Study space
Finding a quiet place to study has been a mission of mine since I started working on my first assignment. Having a very old laptop, I don’t have the luxury of working on my assignments at home. In one way, getting out of the house and studying at Warwick is actually really helpful. I find that when I’m at home, there is always something to do. I start with good intentions, to maybe read a book or access a document or article on my iPad, then I find that the dishes need washing, or the ironing that has been sitting there for 2 weeks suddenly needs doing, or the tiles in the bathroom need scrubbing, or something else around the house needs my attention. There is always something to distract me! I find that I am way more productive when I come up to Warwick to study. There are less distractions. The only thing that I find slightly distracting about studying at Warwick is the noise from other people (e.g. people chatting, groups milling around). Interestingly enough, at the start of this term the Counselling Service ran a ‘Studying Sensationally’ workshop (for students that get “easily distracted by noise”) that would have been perfect for me. However, as I missed that, I just need to learn to deal with the noise and, whenever possible, I try to find a quiet area to study in.
One of my favourite study areas is the ‘CLL study and relaxation area‘, in the Social Sciences building (next to the library). This room is exclusively for Centre for Lifelong Learning students. It has 4 networked computers, a seating area, and a kettle. It’s not always quiet; sometimes it’s buzzing with students and chatter. However, if you get it at a quiet time, it’s such a nice place to study. And, if you go there at a busy time, it’s a great place to meet fellow CLL students. I’ve met some lovely people in there, had some great conversations, and even learned some useful tips on IT and essay writing.
The ‘Westwood computer room’ (where I’m currently sitting typing this blog!) is another study area. This drop-in area is on the Westwood campus – if you go in the Westwood Café entrance, it’s on the right. It’s worth noting that sometimes this room can be booked out for IT training sessions; however, if it’s booked out you can always use the Student Hub in the Avon Building. The ‘library‘ also has a number of study areas. It has networked computers in a quiet zone on the level 3 extension area. And, the ‘main library study space guide’ lists the different areas for study in the library, and the different noise tolerance levels and rules concerning food, drink and laptop use for each area: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/using/libspaces/main/main-library-study-spaces/
You can also find other ‘Open Access Work Area Locations‘, across the Warwick site, by clicking on the following link: open access work area PCs
If anyone knows of a quiet study area that I’ve not listed, please leave details in the comments section. I’m always keen to try out new study areas, especially quiet ones with networked PCs!
