Study rooms bring peace from chaos. They motivate students and help prevent distractions. Imagine sitting in a quiet space with a study group, or even by yourself, to focus on reviewing a study guide or recording a video for English. You’re working peacefully with no outside disturbances because all the noise is beyond the walls of your room. It provides you with a calm, quiet, and focused environment to complete your tasks and achieve academic success. We have these quiet spaces within our school, in the Skyloft; however, it feels impossible to utilize these spaces due to the overly complicated process required to get into them. 

The Skyloft is a student’s common area used only by seniors. Its limited seating options fill up quickly during popular study hall periods, while neighboring classrooms and wellness lounge spaces are left to collect dust. 

So, many students wonder, why can’t students use the wellness lounges? The answer is because of the rule that students aren’t allowed into these rooms without an adult present. However, it is difficult to find staff members willing or able to supervise. Not only that, but it feels unreasonable to expect staff to give up their own time just to supervise students who are simply trying to work or quietly talk with friends. As a result, these rooms are left empty and unused when students need them. 

“I have been told that I can’t go into the wellness lounge because they don’t trust me and don’t want damage to their furniture,” senior Anonymous said. 

There are many reasons why quiet study spaces are a crucial part of student success. For one, noise can make it harder to focus and increase psychological stress. It can affect learning by increasing hyperactivity and lowering reading scores. Therefore, without access to a quiet space, students are being deprived of the opportunity to acquire a stress-free area in the Skyloft. 

You might be thinking, why can’t the seniors use regular study hall spaces? The issue is that we have the quiet spaces for students in the Skyloft, but the regulations make it increasingly difficult for students to use them in a more efficient way. Why are we expected to use other spaces when there is a designated space for seniors that remains unused? If we can reach a conclusion on altering some of the current regulations, the Skyloft space will become a more accessible space for students to use. Considering that we have a system in the library for students to rent out study rooms, it seems unfair that we can’t follow a similar system in the Skyloft. After interviewing a senior with similar opinions on this matter, we have suggested a potential solution that students believe will help the wellness lounge space become more utilized. 

“We should allow students to utilize study rooms,” senior Zaina Khan said. “Maybe we can have a Google form similar to the library system so that we can book these rooms.”

All in all, the Skyloft is a great space for seniors to spend study hall time. However, the Skyloft needs improvements to its regulations, specifically with its accessibility to study room spaces, because with these current regulations, students are struggling to get into these otherwise helpful spaces. With less strict regulations, you will find students more comfortable socializing, more inclined to do their work, and less noise pollution in the Skyloft.