Library | College Admission at Loyola

New Discovery

By | January 31, 2013

Over Christmas break, I had a lot of free time, so I decided to do some leisurely reading. I really enjoy reading, but I never have time during the semester because I have so much other reading to do for my classes. However, this semester won’t be too tough for me, so I decided to go find some good reads at a Chicago library.

There a ton of library branches in Chicago, but my friend recommended the Harold Washington Library Center. It’s right off the Jackson red line stop, so it’s a convenient location. My friend and I headed there after class one day, as she had a Chicago Public Library card.

The library was huge! I think it had around seven or eight floors of novels and periodicals. It also looked like a great place to study, as there were endless amounts of computers and study space. I think it’s going to be a great place to study, especially during midterm and finals weeks, where the university libraries are absolutely packed. Now that I’ve discovered this hidden gem (well, hidden for me), I’m going to make this my go-to study spot! I highly recommend it. Also- the novel I got is called “Girls in White Dresses” by Jennifer Close- so far it’s very good, and it was on a best sellers list, so I highly recommend that, as well!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

By | November 12, 2012

IT’S SNOWING!

Is anyone as excited about this as I am? There could not have been a better surprise to walk outside to after a long day in the library than the east quad full of snow!

And not just flurry-do-nothing snow. Real, stick to the ground, make everything beautiful and white, snow!!

The snow as I was walking home from the library.

The Lending Library

By | July 23, 2012

Sorry for having fallen off the metaphorical map these past few weeks. Even though I’m having an awesome time living in RoPo this summer, I haven’t really done anything that I felt was quote unquote blog worthy.

There’s just been a whole lot of working (see: the double shift, from 3 pm – 7:30 am, that I inadvertently worked last Thursday night) and a whole lot of crying on my bed while watching Supernatural.

At least with the group in which I roll, that doesn’t seem to be too out of the ordinary. After the fairly stressful spring semesters my friends and I all seemed to have, we’ve been cherishing this free time to obsess over new TV shows and books on a daily basis. Fortunately for my friends, I have a real life Netflix for books (aka an actual library) right in my apartment.

And yes, those rows are double stacked.

When I moved out of my mom’s place, I took EVERYTHING. And I mean, EVERYTHING. This included what accounted for over 50% of my possessions – my books.

This summer, my collection of novels, which range from the teen vampire fiction I read in 6th grade to the Sufi poetry I read last year, has become its own sort of library for anyone who enters my apartment.

Once my friends started borrowing my books at a steady rate, I decided I needed a system to keep track of where everything was going. Luckily, one of my best friends had me bought this a few years ago.

My friends all know that before any book of mine is leaving this apartment, they better be signing it out.

And in the meantime, while my favorite books are being recycled amongst my friends, I’ll stick to my bed and staring at Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki‘s glorious faces.

Finding a Niche

By | February 12, 2012

When you come to college for the first time, it’s a bit difficult to find that perfect place to study. After growing up and spending a majority of your time at home, college it is quite the change of atmospheres.

Over the past week and for the next week I would probably go crazy if I did not have places on campus where I love to study. When you have a test in every class and you are a major in Biophysics and Biology, you’re bound to feel a little crazed.

Here are my two favorite study places:

Harry Potter Room: Honestly I have no idea how it got the name, I actually don’t even know the real name of the silent study hall in Cudahy Library. And personally I do not think it looks anything like the hall in Harry Potter. This space is a large silent study hall with lots of people burying their heads in books and laptops.

Isaac and Al’s: This is the Physics study lounge, most departments do not have there own lounge but being that our dept. is kinda awesome we not only have a lounge but we are also equipped with a computer room providing free printing for Physics Majors. Not to mention the free food any time Professor Rubbel is in his good mood. Sure, it would be nice if the dome on top of Cudahy was a physics lounge but its not, it is an empty old room. If I get the chance to go up I will take a picture and post it as proof.

Loyola Theater: My Exclusive Experience

By | November 21, 2011

This week I had the unexpected delight of being invited to a rehearsal of one of my good friends’ girlfriend’s directing scenes. She is a Theater major and a Senior, so I believe she is required to direct a scene for her class.

It was a pretty cool opportunity, and I was glad for it because I had been working in the IC (Information Commons/Library) all day and needed a break. I was told that it would only last a half an hour, so it seemed like the perfect study break to me.

I went into the room and met with 2 other mutual friends (I myself had brought along my study partner of the day.) The director told us where to sit and spread us out around the actors as if we were in a thrust stage. The point was just that the actors needed to practice performing the scene in front of an audience, so our job was to just be a set of warm bodies to act towards.

The scene itself was pretty awesome. They ran through it once and I was really impressed by the power it packed in under 15 minutes. There was some really funny moments and some really deeply disturbing moments. The second time they ran through it I got even more out of it.

But to me the real value was getting to see this little subculture of Loyola’s Theater Major. So rarely do I realize how many other things are going on all the time. Had I not been invited to this exclusive viewing I wouldn’t have realized that all over the place in classrooms at night are small groups of students meeting to work on their scenes. This has been going on since my Freshman year and I had no idea. It makes me wonder what else is out there that I still haven’t heard of.