You know the feeling. After one too many long nights in the ZSR, your productive studying turns into the urge to bang your head against a wall. Although the library offers countless places to hunker down and hit the books, its massive popularity often means you have to search high and low for a table, wait days for a spot in a study room and be engulfed in the panic and anxiety that overtakes the ZSR during finals week. With exams quickly approaching, it is time to revamp your study routine.
- ZSR– The library is the classic finals week study spot. I recently polled Wake Forest women and found that the ZSR ranked number one as favorite on-campus study spot. With the lofty stacks and oh-so serious atmosphere, it is the perfect location to crack open the books. As one WFU collegietteTM puts it, “I love studying in the ZSR. It is so deathly quiet in there that I have no choice but to get work done. There are so many cool nooks around in there!” Despite the eight floors of seemingly endless desks, armchairs and tables, the ZSR can get super crowded, forcing you to waste a lot of precious study time searching for a study spot.
- Dorm room– The dorm room offers comfort and guaranteed personal space to use however you wish. You can also control the privacy level: leave your door open for visitors, or shut it if you have serious work to do. Freshman Erica Oates remarked that her favorite study location is her dorm room: “It’s comfortable, and I can lie in bed while I do my homework and still get my visits from friends as my pleasant and sometimes needed interruptions.” The downside of the dorm room: there often isn’t a lot of space on your desk to spread out, and you never know if you roommate will decide that the night before your organic chemistry test is the perfect time to blast Euro techno all night long. Ugh.
- Starbucks– The Starbucks located in the library is a popular place for a more social study experience. Plus it smells amaaazing! The sound of grinding coffee beans and chatty customers is the perfect stimulant (when paired with real caffeine, of course) to get your work done fast. Another Starbucks-loving collegietteTMremarked: “I prefer to study on the top floor in Starbucks because it has just enough background noise. It also smells delicious, and you see a lot of familiar faces, which helps from getting depressed over the crazy amount of work you have to do.” One downside of studying in Starbucks: all the noise and commotion can be pretty distracting.
Honorable Mentions
Tribble has tons of classrooms that students can use twenty-four hours a day. Yup, it’s 242/7. It’s a great group study spot because you can snag an entire classroom with tons of space for everyone. You have to be quick, though, because the classrooms fill up fast.
Benson, on the other hand, is less structured and has tons of comfy study spots. Plus you have the Sundry right at your fingertips when late-night munchies kick in. The drawbacks? Most areas in Benson are fairly loud, and the building closes at midnight.
Campus Grounds is a good alternative, as well. As one collegietteTM remarked, “Campus Grounds is my favorite. It has a great atmosphere and is quiet and warm and the couches are comfortable and very conducive to studying.” Like Starbucks, Campus Grounds might be too loud for someone who needs a quiet space for studying. But it’s open late, and the coffee is wonderful.
Despite the fact that 100% of the collegiettesTM surveyed prefer studying on campus, there are countless off-campus study spots to explore. The top-ranking spot is Panera Bread on Cloverdale Avenue. Students like Panera for its yummy café fare and calm atmosphere. Panera also has super comfy tables and chairs to curl up in with a coffee and your (least) favorite textbook.
The second most popular off-campus study spot is Barnes & Noble on Hampton Inn Court. Students love the Starbucks, spacious tables and B&N’s ever-present new-book smell. Local coffee shops are also a nice change of scenery. The most popular is Krankie’s Coffee on East Third Street. Despite its name, Krankie’s is known for its friendly staff, great coffee and emphasis on local business. Reynolda Village and Reynolda Gardens offer beautiful outdoor study spots for a greener study experience that is only a short walk away – weather-permitting, of course. Freshman Mary Stagmaier prefers Reynolda Gardens because she “loves being outside, and it is a very peaceful and relaxing environment to get reading done.”
Hopefully, these locations offer up new ideas to cure your study blues and end the semester in the most productive way possible. Happy studies!
*Photography by Elise Wallace