In college, creating the perfect schedule is crucial to having a good semester.
There are a lot of factors to consider, and most conflict. The classes have to be reasonably timed, you want to try your best not to have a class at eight in the morning and most importantly, there has to be a break between classes for you to grab lunch or simply relax.
During high school, I filled my lunch break by going to my local pizza place or across to the local college to eat from their cafeteria. I never brought food from home.
Not much has changed in that regard being at Cornell. Even though there are a plethora of dining halls to choose from around campus, I often choose to walk down to Collegetown to grab a bite at Ninja Chicken and Friends or Xian Street Food instead. The class before my two hour break is in Hollister Hall, and I would argue that its proximity to Collegetown makes it so that I have to eat out, rather than in a dining hall. After I eat lunch, I will either start or finish any assignments I have to do in the food establishment of choice or walk back to Olin Library and work there instead.
But, what about the students that don’t have a class in Hollister Hall before the beginning of their break? Or better yet, what about the students who do have a class in Hollister Hall, but don’t feel like traveling down to Collegetown? Where do they choose to spend their break time instead?
With the amount of work that we have as Cornell students, many opt to spend their time at the library during their breaks. Selina Chen ’28 explained her decision to go to the library during her gaps in the day, “I usually go to the library to do my work because my dorm is too far.” Chen’s break is two hours long, giving her enough time to work on her assignments, but not enough to travel to and from her dorm on South Campus.
The time spent commuting to and from central campus is a major factor for students when selecting the setting of choice. For those like Chen, who don’t have enough time to reasonably choose to go back to their dorm, they will often choose to stay in a cafe or travel to a dining hall. For students like Leila Kipnes ’29, who claim they do have enough time to go back to their dorm, they will often choose to do so.
Kipnes lives on North Campus, and her walk to her dorm takes only fifteen minutes out of her three and a half hour break. “I do my laundry or whatever else I need to do around my dorm [during my break]. Sometimes I will take a quick nap if I’m tired enough,” Kipnes said when asked what she spends her time doing during her break.
As an engineering student, Kipnes is not immune to the workload that causes many students to stay in the library, however, as she added, “If I have a lot of work , I’ll go to the library to lock in.”
The cafes on central campus are also a popular choice for many. Antonina Novicki ’29 likes to spend her time at Goldie’s Cafe, located in the Physical Sciences Building, doing her homework or meeting up with her friends. When asked about her preference for Goldie’s, Novicki explained, “It’s a convenient location because my class is in the [Physical Sciences] building and their Chopped Cheese is really delicious.” She further explained she enjoys the open, bright space that Goldie’s provides and their wide variety of seating choices, “which is perfect for a good lock in or a long yap session.”
After sitting in lecture halls and classrooms for hours on end, cafes are an ideal setting to relax and unwind for many. The environment that cafes provide are unique, as people are able to socialize and work freely alongside each other without having to be too mindful of their noise level or disrupting people around them. The selection of caffeinated beverages, meals, and pastries that cafes have are also a welcome treat for students looking to refuel before having to resume their routine of classes and assignments.
Other popular cafes on campus include Temple of Zeus in Goldwin Smith Hall, which is always overflowing with people chatting with friends or doing their work, Novick’s Cafe in Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall, for those who live on North Campus and the Amit Bhatia Libe Cafe in Olin Library. Personally, I find enjoyment in working in a cafe rather than a library because it provides a more lively atmosphere, in contrast with the cold, depressing one that libraries possess at all hours, even in the afternoon when most people are on campus. Whether I’m working on assignments or scrolling mindlessly on my laptop, it is more encouraging to see other people happily engaging with each other during the daytime rather than individually crouched over their devices with stress marring their faces — a reminder that Cornell is not an institution restrained to only work, and more work.
However, the benefits of having a break in between classes isn’t just limited to those who have breaks. Daisy Haberman ’29 doesn’t have a break between her classes, but instead accompanies her friends who do have breaks to Okenshields, and will then walk to Lincoln Hall with some time to spare. Explaining her decision to accompany her friends to the dining hall, Haberman said, “I like chatting with them and the extra cardio before I have to sit in my FWS for the next hour or so.”
Regardless of your environment of choice during your schedule breaks — whether it be back to your dorm, to a library or to a dining hall — and your company of choice, it is important to savor the relaxation that the break provides before you have to sit in a mind-numbing or stimulating lecture hall for the next couple of hours.
Jessi Zheng is a first-year in the Brooks School of Public Policy. She can be reached at jz2423@cornell.edu.
