Studying is a universal experience for any type of student. Studying techniques vary from one student to another, which creates huge differences in the needs of students. Some of these techniques require students to be in a group setting, where they can work together. Other techniques require students to be in complete silence, otherwise they will struggle to focus on the task at hand. If you need silence to study, you might have begun to realize how difficult it is to study on a college campus, especially when there are not many quiet spaces.

The first spot considered is the dorm rooms or one’s own apartment. This makes sense when thinking about it for a little bit, but using it as a study space can be nearly impossible for certain students.

For one, there is a bed in the room. The choice between studying or a nap might be tempting. Worse, if you are studying on the bed, you might just fall asleep. The other issue is neighbors. If you are living in the dorms, it is well known that the walls are paper thin. It is nearly impossible to not hear music blasting or people screaming. The simplest solution is to just put headphones on and drown it out. Even when it becomes silent around you, there is your roommate. When you are sharing a space with someone, it becomes incredibly easy to be distracted. Your roommate might ask questions about your day or continue to bug you about where their missing hairbrush is. Others might just need a space outside of their dorms or apartments for motivation, which becomes a whole other nightmare.

When looking at App State’s layout, there is only one place on all of campus designated for silent study, which is the third floor of the library. The other option is to book a study room. However, most study rooms can only be booked for a certain amount of time, and the ratio of students to study rooms does not work. Especially during finals week, those rooms become sparse and ultimately are taken before some people can even pick the days they need to study. So, the third floor library might be your only option

When it comes to finals week and the third floor, one may notice the sofas are always taken, the desks are constantly occupied and —  oh wait, there is no seating left. The third floor library is always filled to the brim with people desperate for a quiet place to study. Sometimes groups coming from the overflowing basement, first floor and second floor decide to use the third floor and create too much noise. There are many places that could become silent areas and this would help with the overflow of students.

Some of the spots on campus that could be considered quiet spots are the Summit Trail Solarium, the first floor of Sanford Hall or the Reich College of Education. However, none of these places are actually designated quiet areas. In fact, many of these places have their own issues like the third floor of the library. There are only so many seats on each floor of Sanford Hall, most of which students do not even know are there. Many times, they are filled with students or it is never truly silent. People are constantly walking in and out of classrooms, causing the area to never actually be silent. The education building has the same exact issues. Then there is the solarium which has a whole other issue: it is always closed.

The solarium is usually a designated silent spot. Students will often honor this place by being quiet, with some breaks by someone playing the piano. Either way, this place has become a great place to go and get homework done if you get distracted by chit-chat. This has all changed, though, due to it closing all the time. Almost anyone can rent out this space for events, causing students to get kicked out of their own studying space. Renting out this space should not be allowed. App State is already low on quiet spaces, and by getting rid of the only other student designated quiet space, it is ultimately hurting the grades of all those students who need silent spots. 

App State students pay over $8,000 alone on in-state tuition. Students pay for a good education and lots of opportunities. The number of accepted students continues to increase year after year, with Boone running out of room. Opportunities are slowly dwindling as more and more students have difficulty finding a spot on campus to study, let alone a silent spot to study. App State needs to begin fixing this issue instead of watching the grades drop and the population rise.