What it’s like to walk through Swem during finals week

So. Much. Yelling.

I could smell the faint tinge of burnt milk and fresh coffee coming from aromas, but the line was out the door. I would come back later. I stepped through the double doors of Swem and could hear the faint roar of excited voices echoing off of the walls. It was as if they were on the first floor to procrastinate their studying… every seat was taken and every person was quickly and nervously chattering. It was social hour.

Unable to find a seat, nevertheless be able to focus if I did, I ventured to the second floor.

There were bodies strewn left and right: a guy was passed out in between the stacks (the bookshelves), and a girl had taken a cubicle to study, but instead had fallen into a deep slumber. A tense fog was in the air. I could feel the stress radiating off of each person I walked past.

It was an array of colors – hundreds of brown coffee cups, silver and blue red bull cans, the occasional reusable water-bottle covered in stickers. I found a cubicle and quickly claimed my space. It was in the far back corner, under the harsh glow of the fluorescent lights with no windows in sight.

I did not yet want to sit down and get on the grind, so I decided I would check the third floor, just to see if I was missing out on the perfect study spot.

The third floor was for no survivors. A freshman quietly cleared his throat and it was as if he had set off the fire alarm. Everyone’s eyes daggered him. My chest tightened and my breath became short and erratic, for fear of the repercussions of breathing too loudly.

I tip-toed past the students who seemed to have become almost mechanic – they sat stock-still and seemed to not have to breathe or even blink… they just stared, faces slack, at their laptops and their textbooks in dead silence.

This was too much for me.. so I quietly backed away from the robotic movements of the students in front of me.

I popped my earphones in and settled down in my cubicle psyching myself to get ready to study in that spot for at least the next 12 hours…