{"id":1342,"date":"2014-12-12T13:42:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T13:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2014-12-12T13:42:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-12T13:42:00","slug":"dispatches-from-4-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/2014\/12\/12\/dispatches-from-4-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Dispatches from 4 AM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"wp_20141212_04_31_49_pro\"<\/a>At 4 AM, the library is nearly\u00a0silent except for the whirrr<\/em> of vacuums and the suppressed giggles of tired, delirious students.\u00a0 Tables are crammed with notes, laptops, and, occasionally, a sleeper.\u00a0 This is 4 AM during\u00a0the library\u2019s inaugural 24 hour opening for finals. In a place normally closed from 1:00 AM through 7:00 AM, the lights here have not been turned off since its closing on the previous Saturday. \u00a0They will continue to stay on until 6:00 PM on Friday, December 12th.<\/p>\n

\"Stoney<\/a><\/p>\n

What kind of students are here at 4 AM?\u00a0 As it turns out, all kinds.\u00a0 Stoney Burks, a history and education major, was just here trying to find a quiet place to read while his roommate plays video games.<\/p>\n

While many reported the usual suspect\u2014procrastination\u2014as the primary reason for the early hours, others, like Bethany Skaggs, a junior double majoring in Economics & Finance and Marketing & Management, replied that she prefers studying at night, especially since her days are so busy with other activities.<\/p>\n

Another student replied, \u201cI\u2019m just waiting here until my final at 7:00 AM.\u00a0 I\u2019m too scared I will sleep through my alarm if I fall asleep now!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marques<\/a><\/p>\n

For many of the students here at this time, it was the quiet that drew them.\u00a0 Marques Ennett, a junior majoring in Economics and Finance, was working alone in a back corner, studying for his finals the next day.\u00a0 \u201cThe environment is much quieter at the library,\u201d he replied when asked why he chose to come here.\u00a0 Like other students, he works during the day when he\u2019s not classes.\u00a0\u00a0 So if he needs to study, he must do it during the late hours.<\/p>\n

For students without computers, the library also represented the only place open late to access the research, software, and printers they need to finish assignments. \u00a0In addition to examinations, projects and papers are also due during finals.\u00a0 \u201cMy computer at home is kind of buggy, but this one is not,\u201d said one student, working on a research paper.<\/p>\n

Most of the students not at computer desks were found clumped together at tables and within study rooms to help keep each other awake.\u00a0 \u201cI would be asleep if I was in my dorm,\u201d said one night owl.\u00a0 \u201cIt helps to be around a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caitlin Hicks, a freshman majoring in Middle-Level Education sleepily waited across a table for her friend, Kaily Sibrian to finish up an essay.<\/p>\n

\"wp_20141212_03_46_39_pro\"<\/a>

Caitlin Hicks & Kaily Sibrian trying to stay awake and on task<\/p><\/div>\n

When they were asked why they didn’t prefer some place like Denny\u2019s to study, Kaily said, \u201cAt a food place, I would be more tempted to buy something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too easy to get distracted,\u201d added Caitlin.<\/p>\n

\"wp_20141203_01_42_05_pro\"<\/a>One does not often make it to 4 AM on good company alone, however.\u00a0 It sometimes takes caffeine or sugar to keep burning the midnight oil.\u00a0 As a special treat, the campus administration sponsored coffee and snacks during the late hours to help students go that extra mile through the night. \u00a0Many listed the coffee as the top perk of the evening, both in terms of happiness and in actual metabolic rates.<\/p>\n

To the 46 or so students here at 4 AM–and to all other ATU students–we in the Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center salute you for all of your hard work this semester.\u00a0 If you’ve got a picture or a story to tell us about studying all night in the library, send it to us at askalibrarian@atu.edu<\/a><\/strong> or post\u00a0on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0pages.\u00a0 We\u2019d love to know your opinions about the 24-hour service, and what we can do to make your final exams a little easier to get through in the future.\u00a0 Best of luck on the rest of the exams, and most importantly, get some sleep!!!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 4 AM, the library is nearly\u00a0silent except for the whirrr of vacuums and the suppressed giggles of tired, delirious students.\u00a0 Tables are crammed with notes, laptops, and, occasionally, a sleeper.\u00a0 This is 4 AM during\u00a0the library\u2019s inaugural 24 hour opening for finals. In a place normally closed from 1:00 AM through 7:00 AM, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,27],"class_list":["post-1342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-library","tag-finalsweek","tag-hours","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3lPyb-lE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1342"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1388,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions\/1388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}