Best Place to Study: Romeo P Ariniego MD Library

Romeo P. Ariniego MD Library

I have spent so many days (and nights) studying here, and its the best place to be, well, up until 10pm from Monday to Friday. After 10pm, the next best place to study would be the Student's center, but, if you are girl, its much safer to study in the comforts of your dorm.

I used to study at the Student's Center, met a lot of great people there too, but some of the problems I kept encountering were:

1) Too many distractions (aka classmates)- instead of being able to study, you sometimes get caught up in the new gossip going around the classroom, or a study session with really "interesting" mnemonics, and whathaveyou.

2) Too many people in one small room. - Sometimes, the SC gets really crowded, especially a day before evals, and thats the last thing I need, 20 or so people inside the room, banging elbows with someone next to you just so you can flip through Netter and Moore, and other ginormous books.

So one day, my classmate invited me to study in the library. I used to hate the library because it was too quiet, too cold, too etc etc. But with Biochem and Anatomy evals looming ahead, I decided to go. My dorm was crazy hot, and I hated being stuck in that room. 

From 5pm to 10 pm, we stayed at the library, and I have to say, it wasnt all that bad.

PROS

1. Lots of sources to choose from when the textbook you bought is just not enough.

2. Air Condition- Mmmmmmm, all icy cold against the hot oven of the outside world.

3. Tables- and lots of them- not like the SC. At this lib, you can study at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th floor, and the lobby. 

4. Computers- just in case you dont have one, they have a set of computers at the corner of the lib where you can look up other sources. They also provide you with other sites that can help you study like anatomy.net, online access to journals,and the like. Sometimes, you can check the download folder and find several reviewers from upper years that you can use in your own time. HOHOHO.

5. You can borrow book stands.- These are especially helpful since these darn book stands cost about Php450. At the lib, you can borrow them, and relieves the strain from having to crane your neck to look over your big ass books. 

**Friendly reminder: DON'T buy the cheap plastic book stands in National Bookstore, the ones that cost about Php80. It cant hold anything over 300 pages or so. Mine collapsed under the weight of an 800 page book (this may be common sense to most people, but at the time, I thought it would be sturdy enough to hold my Physio book...)

6. Look closely at your assessment slip, it would indicate that you paid Php6,000.00 bucks for library resources. Since you paid for it, why not use it wisely?

CONS

1. Its only open from 8am to 10pm Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays, its open from 8am to 5pm. The SC is open 24/7.

2. Cant bring in food or drinks.

3. Sometimes, when the lib is filled, you run out of books since everyone else is trying to get a copy, with a limited number of available books on the shelves.