Hi everyone!
I had this idea to tell you about my week through my BeReals. For those who might not know what that is, BeReal is a social media app that goes off once a day at a random time, and you have to take a photo of you at that exact moment. The idea sounded fun in my head, but then I looked back at the photos I took this week, and almost all of them follow the following formula: me +/- friend(s) studying @ (insert a random location). So, I decided to still go with that idea, but use my BeReals to rank study locations across campus.
1. The Observatory – 7/10 ⭐
I really like the Obs as a location. There’s a few rooms you can use to study, each with a different vibe. The main room looks like a living room: it has a big wooden table in the middle and shelves of books around, so it’s definitely a louder space. There are two classrooms that I tend to use when I really need to lock-in or when I need a whiteboard. There is also a cozier, smaller room with many fun decorations around (that’s the one in the photo below!); we tend to study there when we are planning to spend a serious amount of time there and are looking for more comfort and quiet. The minus points are for the fact that it is kind of far from everything and that a lot of my classmates hang out there, so I tend to get distracted yapping with them.
2. Munger living room – 4/10 ⭐
I honestly have no idea how we ended up there. I used that space a lot when I lived in Munger, but I hadn’t been back since the spring semester. I love the chair there (they are particularly perfect if you are coding/writing a paper and want to lay back). But the minus points are for the constant distraction from people walking in and out of the room, as well as the hot temperature (I feel like this last part is a Munger staple, hah).
3. My room (my desk) – 10/10 ⭐
I only do work on my desk when I have exhausted all other options, so it’s a last resort thing, usually late at night. It’s quiet, there are snacks, and the fact that I want to go to sleep soon motivates me a lot to lock in to finish my work faster.
4. My room (my bed) – 1/10 ⭐
I cannot do any meaningful work on my bed. I always get distracted with my phone or just laying down. Sometimes I manage to do my readings there, but it’s usually a bad place to study. And honestly, it should be: your bed should be a space for rest, so I am okay with mine being that and not a study space.
5. The library – 10/10 ⭐
I absolutely love my library study sessions with my friends!!! I really missed the library while it was being renovated, and I am really happy that it’s open again!
6. The library (my thesis carrel) – 8/10 ⭐
My carrel is a great space to study since it’s on the quiet floor and is kind of hidden in between the shelves. However, I am trying to make it into a thesis-specific place, so I have been avoiding doing any other sort of work there.
That’s it for the week. Next week is my birthday (yay!) and Halloween, so stay tuned!