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Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Aggie Editorial Board weighs in on its favorite Davis study spots

It’s that time of the quarter. As finals loom, many of us are still struggling to find that perfect study space. In keeping with our mission of “serving” the campus, we have compiled our favorite spots to study on and off campus. You’re welcome.

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Alissa — Managing Editor:

My favorite place to study is in the Student Community Center (SCC). Located just hop, skip and jump away from the eternally busy Silo and overly quiet Shields Library, I feel like the SCC is the perfect, balanced place to delve into my studies. If I can snag one of those armchairs with the desk on the main floor, I’m in my happy place. This spot also has the South CoHo attached, so my caffeine fix is within reach. The SCC is also in between the Silo and the MU so food is easily accessible. There is a TV – usually on silent – so you can take a breather and watch some Food Network or Supernatural. Because it’s not a super packed or quiet place, it’s the perfect spot for group study. The hours are amazing, open longer than the Silo but not as long as the library. However, it can get really busy and it can be hard to get your favorite spot but if you plan on being there for awhile you can just park it anywhere and wait for your spot to free up. The SCC a comfortable place to study and not feel like you’re in a sea of stressed students in a dark, dingy room.

 

Melissa — Opinion Editor:

When it’s not so crowded that I have to stand in the MU hallway to eat my food, the CoHo is a great place to study. With everyone moving in and out, it’s easy to feel connected to all the people around because they seem to be as busy as I am. The lively environment is a great motivation to be productive and to try to get something finished. Plus, I often run into someone I know, which offers a great chance to have a conversation or pull up a chair and study with them. There’s also food, coffee and tea available, and who doesn’t love reading while they eat? As the campus’ central hangout spot, the CoHo is guaranteed to help you feel good when you have to start the study grind.

 

Gabriella Hamlett — City Editor:

For all you procrastinators out there (myself included), I have one suggestion this coming pre-finals week. LIBRARY. Seriously, do it. I have spent a large portion of my three years at Davis tucked into different nooks of the third floor of the library. There’s something about getting lost in the bookshelves and finding windows overlooking maple and oak trees that really clears my mind and allows me to study for hours on end in silence. It’s calming to be warm and dry in the library especially during these last few rainy days. And if I’m looking to socialize and/or get absolutely nothing done? I just head down a flight of stairs to the Main Reading Room where I will no doubt find at least five people I know (come on, people, let’s stop pretending we actually get anything done in there). While there are some serious downsides that keep me studying at home e.g. the amount of outlets at the library (or lack thereof), and the fact that there’s no coffee immediately at my disposal, I get the most done at the library because of the lack of distractions.

 

Ryan — Sports Editor:

Unlimited. Coffee. Do I really need to write more, or do those two words seem to cover it? Panera is a solid place to study, as it has free (iffy) Wi-Fi and some decent bagels to munch on while I am getting my work done. It usually has a fire going in the fireplace and the place seems to have a warmth to it; albeit a crowded, busy warmth. The only thing that really sells the place is the unlimited coffee that keeps me going when I decide to have a marathon study day. Panera has a dark roast, a light roast and even a hazelnut flavor if I am feeling a bit nutty. If this was some competition to attract readers to a study spot, I know I would have won with the first two words of paragraph. In fact, I’m not sure that anybody is still reading after immediately dropping his or her computer and heading to Panera for some decent food and unlimited coffee.

 

Olivia/Akira — Arts Editor:

I study best when I’m comfortable and isolated  from other people, so where else better to be cozy and centered than in my own apartment? For me, studying takes pointed concentration and the sounds, sights and smells (yes, smells—I’m talking to you, Tercero study rooms next to the cow farm) of the public sphere often distract me and hinder my academic success. My apartment, on the other hand, is unpopulated (with the exception of my quiet-as-mice roommates and my pet fish, Matthew) and has easy access to food, coffee, personal Wi-Fi and, of course, gives me the option to not wear pants without being socially ostracized (sometimes I just don’t want to feel constricted by anything more than the expectations of higher academia, you know?).

 

Scott — Campus Editor:

When not slowly losing my soul in the basement that is the Aggie office, I’ll occasionally head to Griffin Lounge on the first floor of the Memorial Union and take a nap, pleasantly avoiding doing any sort of work — mainly updating story lists and photo assignment sheets (sorry, Muna and Alissa!). On the off-chance that I have a midterm in the next 12 hours or so, I’ll take my talents to South Beach campus and trek to the main reading room on the second floor of the library, where I feel pressured by the grungy, unblinking pre-meds around me to actually get some work done. There, I can study sans external distractions, charge my lifeline iPhone and attempt to catch up on the material from the past eight weeks (unlikely, but always dream big). Additionally, the reading room has decent Wi-Fi, so I can (more importantly) also attempt to catch up on the past two seasons of Homeland and The Walking Dead.

 

 

Muna — Editor-in-Chief:

Another lesser-known study spot is down in the basement of Lower Freeborn — The Aggie newsroom. If you’re like me — easily distracted and have been known to become momentarily depressed at the thought of entering a campus study room, odds are you wouldn’t mind studying down here. The absence of any sunlight keeps us focused and oblivious to the amount of time passing. For a day you too can experience the stringent productivity our newsroom fosters Monday, Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Enjoy hot chocolate, an eclectic study space and the faint sound of Taylor Swift in the background.

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We hope one of these many locations caught your eye and you can find a little piece of Davis to call home for the next week or so. Best of luck and may the curve be ever in your favor.

Graphic by Jennifer Wu

 

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