Study Spaces on Campus

Study spaces are one of the important things as a student, especially at the University of Waterloo. Working and completing endless assignments, also reviewing lecture notes to prepare for midterms with high targets, makes students need to know where are places for studying.

My journey of searching convenient study places on campus began when I realized that studying at home is not the best option for me as a mother-student with a baby. Even though I live very close to campus, only takes approximately 7-15 minutes to walk to Mathematics 3, my study experience in the first term shows bad results. I went back home very often between my class schedule, but cannot really study at home because my baby needs to breastfeed or play with me, no matter day or night. Trying to study at home is really something that I should never think of, unfortunately.

Dana Porter Library - Lounge, 6th Floor

Graduate students at the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Faculty of Mathematics, are actually facilitated by the office. PhD students get a shared office with a designated desk, in which one room usually contains about three to four people. I knew it because I often come to my TA's office hour which sometimes held in their office. Meanwhile, there are two offices for all Master's students (except for M.Act.Sci which have their own designated classroom). The Master's offices are basically a shared office that contains some no designated cubicles or desk. Some cubicles have PC on it, some are not. We can use the PC there, by log-in using our student ID. A printer also available in each office, and we are allowed to use it to print our paper, but not a book. There are also lockers for us to keep valuable belongings. The lockers are not equipped with lock, so we should bring our own lock. Master students can use the office for studying, doing assignments, or marking a test. However, we are not allowed to tag any cubicle as our own as this is a shared office (which some people tend to do so by leaving their water bottle or some paper 😞).

I personally do not like to study in the office, because sometimes people cannot keep the level of their voices low while discussing there. Moreover, it is actually prohibited to bring food to the office. Only a drink with lid is allowed. I go to the office only if I need to print something. 😁 Sometimes, I use the READI meeting room to study after asking for Laura whether it is occupied or not. The READI meeting room is located in front of the office, so I still can send my work to print in the office. Furthermore, I can bring food or pray there. It is way more convenient than the office. However, I can still see people walking around in front of the room. Conversely, people also can see me if I was inside the room. Since READI people sometimes use the printer inside of the room, I cannot fully close the room. For me, the meeting room is a good place to doing assignments, but not a perfect place to study for midterm though.

There are some resources to find study spaces on campus. One best resource is a guide by the Waterloo library. Nevertheless, I have my own criteria for great study space that is based on comfort, safety, and the availability of:

• Prayer room. As a Moslem, it's a high priority, unless during my period. 
• Washroom. It is also a high priority, of course.
• Food services nearby. It is an optional, but high priority if I don't bring a lunch box.

Hence, here are some of my preferred space to study on campus:

1. Student Life Centre (SLC)

In SLC, I prefer to study in the quiet study room on the 3rd floor. The room has individual study carrel as well as some group study desk as you can see in the picture. However, since this is a quiet study room, you should keep your voice low while discussing here. Moreover, based on my observation, it will be booked as silent study space while exam season.

I like to study here because it is obviously a quiet place, not as noisy as in the ground or 2nd floor. Also, the prayer room is exactly beside this study room so it is more convenient as I don't need to go up or down the stairs to do prayer. Unfortunately, I do need to go down to either the 2nd floor or ground floor if I need to refill my water bottle.

Studying in SLC is convenient because I can grab a doughnut or Timbits in Tim Horton, or buy orange chicken and rice in International News whenever I feel hungry. Tim Horton in SLC and International News usually open every day, including weekend. During the weekday, there are more choices in Brubaker, Shawarma and Subway.

2. Dana Porter (DP) Library

I personally like the study carrel on the 3rd floor because it's wide and occupied with a convenient chair. However, the 3rd floor usually crowded. Another my favourite place is the 6th floor because it has nice desks. Nevertheless, I usually study on the 7th floor because the reflection room which also designated as the prayer room is located on this floor. The chair is not as convenient as the 3rd floor, but I recommend to go to higher level of the library if anyone looking for a vacant study carrel during exam season. We still can find some empty seats during exam season, the peak study season on campus.

Study carrel on 6th Floor

Floor guide near elevator

I also occasionally just go on the computer area on the main floor if I just need a place to sit down and do not really need a quiet place. For example, if I need to memorize a speech or lecture material by talking it out loud. We are allowed to have a discussion in the area near the Circulation Desk. The drawback of the main level is that no washroom on this level. So whenever we need to, we have to go to the upper or lower level.

Each floor in the DP Library are designated as different study spaces. There are quiet study, silent study, or group study. Each floor has a guide about it near the elevator so don't worry about getting lost.

DP Library has a small cafe located in its lobby namely Browser Cafe. There are some muffins, cookies, or croissants served here. They also have some variant of coffee and tea. However, if I am craving Tim Horton, I can find them in South Campus Hall or Modern Language which are very close to the library.

3. Davis Centre (DC) Library

In my opinion, this is the most famous library on campus because it is difficult to find a vacant place here if you do not go there before 10 a.m. Moreover, finding a place here would be like finding a needle among the hay during exam season.

I put DC on my last list because the prayer room is not inside the library itself. It is still in the same building but on the 3rd floor. For me, it takes time to go to the prayer room. Plus the fact that DC is a busy library, is it not really safe to leave our belonging here. There was news of theft here so the library staff will regularly walk around to collect any belonging that being left for more than 30 minutes. One day, I left my laptop to go to the washroom then take prayer. When I went back, I surprised because someone was sitting on my desk. There was no belonging near the desk. I checked to "Lost and Found" and found my bag and my jacket there. The laptop was kept by the library staff and I was told that I left them for more than 30 minutes. Okay, so maybe I spent 10 minutes in the washroom, 10 minutes to take wudhu and pray, 10 minutes went up and downstair, and some minutes of seeing around. 😫

Another shortcoming of this library is the washroom. In my opinion, the washroom inside the library is not as clean as the outside, although it is newer. The floor was often wet. I prefer to use the washroom available outside the library.

Nevertheless, the DC library is still a preferable place for me to study. Near the library, there are some available food services selection. Tim Horton is just beside the library. Also, DC Bytes and Chatime are in the same building as the library.