The Worst Study Spots on Campus

By SAM ALTMAN ‘26

    With as large a campus as we have, Exonians often find themselves studying in all sorts of places differing greatly from student to student. And, while some students have legitimately good spots, others have comically terrible ones where most get little to nothing done. Here are just a few.

Library after 8pm

    It sounds counterintuitive because the Class of 1945 Library was supposed to be that ginormous structure where every Exonian can go to study in the evenings. But in reality, going to one of the upper library floors after 8pm can result in little work being completed. This is because there are a couple of extraordinarily obnoxious friend groups who systematically congregate at the wooden tables and crack jokes all night long. It doesn’t matter how loudly you play your music, how many times you ask them to please be quiet, or how far you try to stay away from them. They are persistent, the sound carries, and your only hope of escape (the closed-off glass rooms) are always taken by 5pm and hogged until everything closes.

Elm during mealtimes

    Next are the dining halls. This option also at first seems to have some sound reasoning behind it. If you want to study and you need to eat, why not do both at the same time? The issue, of course, is that it’s nearly impossible to keep your head clear as friends ask to sit with you, silverware clangs sharply against plates, and someone interrupts you every fifteen seconds to ask if they can steal your chair for another table. Most of the time, you’ll end up giving into the temptation to shove your homework in your backpack and just eat dinner (which is deep down probably the reason you decided to try “to study” during dinner in the first place). And, while we’re on the topic of eating spaces, the same goes for the Agora in EPAC, where students slowly sink into the embrace of couches, never to return to their work.

Any dorm common room

    Finally, dorm common rooms might be the worst choice of all—the issue being, of course, that they’re “common.” If you want to be interrupted by a prep making some instant ramen at 11pm or catch a stray ping-pong ball in the face while writing your history paper, you’re welcome to give it a shot, but most would do better to steer clear.

    Rather, most veteran Exonians will have learned from some of these experiences and instead opt to remain holed up in their dorm room, only to see the light of day when they emerge once in a blue moon from their inner chamber.