I finally found it! The search is finally over for my new “secret spot” to get my work done. Since I have arrived at Penn State, realization has set in that my dorm might not be the best place to study or even get school work done. Many distractions have come up already that I am not used to at home. Whether that be friends coming in and out of my dorm, getting side swiped on my phone, caught in a daze staring out of window looking at what’s going on outside, or even my own roommate. So, I have been on the hunt since last week to find that one spot, one spot without distraction, dedicated to getting my work done.

The first place that I went to was of course the HUB. It’s a 5-minute walk from my dorm, containing everything that one would need to get work done. It has the qualities that would be a perfect setting to increasing work productivity, or so I thought. The HUB was my first option because it’s not only a place outside of my dorm that is close, but it contains food, computers, printers, a library, and it also provides a place away from outside distractions I would normally face in my dorm room. However, when I went on Monday, I found out that the HUB offers its own distractions. I didn’t take into consideration that the HUB is a popular location for many students to go to. So, what comes with that is the noise of all of the other students and a crowded environment. It also doesn’t help that there are NSO groups going on, so the traffic through the HUB is more than what it would usually be. With the noise in the HUB and the trouble of finding a nice quiet spot I was on to the next location.

After the HUB I decided to try out the Pattee and Paterno Library, which is almost perfect. It’s quiet, has everything in it that I would need to be successful, and not as many people go there. The only problem is the library isn’t as close to my dorm as the HUB, it’s about a 20-minute walk. If I had a homework assignment or a paper to write that I know wouldn’t take me much time to complete, then it wouldn’t be worth the longer walk that it takes to get to the Library. Besides the walk, I enjoyed my time in there. I was able to get my work done faster than I ever thought, pretty much distraction less the whole time. In my time there, I wrote a 1,200-word paper for my English class in no time at all. Without the distractions that I face in my dorm and other outside distractions it’s very easy to focus on the task at hand and get work done. Now the Pattee and Paterno Library might not be ideal for my less time-consuming work, it definitely will be the place I go for when I need to get major things done that will take up a lot of my time.

Although the Pattee and Paterno Library was nice, I still didn’t fulfill the expectations of my “secret spot”. I wanted somewhere I could go for any work that I needed to complete, whether small or big, that was generally close. Somewhere that few people went to and would be distraction free. Now the HUB and library are good spots don’t get me wrong but they’re both places that most people go to. But then I found the spot, and actually I found it accidentally. I was out with my friends and we decided to just go check out the Thomas Building. While walking through the building two major things stuck out to me, that the building is not far from my dorm and that it’s quiet with not a lot of people in it. I went back later that day and was able to be as productive as I was in the Library, with the same walk time that it would take me to get to the HUB, so I was satisfied. Also, since the building is so close to the HUB I can easily go there if I need to print something, get a book, or if I needed something to eat. The Thomas Building is perfect for me, offering everything that I wanted: it’s in a good location relevant to my dorm, it’s not far from any resources that I may need, and it’s also quiet and free from distraction. I finally found my “secret spot” for studying and getting work done, well at least for the summer that is.

Contact me at…

Twitter: @CalebHershey1

Email: cjh6118@psu.edu