On May 11, the St. Thomas O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library collaborated with on-campus tutoring services to host a virtual study night over Zoom.
When hosted in-person, the library study night included rooms with different tutors, chair massages and an optional “cell phone jail.” Although some of these features were not possible online, the library staff still hoped to emulate the sense of togetherness that the in-person study night once provided.
The 17 students that attended the online study night had the option of going into different Zoom rooms. These rooms had tutors, motivational speakers, or were just filled with other people quietly studying.
This study night is valuable for a multitude of reasons, according to the library’s Associate Director of Research and Instruction Ann Zawistoski.
“The event is kind of a kick off for getting ready for finals,” Zawistoski said, “but there’s also something about the accountability [that the event provides].”
Zawistoski emphasized the value for having a space like the library during finals week to help students mentally shift into a focused mindset.
“The library is a place people like to come and work,” Zawitoski said, “and so we’re trying to find ways to still be there, even if we can’t be there in person.”
Out-of-state student Kylie Watts said she chose to go to the study night to feel closer to the St. Thomas community.
“I figured it’d be a nice way to study, feel more connected to the campus and get some meaning out of school, especially being so far away from campus,” Watts said.
Watts felt as though the online format still allowed the attendees to build a sense of community.
“I think that it did mimic nicely what a study group would’ve been like in real life,” Watts said.
Zawistoski hopes that students feel supported going into final exam week.
“[We hope that the study night] helped to add to the understanding on campus that we’re still here,” Zawistoski said. “We as a whole community are here to help.”
Annie Terry can be reached at terr2351@stthomas.edu.
Thank you for the lovely reporting, Annie! I wanted to also give a big shout out to all the other offices and departments that collaborated on the study night, including MaRC, the Writing Center, Academic Counseling, and the Center for Well-Being. It’s great being part of such a collaborative community.