When students finish a class or wait for one to begin, those who live on the Misericordia campus return to their dorm for a bit. As a commuter, finding ways to kill time is a bit more strategic.

Time spent on campus can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. I’ve had semesters where I’m done early a majority of the week, but I’ve also had semesters where I’ve been occupied with classes almost all day.

When tackling these empty spots of time, people who don’t live on campus have to decide what they’ll do with their time. Luckily, the Misericordia campus does have a plethora of spots and places to kill this seemingly never-ending amount of time.

First of all, I have to address what a lot of professors or parents bring up: doing schoolwork. Having spare time on campus, rather than at my house, makes it easier for me to get work done. The environment makes a surprisingly big difference when trying to get assignments finished before it’s time to go home.

This is probably due to distractions. When I’m on campus, there isn’t much that can distract me from whatever work I have to do but, when I’m home, it’s a whole different story. With midterms coming up, I’ve had many papers due, and a solid half hour of doing these papers has turned into me looking at my phone or watching TV.

Another aspect of getting work done on these breaks is a simple one: I don’t want to do the work at home. When I’m on campus, I’m already in school mode and in an environment where work is getting done, so why not take advantage of it before I go home where I can sleep for five hours?

With that out of the way, now I can address the mildly common occasion where there is no work to be done during down time.

If there is no work I need to get done, I usually sit in the same spot I do my work in, but this time I scroll through my phone. The spot is in Insalaco Hall where all the chairs with little tables attached are lined up. When I first saw the spot on my tour of the school, I thought it looked like an airport.

So that’s where I sit for hours on end. I don’t know why I chose that spot; I think it’s mainly because that was the one spot I knew about my first year and now I feel comfortable there. I sit there with my air pods in, listen to podcasts and browse my phone.

Friends are texted, articles are read, maybe a tweet is made and, on rare occasions, I watch a live game or event. It’s boring and I wonder why I don’t change up my spot more. Just because I spend most of my spare time in that Insalaco chair doesn’t mean I spend all of my time there.

Chick-fil-A is a heavy hitter when thinking about what I can do on campus. It’s got great food, a recognizable name, and is a nice spot. I eat there about once or twice a month, but that’s mainly because I can’t work during school so I don’t want to spend money.

Aside from Chick-Fil-A, Banks has cool spots to kill time. The student store has been good to pick up some clothes, the Starbucks looks useful for people who like coffee (I don’t like coffee), and there’s a ping pong table, too.

One spot in Banks I spent time in last semester was the radio station. As a mass communications major, I have to take Radio Practicum, where students host a radio show once a week. I initially was skeptical about doing it, but the station had a couch, radio equipment, and served as my own room. I wasn’t in there to kill time since I had to do a show for the class, but before and after the show, it was a cool little spot to sit around for a bit.

I’ve sat outside in the warmer months on a handful of occasions, walked around with friends, taken pictures for my photography class, and even driven home if I have enough time in between classes.

I am aware of the commuter lounge, now known as Archie’s, which was built specifically for people like me, but I think I’ve only spent a total of five minutes in there. Initially, it was because I wasn’t a fan of the setup, but now that it’s been remolded, it’s time for me to give it a chance.

Nonetheless, for both commuters and dorm students, there are several places on campus where you can spend time, which is a positive for our university.