To Sleep or not to Sleep Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

To Sleep or not to Sleep ‘Pull up a leather couch and cram for the midterms’ reads the headline for a article written by Sarah Heim for ‘The Stanford Daily’ on October 5, 1999. The article describes the Bender Room, one of the study rooms that is frequented by Stanford students. Heim quotes students who describe the room as: â€Å" More like a livingroom than a library.† One students said, â€Å" You can always take a break and look outside at the view, and I like the leather couches.† Hmm, is this a study area or a lounge? I found this article a little confusing at first. Couches? View? I wonder if students like such rooms because they are good for study or distraction? Aren’t we supposed to avoid the temptations that are hazardous to our studies? I begin each day by taking a seat in a wooden chair near the doors of the room at St. Paul’s Newman Center called â€Å"the lounge.† I have spent a fair amount of time studying at the Newman Center and I have seen numerous others students studying and lounging in this room, but before this year it was seldom a spot that seemed conducive for studying. In the center of the west wall there is a clock. The clock makes a buzzing sound that seems to fill the whole room. Just below the clock a picture of the Madonna holding the Infant Jesus with his arms outstretched seems to call the wayward children who have wandered to the Western half of the room, furnished with tan chairs and couches. They are small and covered with coarse material, but soft. They form a semi-circle around a television and VCR on a double shelved metal cart occupying the northeast corner. When I entered the room on October second at 11:00 a.m., Michael had succumbed to the temptation. He was lying, eyes closed, on his b... ...rad, on the other hand, avoided the couches and with that the â€Å"doze factor†-or so I thought. When I walked into the room October 12 at a quarter past three, Brad had his chair pushed back and his head resting on the table. Books were scattered all over the table top and one was propped up as though he had been trying to read it with his head resting on his arms. Next to his right arm there was a can of Mountain Dew. I spoke in a loud, jesting tone: â€Å"Uh-Oh, Busted!† He lifted his head and I said: â€Å"Ah, sleeping and you won’t even go to the couches!† He smiled and replied: â€Å"This way I don’t sleep too long.† We both laughed and as I left, he returned his head to the table. This isn’t Stanford and these aren’t leather couches, but we offer all the temptations of home. Pull up a couch and cram for class-or sleep if you like! If it’s good enough for Stanford...