A corner of my own on campus
What a campus café designed for students could be
As I am approaching the last few weeks of my bachelor’s degree, there is one particular thing that I am going to miss about attending university. One aspect of university life that I have enjoyed the most over the last couple of years has been exploring different coffee, tea, and drink shops in and around Regina. For a variety of reasons, these locations were always my go-to study spots.
Picture this. It is the weekend. You have just finished a full day of work. You want to go home and get some work done. But you know if you were to do that you would just end up crawling up on your sofa and binge-watching your favourite Netflix series, instead of getting any actual work done.
To prevent myself from doing that, I always headed out away from home, typically to a coffee shop where I can enjoy a drink, a bite to eat, relish in the comfy chairs, visit with friends, or just put my headphones on and get in the zone. This always motivated me as a student to stay for a couple of hours, and get the work done that needed to be done. It motivated me as I got to enjoy the setting and the music that was being played.
I wish the University of Regina campus had more settings like this. At the university we do have some coffee and tea shops, but these are not the ideal spots for you to enjoy a drink, sit back, and do your homework. I find most shops on campus to be centred around a grab-and-go style and a cafeteria set-up. Now I know most of us university students are constantly on the go, which is where this is a good thing.
But, having the option to sit somewhere with comfy chairs, music, windows with a view, and a place to work would be nice to have as well! Additionally, having extended hours in the evenings and weekends would be amazing. It seems that at the university finding a place to support studying hours on weekends and late evenings is a struggle, and it should not be.
If I could have the choice to design one location on campus for an ideal study location it would look something like this.
This location would be placed in a building with lots of windows. Maybe the second or third floor of the Research and Innovation Centre (RIC). There would be a decently sized café that could seat about 30 people – enough to serve a decent number of students, but not have too much foot traffic. They would serve both caffeinated and non-caffeinated drinks, along with some healthy food options such as grilled cheese, a build-your-own salad bar, soups, sandwiches, and baked goods.
Once you grab yourself a drink and/or food, you could choose a place to sit. The options could be endless. You could sit at a desk, on the couch with your feet up, on a rocking chair, bar stool set up, or even on some yoga mats on the floor would be awesome. You could choose to study by yourself, with friends, or book a break-out room for study sessions. Once you get all comfy you can stay there for hours. The location would be open every weekday from noon to midnight, and weekends noon to 2 a.m. the following day.
The café would also have bright windows to allow some vitamin D from the sun filtering through. While you are sitting there for hours typing away, you could listen to certain types of music. Maybe every day of the week would have a different music theme. Mondays would be for therapeutic music, Tuesdays for country music, Wednesdays for random hump-day jams, throwbacks on Thursdays, Fridays for flashy/one-time bangers, Saturdays for boy band music, and Sundays for rock music.
Another key draw of the café would be that it is not just a study spot. It would be a place to hang out with friends and meet other students to socialize. It would create a common gathering place for all the students from all different walks of life to meet and make the most of their time as university students.
