Finals are upon us. Students are frenzied. Frantic studying is being done at all hours; it is a staple in the college student’s educational diet. Finals, however, are not the only time in a semester that a student wishes to study at what those outside the university community might consider to be odd hours. For those students who wish to study late into the early morning, there are few good location options.
Students who live with roommates are often the students with the most desire and drive to escape their residence in search of a quiet and relatively comfortable area in which to study. The escape from a roommate or friends is a necessity for many students, but the destination for the escapees is often unclear.
The Busch Student Center is not open 24 hours, and the library is also not open at odd hours, unless it happens to be midterm or finals weeks. The students who flee their residence for study time are stuck wandering back to their campus home at 2 a.m., having not accomplished extended studying, or heading off campus to a coffee shop or diner more accommodating to the night-owl/college-student lifestyle.
It is time for Saint Louis University to realize that its students are starving for a 24-hour study area. The ever-popular habit of pulling all-nighters can even be capitalized on by the University. A 24-hour diner located in the BSC would easily draw in those students who study so vigorously that they work up an appetite at 3 a.m.
The BSC is one of the most logical locations on campus to keep open all day, every day. With a perennial study space and a 24-hour diner, students would be able to fuel themselves mentally and physically. The other option that would possibly work as a viable 24-hour study area is Pius Library. The library, however, often lacks comfort and food-two things often needed for successful studying.
Finals week is an especially important time for administrators to consider students’ study habits and their living situations. Despite rules that ask students to leave campus after they have completed their last final exams, many students stay. Having a roommate with nothing to do staying in a residence does not spell out happy studying time for others.
Creating a 24-hour study area not simply for finals time, but for all year round, gives students a destination to escape to when roommates or exams-or life-become overwhelming. It is time to utilize empty space formerly the home of Kinko’s in the BSC and accommodate students and their late-night lifestyles.
