Here you are, working diligently in a peaceful corner of the library, alongside other dedicated students. You are comforted by silence, the gentle rustle of papers and the caffeine buzz from your coffee. You are deep in thought.
Suddenly, your silent study world has shattered.
A group of obnoxious students traipse in, blabbing away and noisily settle themselIves in. They have intruded on your quiet study session.
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They continue to joke and laugh, pretending they are there to study. But you, and the rest of the annoyed scholars in the library, know better — they are here to socialize, talk about how nervous they are for the upcoming exam and maybe even read through their notes.
We all know these people — the inconsiderate ones who are aware the library was quiet before they announced their presence, but proceed to fill the room with their voices anyway. The productivity of the library has halted, and progress impeded, while the lucky ones who brought their headphones are forced to play classical music to block out the nuisance.
I’m not talking about people who are legitimately working on a group project or helping each other out with studying — that would be a reasonable situation for talking. I’m referring to people who have no justification for it.
To those people: you are those people. You are the people who everyone else wishes would shut up. There are so many better places to do your loud version of studying — try a café, your dorm room, apartment, a private study room or literally anywhere else.
This is just one example of rude people in the library — but just wait, there are worse.
What about that one guy who has a cell phone set on loud the whole time he’s there, just announcing to the hushed room how popular he is. Then, the situation worsens as the phone rings.
Everyone waits for him to stop the heinous noise, but instead he takes the phone call.
“Hey man how’s it going?”
Everyone darts dark glances at the culprit.
“Yeah I can talk, I’m doing anything right now!”
Who does this guy think he is? The library, or any other designated study area, is not an appropriate place to talk loudly on the phone. This student knows everyone can hear him, yet he continues to rudely intrude on the reticence.
Don’t be that guy who talks on his phone.
College Library’s 24 hour availability reinforces harmful study habits
Obviously, study areas are places where one should be conscious of the noise they make. Another place where the conversations should be kept to a minimum is in class.
To people who talk throughout a lecture: What are you even doing?
You’re paying large sums of money to get an education, to listen to your professor speak. No matter how dull the lecture may be, you should respect them enough to give your full attention.
Let’s not forget the people around you, who can also hear your frivolous conversation with your neighbor. Just because the professor may not be able to hear you, doesn’t mean other students can’t. Other students came to hear a professional teach them, not to hear you complain about your roommate snoring.
Once, someone sitting behind me talked excessively throughout a lecture, and when the class ended, they proclaimed, “Wow, that went fast. I guess time flies when you’re not really listening.”
I’m glad it was a fast and painless lecture for that student, but for me and the other people around them, it was not so quick. I’m glad they figured out their plans for the weekend, but perhaps they should have stayed home to study — they certainly were one lecture behind.
The moral of the story is to be considerate of the people around you who are trying to study and learn. We are all students who are stressed out, sleep-deprived and trying to make it through the semester. Please make things a little bit easier for everyone and respect spaces that are simply not appropriate for enthused conversation.
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