For some, the best place to study is at a coffee shop or at home. For others, these places just don’t work. The best place for them is where the only sound heard is the typing of keyboards. So, where do these individuals go to?

The ‘Book a Study Room’ app on MyHilltop.

Here, you can book rooms at the Munday Library for up to 4 hours a day. That doesn’t always workout for them though, especially when all the rooms are booked with no one in them.

You either go in and pray that the individual that booked it never shows up, or you leave and find the next best thing, an empty room in Fleck Hall.

But there should be no reason for that, right? There are perfectly good empty rooms with whiteboards that help you study and write out your thoughts. It’s annoying to see them empty and booked.

It’s even worse when you decide to take your chances and go in the room only to get kicked out 30 minutes later after the person, who booked the study room for that hour, shows up. Why book the study room at all if you have already wasted 30 minutes of that hour? Seeing someone watch a movie on the touch screens provided is even worse. It’s inconsiderate and selfish.

Others will book the room for the four hours allowed and never show up. I’ve witnessed it while taking my chances.

There are times when I’m so close to calling these individuals out, but don’t because “technically” they did book it and it is theirs to study in. This system does not work, though. It’s a waste of resources for those who really need it.

Rooms should have a sort of check-in system where we tap our ID to verify that we are actually in that room. After a certain time, if no one has checked in, the room becomes available and anyone who needs it can get it without fearing any technicalities against them.

Once the room is available, we should receive a notification via email about its status. By having something similar to this, students can get that silence they need in order to work and take advantage of these well equipped sanctuaries.

Now, for movies being watched in the room I have no clue what to say other than, “ever heard of laptops?”. I get that professors at times require us to watch movies for assignments, but I’ve seen people watch football games and episodes of “Shameless” in the study rooms. Is that really what you’re being assigned? Because if so, then I need in on that class.

What makes matters worse is that this is essentially the only way to acquire silence on campus. I’ve migrated to Fleck Hall after failing to find a room. Tons of rooms are vacant, especially over the weekend. The thing is that these also aren’t guaranteed, because we have no access to the schedule of their occupancy. They are also technically not there to be study rooms. But we do what we have to do for our GPA.

While this is my last semester and I’ve been able to finesse myself through the searching of quiet rooms, though tiring and annoying, I think it’s important that this issue gets addressed for those who have a hard time studying in places where noise is inevitable. The school has you tap your ID in order to get into certain buildings, so why not invest in a system that works the same way and gives everyone the same opportunity to access study rooms that also creates efficiency in the usage of the resources available?