“Wya?”

“My room.”

“Had to leave the library cause freshies were too loud!”

As the semester moves forward, the library has quickly become the trendiest place on campus for socializing, missing only a DJ booth, disco lights, and a dance floor to complete the atmosphere. Boisterous groups of students communicate as if their words are coded messages and the library their front for world domination. At this bustling hub of noise and excitement, studying is but a side attraction. Socializing reigns supreme and after-parties common, with the library being open until 2 a.m. most days.

A sophomore studying for their midterms may find their study room invaded by a swarm of friends bringing the latest campus gossip. Although it isn’t due to lack of effort, the sophomores’ attempts at balancing their grades with their social lives usually benefit one much more than the other. Shockingly, being stared down by a pair of eyes peeking over their laptop screen is not conducive to productive revision.

“I used to come to the library to study. Now I am just here to make sure others cannot.”

On the other side are the talkers, the revolutionists behind the transformation of the library into a socializing magnet. And while one may think the plan is sabotage, it has been proven that studying in the same space as we sleep is actually better than trying to maintain a work-life balance by studying in the library. No matter how difficult it may be for students, we must soldier on and remain cooped up in our rooms as we simulate the thousandth quarantine of our lives.

Against such a drastic overthrow of the conventions of the library, the library gods demanded silence through the recent “ceiling catastrophe.” An entire chunk of the library’s ceiling collapsed under the sheer weight of the conversations being made and the charisma being practiced. Yet, students remained unconcerned and simply treated the fallen ceiling as an “interactive piece of modern architecture” to be admired and occasionally commented on to punctuate their gossip.

A senior, unfortunately still adjusting to this trend of studying being an afterthought, was working on their capstone proposal in the library when a roar of laughter sounded behind them. They turned around to glare at the sliver of door left open to the study room. None amongst the merry group of freshmen that reside inside notice as the senior continues staring, until all of a sudden, the door bangs shut with enough force that it permanently locks. The room bursts into flames and, for the first time in the history of the NYU Abu Dhabi library, becomes truly soundproof such that the freshmen's frantic screams can’t be heard any louder than the whirring of the air-con. The senior blinks at the burning room, rolls their chair back around, and puts their headphones back on to restart their lo-fi focussed study playlist. Just as they’re starting to get their flow back, they hear another howl of laughter, and there they are again — the group of rambunctious, rebellious freshmen.

If anything, this curious phenomenon can be added to the long list of distinguishing factors for NYUAD students, right alongside the imposter syndrome pandemic and the compulsive wanderlust. It isn’t everywhere that we see the library being the hottest spot on a university campus, a place where we see such out-of-the-box thinking, a space meant for quiet and focused study but instead used for the loudest, most random conversations, a place where we see the desire for social interaction be strong enough to completely overshadow the academic goals that led us here in the first place. And we only have the young, bright, and fresh perspective of our students to thank for this enlightening turn of events.