If you are reading this and are a college student, chances are, studying is a huge part of your life. Personally, not a day goes by where I do not do a little bit of studying. As I look forward to the rest of my second semester of my freshman year, I reflect on my study habits from last semester, and the thing that jumps out most to me is the locations in which I did my studying.
Studying in my room does not work. I get distracted and the magnetism coming from my bed is sometimes too strong to overcome.
In this article, I am going to go over some of my favorite study spots in Helena, Montana and relate them to general spots anyone could find in an average college town.
The General Mercantile
(Or any quirkycoffee shop in your city.)
The ‘Merc’ has definitely become my favorite spot here in Helena, for several reasons. Besides the friendly staff and the great coffee, the Merc has a surprising amount of seating room and just enough light to get tons of crap done. The first time I came in, I spent a good 20 minutes going through all the trinkets in the store, but after that, I was amazingly productive. Also, going somewhere like the Merc allows me to use rewards for myself. For example, I am sitting in the Merc as I write this article right now, and I am not letting myself go get a drink until I finish it. This tactic has helped me especially with getting through boring chapters of books I need to read for class.
Starbucks
(Or any coffee shop chain in your city.)
Starbucks seems like such an obvious place to study, but there are a few very helpful things about Starbucks. For starters, their WiFi is the fastest out of all the coffee shops I have been to. They have plenty of seating in all of their stores and outlets all over. My personal favorite thing about Starbucks, though, is its universal nature. By that, I mean that most of you reading this have probably been given a Starbucks card for a holiday or a birthday before. It doesn’t matter if you’re like me and live away from your hometown, every town (pretty much) has at least one Starbucks. On those hard money days when you are going to lock yourself in your room to prevent yourself from spending any more money, there is nothing better then finding an old Starbucks card and going there to study.
Corette Library
(Or any college library on your campus.)
At Carroll, the library is actually a great place to study. I feel like every Carroll student who frequents the library has a upstairs vs. downstairs preference. For non-Carroll students reading this, the top floor is more collaborative and the bottom floor is the quiet floor with little study rooms. I would bet that many colleges have a system sort of like this, and it proves to be very helpful when you need to study in differing situations. When I need to read something like a novel or a textbook for a class, I like to go to the quiet floor, but when I have general assignments to work on, I like to be a little more social. The top floor is more my element during those times. No matter what school you’re at, the library is an excellent place to be productive.
The Mary Statue
(Or any outdoor bench/seating area on your campus.)
During the nicer months (the first couple and last couple months of class), I love sitting outside to study. Putting in my headphones and sitting outdoors was my most enjoyable way to study last semester. Also, if your campus has a lot of grassy areas, it is a totally awesome to lay out on a blanket with all your books and enjoy the nice weather. Sitting on the ground is nice, but if your campus is anything like mine, there are quite a few benches around that work just as well for outdoor studying.
Those are my four favorite places to study, and one final tip I will give you is to find a style of music that allows you to be productive and stay interested. I used to think I could listen to same type of music I always listen to (which is hardcore rap, if you’re wondering) and be fine while reading textbooks, but that has proven to not be the case. I have recently come to love listening to film scores as background music while I am reading, and to me, it is a little more enjoyable than regular classical music, which many people recommend while reading.
Here is a link to my film score studying playlist if you use Spotify. Pro tip: Spotify Premium is available to students at accredited colleges and universities for $4.99 a month!
Happy studying, college folks!
