Let’s be real, the Learning Grid is utter shite

Like any self-respecting Warwick student, the first thing that I do when I arrive on campus is walk down the piazza (note, it's shite too), through the automatic doors, past Costa and into the Learning Grid. The famous Rootes Learning Grid. And let's be honest, it's utter shite.

When I get to campus in the morning, I am usually energised, ready to have a productive day where I do my seminar reading, get a start on my essay and catch-up on a bit of society work. I'm ready to go. Some might even be raring to go. But as you use your student ID card to validate your entry to the Rootes Building's foremost study space, all your enthusiasm is zapped from you.

Suddenly, you are a changed person, frantically looking for a seat and trying to delay the inevitable moment when you slump into a pod next to your friends, knowing that you've lost at least an hour and a half of work. And that, truly, is why the Learning Grid is utter shite.

There's just nowhere to sit

Right, where can I sit? If you go in after about 11:00, then woe betide you finding a space. Because unless you have friends who will squeeze up, you'll never get a spot. The tables on the entrance? Full. The sofas around the louder area? Taken. The pods on the side? Gone since opening. You don't stand a chance.

And so you think you'll take a wander into the quiet zone? Rookie error, I'm afraid. These seats are all gone. They're all empty, but they're gone. Some smart-ass came and put their bag down first-thing in the morning, and they won't be seen until they take it at the end of the day. It's like those people that reserve their sunbeds with towels at the crack of dawn. But they're reserved. And you're not getting a seat. Move on to the Library.

It's just too damn sociable

I have a weakness. I'll be honest, I do. I can't say just 'hello'. As I walk though the Learning Grid, between my flatmates and old halls friends and people from my seminar and then the crew from my clubs and societies, it's like a social game of Pac-Man, where you have friends closing in from all sides. I can't just say hello and move on. I am extremely envious of those who have the glorious talent to be concise.

But I can't do it. And so when I enter the grid, I need to talk to everyone, about the football, about what happened over the weekend, about yesterday's lecture, tonight's night out plans – you name it, I'll be talking about. And this is another reason I resent the Grid – it's just too sociable for me to get my work done.

Nobody LEARNS in the LEARNING grid

It is literally impossible to work or learn. The noise, the lack of space, the sociability, it all culminates and it pisses me off. I love the grid, I really do. I spend at least five hours in there everyday. But let's be honest, the Grid is utter shit.