The Night Life at Day Break

This is a sample of my writing:

Day Break is one of my favorite places to talk with friends, and to read the many literature books I have to read for my English classes. Part of being an English major includes countless nights at Day Break. Walking in the doors there is the familiar smell of coffee and the soothing sounds of people laughing and discussing many different issues. The lighting is low and calming. After going to Day Break for almost two years now it has been an interesting experience to observe the many different ways people read, and what various individuals will study on certain nights. There are different study crowds at different places and Day Break is certainly not a crowd of people who want to be alone and study in a quiet atmosphere. If one spends enough time at Day Break friendships will be formed simply from the common bond of stress provided by the endless class work of Texas Tech University. The following paper will provide two probable scenarios that an individual could experience when going to Day Break for a night of studious work.

The ideal scenario is to walk into Day Break at around 8 pm, order your coffee, briefly greet and socialize with the people you know, and find a table that will hold the clutter of school books stuffed into the North Face pack that you are sporting on your back. You sit at the table contently drinking your Caramel Macchiato, and pull out the first book for which you have a reading assignment. You need to read 150 pages before leaving Day Break so you put on your headphones and begin tackling the assignment. Around 11:45 you finish your assignment, still on a buzz from the caffeine, and leave Day Break prepared to pass any pop quiz given on the assignment the following day in class. While this is an ideal situation, it is rarely a probable situation.

The typical Day Break study experience should be described more like the following situation. The student calls closest friend about 7:45 pm and decides to meet at Day Break around 8pm. Both students order coffee, sit down at a table, and pull out the dreaded books, however, neither student has seen each other in 24 hours so there is much catching up to do. Both students begin the night determined to study, so they open their books and read about half a page. Then one of the individuals remembers an extremely important occurrence earlier in the day that cannot wait to be told. She busts out with the story, and then the other friend remembers an experience of his or her own, and the conversation keeps going, and going, and going. An hour and a half later the books are still opened to the page originally turned to, and both students have decided to just spend the night talking away, after all the assignment will get finished tomorrow night. Many a good conversations have been held at Day Break in the midst of all the stressful studies.

The night I chose to observe Day Break was quite similar to the second scenario, however I did see some students successfully studying so I watched them for awhile, and then briefly interrupted these students to discover their personal ways of studying, and how they manage to get reading accomplished in such a social place.

The first individual I observed was Cara Smith, ESS Major at Texas Tech. Cara was reading the novel Frankenstein. I noted from observing her that she tuned out the other voices by using headphones, and wasn’t looking around often to see if anyone had come in that she knew personally. She was there to study on this fine night. I asked Cara why she picks this atmosphere for reading. She responded with the following, “Day Break is calming to me because as I am studying with or without headphones I hear other people’s voices, and this is comparable to listening to music when I study. Some nights it can be the mindset that I arrive with because there are nights when I am not as successful as tonight.” Cara went on to say that her normal routine is to first order coffee and look over her agenda for the week while she drinks the coffee, and when the drink is finished she delves into the work she arrived with. Reading is usually the only thing she chooses to bring to Day Break. Her more serious homework she prefers to finish in a more quiet atmosphere.

Karen Trook was the second individual that I observed. Karen was reading for her History class, and she too seemed to be having a moderately successful night. She was sitting with her good friend from church and so now and then she would become distracted with conversation about a mutual topic, but for the most part she was doing some serious reading. Karen said the following when asked about her success, “I have to be serious when I come up here to study. My time is limited because I work 25 hours a week so I usually come alone, and sit with someone who is already focused working. I must be serious or I won’t make the grades that I need to keep my GPA high.” Karen likes Day Break because of the atmosphere. The soft lighting and smell of coffee are relaxing to her and help her settle down after a busy day to conquer her studies.

My experience the night I observed was not productive, but my love for studying at Day Break has not ceased in the least bit. While reading a novel for Modern World Literature my book caught the eye of another English Major. This student had just taken the class I am currently taking, and she was able to get me excited about the class as well as provide tips for what to expect from my professor. Day Break is a great place to relax with a cup of coffee and attempt to study or just pretend, but have some of the best conversations of one’s life. I’ve finished many reading assignments at Day Break, but I’ve had twice as many meaningful conversations while attempting to finish these assignments. The atmosphere and wide variety of people make Day Break a great place to accomplish school work and be social all at the same time.

Sources

Karen Trook Mathematics (806) 741-1689

Cara Smith Exercise and Sports Sciences (806) 687-3033