Creighton students wishing to study on weekend nights face a tough battle to accomplish much work.
As if being constrained to a tiny residence hall room was not torture, finding somewhere quiet is nearly impossible. The Reinert-Alumni Memorial Library and the Skutt Student Center both close around 9 p.m. on weekends, making it difficult to escape the obnoxious, wild atmosphere of the residence halls on weekend nights.
Residence halls, as many will agree, are prone to noise. Especially on weekends, people are likely to be less considerate, thinking they have ample time to study later, particularly on Sunday nights. However, not everyone has the ability to focus when surrounded by a busy atmosphere. Students have more freedom on weekends, but not everyone has the desire to partake in social events every weekend, taking into account their studies, which should be emphasized as the first priority.
Why is this such a significant issue? After all, students may be more concerned about attention-grabbing parties and other social events, rather than their studies. Personally, I have overheard many students talking, whether it is at a meal or in a lounge area, about not being able to be attentive to their studies because of the frustrating hours of the library and student center. This keeps many individuals from feeling like they can fully concentrate, especially for difficult exams the following week.
A number of students can still hold high GPAs and involvement beyond classroom studies and maintain this work ethic, despite going out on weekend nights to social gatherings. However, not all students’ work ethics are identical. While a majority of students make it seem less popular to study on the weekends, that stereotype is not positive to anyone’s academics. Suddenly the unpopular thing to do is to study on weekends, even though many students need to actually utilize that time, occasionally even into the late hours of the night. One cannot easily accomplish this by staying in his or her room with loud neighbors or other distractions. This may cause a conflict and, therefore, students will not be happy because of an inability to focus.
Night hours in the library and student center should be extended on weekends, even if this means opening only a section of the buildings. This could be something as simple as one specific study location that would attract many students to feel the comfort of others who aspire to study all weekend long. A portion of the library could easily remain open, while they block off other unoccupied spaces. Another possibility could be to promote study locations within residence halls (study rooms), but to make those areas more exclusive, providing fewer distractions. By doing this, students would be able to have quiet time while also feeling comfortable among other students who also wish to study on the weekend.