As the walls of the on-campus library become all too familiar to me, a break from my usual study spot can help me regain my focus and bring me somewhere new. Living in Boston, Massachusetts, I'm surrounded by all different kinds of coffee shops. There are big brand names like Starbucks and Pete's, and then there are the cozier shops that are family-owned or a small, local business. From the beginning of my first semester to now, I've trekked across the city to find myself a great cup of coffee, a shop that is just the right amount of cozy and somewhere with accessible Wi-Fi. And it is so completely worth it.
The pro's of studying on campus are clear, of course. Not only are you near your dorm room, but you can run into your friends and get a group going, or maybe even snuggle up in your bed and read from your textbook. But sometimes it can be difficult to find motivation to get work done when you're in a busy part of campus with many a passerby distracting you. For me, my bed can become all too comfortable and suddenly I find myself fast asleep. But lately, the library has been too quiet and stifling a place to be.
As finals approach, I highly condone getting off campus to get your work done. Trust me, you'll be spending countless hours in your campus library or even city public library getting some studying done. But coffee shops are the perfect atmosphere for me to get my work done.
I enjoy the adventure of traveling by subway to walk through the city to get to my favorite coffee shop I've found thus far, Caffe Nero in Downtown Crossing, Boston. I switch it up every now and then, but Nero has the perfect qualities in a workspace. For one, their coffee is never burnt or too sweet for me to inhale as soon as it's in my hand. Second, they have snacks that even a vegan like me can munch on, like small chocolate bars without milk in them -- oh, happy day! And last but not least, an unfailing wifi connection to keep me and my trust issues from running for the hills.
The coffee shop environment is the best to work in because of the constant go, go, going that the environment perpetuates. Everyone in a coffee shop is grabbing their coffee to get somewhere, sitting with a friend and talking over some cappuccinos, or hanging out with their laptop and a few textbooks, or maybe a briefcase. Being surrounded by other people doing whatever it is that they do is an awe-inspiring thing to me, and I love knowing that things are happening around me as I do my work.
The sounds of the espresso machine, the orders being taken, the door opening and closing, laughter and conversation, and the frequent and kind strangers make it a place to be. Although I am getting work done in a coffee shop as I write this, I still am in a social environment, whereas if I were secluded in my campus library I would have felt cut off from the world around me for hours.
I hope you find coffee shop study sessions as enlightening as I do, and just as work-oriented as the library, but with more people than just the librarian shushing you from her desk.
