California Lutheran University needs to provide more late-night study locations for its students.
I am physically incapable of being productive in my dorm. I don’t know if it’s the noise, the familiarity, my roommates, or what, but to get work done, I need to be anywhere else.
Most of my productivity kicks in around 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. I know that isn’t particularly new for college students, but it does prove difficult to find a good place to study during those hours because everything is long closed.
The latest study space open on campus is the Student Union, which closes at 11 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, according to Cal Lutheran’s website.
While Starbucks and the Student Union are open until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., they are often playing music that makes it difficult for people like myself to focus.
I have found that the Swenson Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Swenson Science Center have become two of my favorite spots to go to, but they, too, have fairly rigid closing hours. For most students, the buildings close at 10 p.m..
Rachel Smiley, the director of Pearson Library, said that the hours used to be longer, but that once students came back after COVID, the hours were shortened.
“Historically, pre-COVID, there were longer hours and then with COVID, with lots of things changing, the hours were reduced,” Smiley said.
The library’s hours fluctuate, being open 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Friday, closed all day Saturday, and 3:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. on Sunday.
Smiley said the library puts a big emphasis on student feedback to dictate how the library runs, and that they have received input the whole academic year about a desire for increased hours.
“I think what we hope for is to hear from students, what they want out of the library. This academic year is really the first time that we’re hearing from students asking about hours,” Smiley said. “We’ve been trying to respond to usage in how we make decisions about the hours, but this year, we’re working on expanding the hours during finals time.”
Junior Ingrid Olufsen said the library is her favorite study spot, but that the hours, especially on Fridays, result in her not being able to spend much time there. Like myself, Olufsen cited the music in Student Union and Starbucks as reasons why she doesn’t like to study there, saying she needs a quiet, relaxed place to focus.
“On Fridays, my last class is done at 3:20, and the library closes at 4:45, which barely gives me enough time to start doing anything. And the next day, which is Saturday, where I have more time on my schedule to sit down with assignments, the library is closed. I would have gone before classes if I could, but my schedule often does not allow me to do that,” Olufsen said.
Samita Adhikari, an author for Medium, a blogging website, said in an article titled, “Why Separating Study and Sleep Areas is Crucial for Academic Success,” that she would continuously try to be productive in her dorm, but that the allure of her bed and other activities would distract her.
Adhikari said that it is important for students to have a specific space outside of their dorm to be able to focus and keep studies separate from dorm life, where obstacles like one’s bed and phone stand in the way.
“When our study area is distinct from our resting space, it creates a psychological boundary, conditioning our brain to associate each area with its respective activity. This separation is key in establishing a mindset conducive to focused study and restful sleep,” Adhikari wrote.
While seemingly trivial, keeping the library open for extended times or providing extended hours in certain buildings could be very beneficial to the student body. I would implore Cal Lutheran to look into taking steps to provide a quiet, academic environment for night owls, folks with a packed schedule, and everyone in between.
