Iowa State is one of the most beautiful college campuses in the nation and, in a campus as wonderful as ours, study spots pop up in every corner.

When I first came here, I immediately knew that I’d be spending a lot of time in the library. The Parks Library has seen me at both my best and my worst, from successful tutoring sessions, innovative group projects and carefully researched assignments, to 2 a.m. study sessions cursing the very idea of midterms.

It is a comfortable space and always filled with students, no matter how late you think it might be. An interesting feature of Parks is that the floors are leveled by how much studying you want to get done.

For example, the first floor has various social spaces. The second floor is fairly quiet studying, but the third floor should be avoided since people meet up there to talk and hold group activities. The fourth floor, on the other hand, is the true destination for complete and uninterrupted silence.

However, studying isn’t just limited to the library. In the year I’ve spent at Iowa State so far, I have found that people find comfort in the strangest of places.

For example, I love to study in the laundry rooms of my residence hall.

I can never bring myself to leave my clothes unattended, so the laundry room has become the perfect space for me to set up and get some work done. After all, there usually isn’t much going on!

Every student will also find themselves preferring their college’s building.

As a student in the College of Business, using the Droste Den or Bergstrom Commons is always a nice way to concentrate on your work. As an added bonus, everyone around you is dealing with the same classes.

Curtiss Hall has a common space in the ground floor, with separate rooms perfect for group meetings. They feature televisions which you can connect your laptop to, giving your group the chance to easily follow along with your notes or presentation.

Design students have one of the coolest spaces on campus in the College of Design building. It’s open 24/7, so students never have to worry about getting kicked out. Even if you aren’t a design student, just do your homework while your design friends focus on their portfolio in a calm and stimulating environment.

College of Liberal Arts and Science, College of Engineering and College of Human Science students have so many buildings they can choose from, the locations are endless.

Engineering, in particular, has two of the newest buildings on campus in Hoover and Howe Halls, which are actually connected by a skywalk. Howe has communal spaces on both the ground and first floors which are perfect for group meetings, while Hoover has many individual study spaces to dial in and focus on your work.

The important part of studying, though, is that you need to know yourself and your study needs.

It’s up to you to figure out if you’re better suited for group studying or if isolating yourself helps you learn more efficiently. For example, you may need quiet to understand material while your friend prefers to have white noise in the background.

There are various resources on campus to work with you academically and make sure you’re thriving in your studies — don’t be afraid to utilize these tools, as they are there at your disposal.