Students reflect on new places to study on campus



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Zoe Berg, Photo Editor

Any day of the week, The Underground – a food court on the lower level of the Schwarzman Center – is filled with students of all grades working quietly. The Schwarzman Center is one of the many new study spaces that welcomed students in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Several of the new study sites were originally scheduled to open in the 2020-21 school year, but have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, construction of the Schwarzman Center was completed in time for its initial opening date in late summer 2020, but the opening of the center was delayed until September 1 due to the pandemic. Likewise, the new building of the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking – located behind the Becton Center – also did not open its doors to students immediately at the end of its construction in August 2020.

Athena Stenor ’23 said she recently found a new place to study at Steep Cafe, which opened shortly before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020.

“I studied at Steep the other day and really enjoyed it,” Stenor said. “I found it pleasant because the [newly-built] the bridge was open.

Nolan Arkansas ’23 said The Underground has become their new favorite place to study because of its calm vibe and interior design.

While three students polled by the News expressed appreciation for the new study locations on campus, others noted that they had kept the preferred study locations they had chosen before the pandemic.

“My favorite place to study has always been [Irving S. Gilmore] Sterling Music Library, ”said Kahlil Greene ’22. “It’s very well lit and the tables are very smooth. Usually there aren’t many people there.

Eileen Huang ’23 said her prime study locations are the various cafes around New Haven. Huang said his favorite place was Koffee? because of its calm and peaceful environment.

While the return to campus provided access to several new places of study, two students noted that several places of study had closed or changed in some way since the start of the pandemic.

Huang, who studied at Jojo’s Coffee and Tea frequently, said she was “very sad” to see the store closing. Jojo’s, which was located at the corner of Chapel and Park streets, closed in late spring 2020.

Four students surveyed said the time spent off campus, along with restrictions on the use of campus spaces, made them less likely to visit new study spaces.

Andrew Zheng ’22, who was enrolled in residence throughout the 2020-21 school year, said public health restrictions made it difficult to visit study spaces last school year.

“I didn’t use the libraries at all [last year,]Zheng said. “I stayed home because there were a lot of restrictions on how you could use the bookcases. You had to be masked and six feet away from others.

Huang, who took a year off in the 2020-21 school year, said that due to her absence from Yale and the University’s study spaces, she currently prefers to work at her residential college.

Greene, who also took a sabbatical, echoed a similar sentiment.

“I feel like I’m working more within the confines of Timothy Dwight College,” Greene said. “I don’t know that many people who are on campus right now. ”

All library locations are open to students, faculty, and staff authorized to be on campus.



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