Preparing for the future

Part of being a student is figuring yourself out. What type of learner am I—visual, audio, or touch? Do I work best with a planned schedule or do I work best under pressure (i.e. Am I a procrastinator)? Music or no music? Crouched seriously at a desk or lounging comfortably on a couch?

One thing I’ve learned about my own study preferences is that I can always use a change of scenery—placing myself in a new environment, outside of the comforts and distractions of my own room, always helps me concentrate on the work before me.

I guess I wonder why I’ve become like this. I think to myself, “Lynnette, you have a comfortable, spacious, friendly apartment and studious roommates. You have the dining room table, the living room couches, your desk, your bed, and plenty of floor space that you could occupy with your books and laptop. Why must you go out to study?”

Honestly, it frustrates me. I’m sitting here at the Lollicup on Wilshire and Harbor, typing away at my keyboard, headphones in each ear, listening to Danson Tang sing to me in Mandarin about how much he loves me. In the two and a half hours I’ve been here, I’ve completed nearly three assignments, whereas the hour or so I spent in the apartment—my homework laid out in front of me—was absolutely unproductive.

Perhaps I developed this habit in high school. Each day my friends and I would choose a Starbuck’s, Diedrich’s, or other café to camp out and do our homework. We interspersed tiny bits of socializing with our studies, enjoying each other’s company and urging each other on. But I don’t really need anyone with me to talk to or fend off loneliness; the only thing I think about when I work is what I have before me. But I have trouble focusing if I don’t have someone sitting next to me doing their own work. Hence, my mother is sitting next to me absorbed in reading her own book. We haven’t spoken to each other in over an hour.

Relocating myself also gives me a sense of urgency, the rationale being that since I took the time, energy, and gas to drive myself somewhere out of the way, I must get some work done to make it worth my trouble. It’s the idea of intentionally going somewhere to focus solely on my work. Plus, my bed isn’t in close proximity calling my name and beckoning me to take solace in its soft warmth.

Finally, the silliest reason that I have for coming out to study: I really enjoy the ambient noise and relaxed atmosphere of a café. I like the feeling of other people sitting around me, plucking away at their own computers, flipping through magazines, or discussing the latest celebrity gossip. I enjoy imagining that someday, I’ll be an itinerant authoress, needing only my laptop, my brain, and a nice cup of coffee to do my work. There’s a seductive sophistication in that image. I guess I figure I might as well practice now.