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Dec 12, 2007

A World Apart

I spent most of my day today at the main library on campus. As you may or may not be aware, it is finals week in all of the colleges across the US, and my campus is no exception. Being that so many students had swamped the library in order to study for 20 minutes or so for the finals the next day, my friends and I were shut out of our study rooms and forced to mingle among the undergrads.

As Allison noted, "They are an entirely different species."

Granted, it was a little warm today. I wore a wool sweater with no coat or gloves. However, it was not TUBE TOP weather, in my opinion. This opinion was not shared by one student near us, who wore a white tube top and capris pants with a big polka dot scarf on her head. I diagnosed her with a closed head injury and thought that, perhaps, she was headed to the beach but actually wound up at the library.

Also, undergrads don't seem to actually study when they study. They go to the library, claim a table, spread their stuff out all over the place and make a general mess, and then watch youtube videos and chat with their friends online. After an hour or so of this, they make a few phone calls. "Yeah, I'm at the library studying. Man, I can't wait until break." A break from what, exactly? Is this life too stressful for you, little one?

Still, I have never seen the library so full and am glad that it gets used, even if it is as a hangout spot. It is nice to have the semblance of education and knowledge, at least.

It is amazing to think that I was ever that young. Luckily for me, I didn't spend a lot of my undergrad (pretending to be) studying. As a music major, one spends a lot of time in a practice room alone, so there isn't a lot of procrastinating to do. Also, those rooms tended to smell, so it was best to do what one needed to do and get outta there. I just don't have the proper mindset to go chill in the library. Go to a bar, people.

Ooh, except you're not 21 yet.

Damn. I am OLD(E).

4 Readers rock!:

The Scrivener said...

I go down to the undergrad campus pretty regularly because the library at the med campus is being renovated and therefore has only about three tables of study space. You are so right about undergrads being a different species. I only graduated a year ago, and even I don't understand them.

XE said...

Thankfully we're not all like that. I hate when people assume that undergrad=no work ethic, because my best friend and I pull 80 hour weeks at the library for pretty well the whole semester (and very little time is spent on YouTube!)
Having said that, I understand where you're coming from because most undergrads drive me nuts! Many never seem to do any work and view the library more as a coffee shop than a serious work environment, but please don't automatically group all undergrads into a single category.

XE said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katie! said...

Xavier, I have been reading your blog long enough to know that not ALL undergrads are like that! Thanks for the reminder! I wish there were more of "your kind" at my library - then we could all get something done.