The Library. For most, it's a college student's home away from home, especially at academically driven Cornell. It blows my mind, but from the first day of each new semester, people are already filling up the tables. Why? Nothing has been assigned yet! I guess it's part of the culture. Not for me though. I absolutely refused to go to the library for my first two years at school. I went once Freshman year because I had to use a book for a paper. I think I spent a total of 45 minutes there, and we had gone with a couple of guys on the baseball team, who, in order to enjoy their time studying more, picked up a 30-rack along the way. Every ten minutes or so, the sound of a tab being popped open cut the silence. It brought me comfort during my short introduction to the library.
Sophomore year I headed back in only once, again to grab a few more books, and then promptly left. It wasn't until Junior year that I realized I was missing out on some prime people watching (notice I didn't say prime studying time. I have a very poor work ethic).
At first, I decided it was best to start out with baby steps. I would head to the library between classes and sit by the window to do the daily crossword. I had to ease myself in. Every so often, I would actually do a little homework, but I was never expected to stay long or to really accomplish anything at all. My friends know me as the girl who pretends to do work. Pretending to do things is a skill I've really honed over the years. Finally, during study and finals week last fall, I spent more than one hour at a time at the library and I actually did work. It really boggled everyone's minds. On the upper levels of Olin Library, the only library on campus I've really been to, there are graduate study rooms that undergrads are banned from until study week. The fact that I wasn't allowed in got me excited, so I chose one of these rooms. It has been my go to spot since then. During study week, however, the rooms start to fill up, and this room only has three electrical outlets for some reason. This brings me to sign number one that it's Finals Week at Cornell:
1. The fight for outlets. You have to get there early to get a good spot. Or you have to get there late, when everyone else has given up and gone to the bars to drown their sorrows. If all outlets in a room are taken, you can see the panic in everyone's eyes, followed by a constant compulsive checking of people's actions and movements. Are they getting up? Are they leaving? Will that outlet finally be free? And the second that one becomes available, people race to get their power cord plugged in first. May the fastest and most anxious man win.
2. Meals at the library. You know it's bad when you are at the library for long enough that multiple meal times pass. One meal is demoralizing enough. I spent so much time at the library this past week (shocker, I know) that I made dinner one day at my house and immediately put it in a container and went to the library to eat it. Bringing and eating home-cooked meals at the library may take it a little too far...
3. The Regulars. If you go to the same room every day at the library, you start to notice that the same people always show up, too. In my room, the same three guys were there every time I was. When you get to a point that you are becoming friendly with the random people studying at the same time as you, it might be time to take a break. When you know exactly where to find someone throughout the 7 floors at Olin at all times, tell them they should go home.
4. The Regulars who take it to the next level. One of the guys who was always in the same room as me wasn't feeling too well the other day. He had about a dozen empty water bottles around him and his desk, as well as a bottle of pills and maybe some other medication. Ok, fine, you have a cold and you are trying to take care of yourself, I get it. But when you pull out a THERMOMETER and take your temperature in the middle of the room, it's time to hit the road, buddy. GO HOME. Don't sit here and infect the rest of us with your disease. Some things are meant to be done in private.
Sophomore year I headed back in only once, again to grab a few more books, and then promptly left. It wasn't until Junior year that I realized I was missing out on some prime people watching (notice I didn't say prime studying time. I have a very poor work ethic).
At first, I decided it was best to start out with baby steps. I would head to the library between classes and sit by the window to do the daily crossword. I had to ease myself in. Every so often, I would actually do a little homework, but I was never expected to stay long or to really accomplish anything at all. My friends know me as the girl who pretends to do work. Pretending to do things is a skill I've really honed over the years. Finally, during study and finals week last fall, I spent more than one hour at a time at the library and I actually did work. It really boggled everyone's minds. On the upper levels of Olin Library, the only library on campus I've really been to, there are graduate study rooms that undergrads are banned from until study week. The fact that I wasn't allowed in got me excited, so I chose one of these rooms. It has been my go to spot since then. During study week, however, the rooms start to fill up, and this room only has three electrical outlets for some reason. This brings me to sign number one that it's Finals Week at Cornell:
1. The fight for outlets. You have to get there early to get a good spot. Or you have to get there late, when everyone else has given up and gone to the bars to drown their sorrows. If all outlets in a room are taken, you can see the panic in everyone's eyes, followed by a constant compulsive checking of people's actions and movements. Are they getting up? Are they leaving? Will that outlet finally be free? And the second that one becomes available, people race to get their power cord plugged in first. May the fastest and most anxious man win.
2. Meals at the library. You know it's bad when you are at the library for long enough that multiple meal times pass. One meal is demoralizing enough. I spent so much time at the library this past week (shocker, I know) that I made dinner one day at my house and immediately put it in a container and went to the library to eat it. Bringing and eating home-cooked meals at the library may take it a little too far...
3. The Regulars. If you go to the same room every day at the library, you start to notice that the same people always show up, too. In my room, the same three guys were there every time I was. When you get to a point that you are becoming friendly with the random people studying at the same time as you, it might be time to take a break. When you know exactly where to find someone throughout the 7 floors at Olin at all times, tell them they should go home.
4. The Regulars who take it to the next level. One of the guys who was always in the same room as me wasn't feeling too well the other day. He had about a dozen empty water bottles around him and his desk, as well as a bottle of pills and maybe some other medication. Ok, fine, you have a cold and you are trying to take care of yourself, I get it. But when you pull out a THERMOMETER and take your temperature in the middle of the room, it's time to hit the road, buddy. GO HOME. Don't sit here and infect the rest of us with your disease. Some things are meant to be done in private.
It may look like a pen in this picture, but I swear to you that it's a thermometer. Look at how he's holding it. And look at all the bottles and nasal spray and ibuprofen. Get the hell outta here dude, you are freaking me out.
Then of course there are the trash cans piled high with empty coffee cups, the papers strewn across every square inch of every desk, and the kids who come in wearing sweatpants and shirts with holes in them. I know you want to be comfortable while studying for hours at a time, but at least wear shirts that are completely in tact. This isn't your house, it's the library.
Now, when I hit the library, I usually plan to be there for a while. But if I go for too long I am guaranteed to hit a wall and start to go a little crazy. On days after a night of drinking, I usually can't function, and the delirium sets in, completely destroying my ability to form coherent sentences. I also find ways to avoid doing work. Watch a little of this, read some funny articles, go to the bathroom fourteen times, etc. I also decide that I want to spend time thinking about out doing some more reckless things (anything not to do work). What would happen if I brought and drank a Four Loko in the library? What would happen if I turned this key that I found attached to the fire alarm and sprinkler system? Would it be possible to throw this chair through that window? Would anyone care if I just upturned this table with all of our belongings on it? At that point, there is really no reason for me to be in the library. I'm clearly not being productive, and that's something I can do at home or at the bars, so let's do karaoke instead of writing this paper. Cool?
