By KELSEY GHERING
editor-in-chief
Since it would be an understatement to say I had an uneventful break, I’d like to tell you a tale of midterms.
On the eve of spring break, I decided to form a study group for my one and only mid-term exam — the Mass Media and Popular Culture exam.
We congregated at Beyer Hall at 9 p.m., because that was the earliest the group could commit to studying.
And what did we learn, besides who invented the kinetograph? We learned that campus buildings are “closed” to students after 11 p.m.
The one location on campus where students planning to cram can study is the Power Room in the basement of Waldron.
That’s all well and good, but our study party of six with its exhaustion-induced hyperactivity was not going to be able to quietly discuss mass media and pop culture until 3 a.m.
That put the Knight Tower out of the question, too, which was only open for another measly hour I might add.
Oh no, we decided with a strong consensus that we would have to find a different study spot before the student aides at Beyer kicked us out.
All debates of location aside, the Power Room isn’t all that big. Is all of campus really supposed to fit into the cattle stalls that call themselves study rooms? Or the desks that provide seating for approximately 85 people?
Gannon seems to think so. Perhaps with the advent of the new library next January, the university will be able to keep more late-night study spaces open for students.
Unfortunately, I will not be on campus to enjoy the new library. And as tempting as it is to stay, I have big plans to finish that don’t include studying until 3 a.m.
Regardless, this university needs more places for groups like the Magnificent Media Study Group to study.
I understand the concern for students pulling all-nighters and consuming enough caffeine to resuscitate a horse. It’s totally valid.
But when midterms are pressing and you need a last-minute review, staying in your dorm or apartment is not really an option.
Most sane people do not stay up until 4 a.m. looking over vocabulary words. And most roommates do not appreciate the insanity of their bunkmates bringing over study buddies for the night.
So the whole “go home” instruction from the work study at Beyer was easier said than done for most of us.
While the Magnificent Media Study Group was able to find a place to study before the night was spent, we were all surprised by the lack of reasonable group study spaces on campus.
I’m sure we were not the first group to have this problem, either. Maybe if we couldn’t designate more study spaces, Gannon could arrange a system to keep the extended hours for all of Beyer Hall — instead of just the Power Room.
We might have had a better studying experience if it wasn’t interrupted by the university’s attempt to get us to sleep at night.
While I appreciate the concern, the reality is if you’re not pulling all-nighters during undergrad, you’re not doing it right. Which would be less stressful with a place to spend it.
KELSEY GHERING
