[PHOTOS] Finals approaching, but popular study spots remain empty
Studying for finals looks a lot different for students enrolled spring 2020 classes. Students will take finals online to finish the semester, seeking study spots around their homes away from Linfield College. Popular study spots around campus are quiet this time of year, which is abnormal for the small campus.
On any given weekday, it is hard for students to find an open seat in the Starbucks in Riley Hall, a popular meeting spot on campus. With no students on campus to serve, there are still no open seats, but only because they are put up on the tables until students return to campus.
The Starbucks inside Riley Hall was not only a meeting place, but a working place as well. Students made up the majority of the staff at the campus coffee shop.
Behind the drained fountain that has been known as a spot for rebellious students to dunk in, the sign on the locked doors of the campus Starbucks indicates that the coffee shop is closed due to the campus closure.
Renshaw Hall normally has a constant flow of students going in and out, from journalism & media studies majors, to computer science majors, to environmental studies majors. With few students left on campus, the entrance will see no traffic for the remainder of the semester. A sign on the door reads, “Please maintain 6 feet between each other. This room is being video monitored to help make sure the distance is being followed.”
The Renshaw Computer lab is normally busy with people finishing projects or rushing in for a quick print before their class begins. With all classes online, students have no need to print anymore and the lab remains empty even though access is permitted for students on campus, given they comply with social distancing measures.
Murdock Hall, what many STEM majors call home, remains empty except for a some faculty permitted to continue research.
A room in Graf Hall asks for students and faculty to avoid entering disinfected rooms. The Linfield Cleaning Services regularly disinfects rooms despite campus being closed.
Lab coats hang over chairs and off coat hooks in a classroom in Murdock Hall– a reminder of the students who used to regularly attend labs as part of their curriculum.
The tables in a lab in Murdock Hall are left bare, minus a container of Lysol disinfectant wipes and cups of pens and pencils.
The Atrium in Murdock Hall was popular among STEM students. Light always shines through the West-facing floor-to-ceiling windows, creating a warm environment for students to meet for group projects or kill time between classes in Graf and Murdock. The chairs have stayed positioned the same since campus closure.
The HP apartments house few students with campus closed. On a regular sunny spring day, residents seek the courtyard as a place to study on blankets for upcoming finals in May. The sound of chatter and competitive shouts can sometimes be heard from the nearby sand volleyball courts.
The trees along Linfield Avenue bloom with leaves like they do every April, but the street, which is normally parked to the max with student and faculty looking for free parking, is nearly void of cars in comparison.
