has a whole set up and you can see it for yourself if you don’t believe me. He camps out on the second floor day and night. This boy not only has stacks and stacks of books surrounding his designated “work area” but he also has all the necessities: food, water and a nice comfy coat that he sometimes naps in. Dear second floor guy, I hope you’re doing okay and that all that hard work pays off.”
“Saw a dude pull out a loaf of bread from his backpack along with a jar of peanut butter and jelly and proceed to make himself a sandwich.”
“A late Thursday night at Hillman, I watched as a girl spent her night walking around singing at the top of her lungs. She walked around the 1st floor in circles, serenading us in an unfamiliar language with an unfamiliar song as she listened to her iPad. It was fun to watch as the heads all turned in unison to follow her performance. When questioned as to why she was doing this, her simple reply was ‘It feels right.’”
“While I was studying, some dude gets up, rips off his tear-away pants and sits down in his shorts.”
“Once I saw a kid pull out a yoga mat and sit on it to study. He found an outlet, and it’s easily the smartest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I was sitting at a table in the Cup and Chaucer when a woman, who clearly was not a student, approached the barista who’s been working there forever. You know, the really nice older man. She starts yelling at him for not having a variety of sandwiches for her to eat, because naturally every coffee shop has the sandwich selection of a Subway. He tries explaining that he literally has no say in what products they sell. For some reason, this was still not clicking in her head and she continues to give this man a hard time for several minutes.”
“The girls at the table next to me started a witch hunt for who was using Bath and Body Works cherry blossom hand sanitizer among themselves and it was me. They were for real losing their sh*t over it. The one girl was like ‘My grandmother ONLY uses Japanese cherry blossom. I’d know that smell anywhere. Which one of you is doing this?’ I was not in a position to intrude to be like ‘It’s me,’ so I just listened to them converse about it for five minutes.”
“A series of disturbing events occurred during my study sesh on the 4th floor of Hillman. I took a quick bathroom break, and as I was washing my hands, a girl came out of the stall and hooked a left right out of the bathroom. Thank you for not washing your hands as you proceed to touch things in a shared space. Grossed out, I leave the bathroom and cut through the book shelves to make it back to my desk, only to find a guy roaming around barefoot. Keep in mind it’s the dead of winter. Trying to get the image of his hairy feet out of my head, I focus on getting my work done, but that focus keeps getting interrupted by the sound of the girl next to me popping her shoulder in and out of its socket…repeatedly. Cue blasting my music.”
Never a dull moment.