Oh twenty-four*, how we loathe you.
Midterms season is upon us, and we’ve unhappily pulled our stakes up from the sun-warmed grass and collectively moved indoors… to the twenty-four.
Entrance
The twenty-four is an honest room. I say “honest” because it’s a room that has no misgivings about letting us know exactly what we’re signing up for when we step through the steel double doors. Rows upon rows of conjoined desks scribbled over and carved into with expletives, glaring lights, an uncomfortable hush with the occasional cough, and of course, the obligatory students, poring over their textbooks with a look on their faces that make them appear as though they’d been to hell and back. I am not exaggerating.
No, the twenty-four offers no fluff.
With that being said, you might wonder why we go there in the first place. Even I, whilst unhappily studying for my midterm there, questioned what had induced me to go. There are coffee shops aplenty in Davis, as well as our own desks in our own homes. I asked a few of my resident twenty-fourers and they all offered the same answer:
“It’s uncomfortable there. We hate it. So we study harder to get out quicker.”
So we go there, not only because it’s open twenty-four hours a day, but mainly because magic happens there! And by magic, I mean motivation, an elusive something that every college student is always searching for. Ultimately, it’s a motivation that arises because of discomfort and a desire to go away, rather than a passion for whichever subject we’re studying, but it works nonetheless.
If you ever doubt us college kids and wonder if all we do is travel from class to parties, come visit us at the twenty-four. Your faith in painful studiousness will be renewed, I promise.
And look, I found my name!
* ”twenty-four” refers to the UC Davis 24 Hour Study Room
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