Lib Series, Part II: "Is My Life for Real Right Now?"

Following my amazing weekend there have been a couple of crazy days. Yesterday was the peak of my ridiculousness. I, my friends, am officially the epitome of procrastination. My facebook status as of 2:08 pm yesterday was

"10 page paper. 1/2 a page in. due in 23 hours. in the lib dungeon. while it snows outside. is my life for real right now?"

Let's examine this.

"10 pager due in less than 24 hours" Terrifying. I ended up spending about 10 hours in the lib yesterday. Not the most fun. In my defense, I thought the paper was due Friday rather than today.

Helpful Hint for College #1: Keep a planner.

Helpful Hint for College #2: When you write things in your planner make sure you look at them every so often to make sure things are not due two days before you thought they were.

"In the lib dungeon." That's right. Picture time. What I've deemed "the dungeon", as I'm sure many of other SMC students may have also done, is the basement of the lib. For a lot people this is a regular study spot. There are many little cubbies and secluded mini-rooms for those that like complete silence and no distractions while working. I'm not one of these people and the basement scares me a little, so most of the time you would not find me down here. However, this is what my life had come to. I hid myself away in a little cubby with my headphones and my computer and got down to business.

For me and many other procrastinators this is the perfect place to come when you just need to sit down and get things done. Like a 10 page paper due at 1 pm the next day. I'm just glad it wasn't extreme enough to need to hide away in a room.

"while it snows outside." That's right. You're not reading dates wrong or getting confused. Yesterday was in fact April 27. It snowed ALL DAY LONG. Sometimes Vermont likes to throw curve balls and really freak people out. A couple years ago it snowed sometime around October 10th. There's really no telling what will happen. Don't worry though, the weather is already getting nicer and it's supposed to be sunny and 75 on Saturday. Thank you Vermont, for keeping us on our toes. Check out the view from the lib. (The only place I went yesterday aside from class and my dinner break in Alliot)

"is my life for real right now?" When you're in the lib for just a little too long sometimes things get a little crazy. Luckily I wasn't all by myself the whole time. I had a little math to do so I migrated to a small table with Liane (who was also working on the paper) and Coligny (who I do math with constantly). This doesn't mean I avoided the crazy. You've got to have a little fun sometime! (Fun is relative when you're on hour 8 of 10 or so in the lib.)

Coligny goes a little nuts organizing her M&M's. She eats them bottom up in case you were wondering...

Liane loves writing papers. She really really does.

Now that I've completed my big paper and have handed in my math assignment I'm looking forward to a nice night of the missed Glee episode in the Liane and Coligny Ranch. That's the nice thing about having more work than you can handle. Afterwards you enjoy having nothing to do just that much more!

The Library Series, Part I: The Snack Room is the Best Room

As I may have mentioned I am OVERLOADED with work this week. My schedule is quite honestly out of control. At least it's making the week fly right by. But doing work in my room just wasn't cutting it. It's so messy, I get distracted.

SIDE NOTE: I think someone snuck into my room and ripped all of my clothes off of the shelves and threw them on the floor. It might have been me, but I'm not giving up on finding someone else to blame for the massacre of my single. END SIDE NOTE.

To combat the constant distractions that come while working in my room I make the trek to the library. The lib has some fun study spots. There is a super quiet area in the basement for those who like complete silence. There are also small tables for individual work scattered around and a few couches on the first floor. My consistent favorite spots are the big tables for group work or just a place to sit with friends. I may get slightly less work done, but going to the lib with friends definitely helps time go by while you're working. However, in my search for the PERFECT study spot I had never considered what could possibly be my new favorite...guess what that means...story time!

The other day I was meeting a friend to work and she told me she was in the snack room, which is sometimes called "The Den". I originally found this to be fairly comical as her favorite part of studying is often the constant snacking that occurs during our hours of math. When I walked in I immediately took back the "hahahahaha you would be" text I sent her when she informed me of her genius location. A bunch of her friends were sitting on the couch and at the booths, all working, but also talking and having what looked like a fabulous time. It's the best of all of the regular spots. You can sit on the comfy couch, in a booth with friends, or at a smaller table alone. It's bright and happy, but not messy, detracting from distraction factors. AND YOU'RE IN THE ROOM THAT HOLDS ALL OF THE VENDING MACHINES.

PERFECT.

The worst part of going to a new lib to work is trying to find the right place. So I just decided (on the fly, spontaneous-like) that every time I happen to be doing work in a different place I'll try to take a few pics and post them randomly. This way you'll be acquainted with the best spots around for your future time here and can get straight to work instead of wandering aimlessly. (Unless you're procrastinating and would like to wander in which case I TOTALLY understand.)

Quick note: It is, as mentioned, the snack room, so you have to realize that you can't always count on having it to yourself. Random groups of friends may wander in for a 25 minute study break to talk about the Spice Girls (not that I didn't have an opinion on their choice of a favorite song) or to take extended periods of time to choose between trail mix and Fritos. (Fritos is quite obviously the correct choice) These things must be taken into account when choosing to plop down on this comfy red couch to do productive things like procrastinate and write blogs.