By Phoebe Schwab `29
Copy Editor
I’ll be the first to come out and say it: freshman year is a lot. Aside from the obvious weight of leaving your family, your hometown, and everything you’ve known, you also begin to deal with the challenges that arise when everyone around you is transitioning as well. Whether it is the friendship drama that blows up in the first two weeks or your first bad grade on an assignment, my clear guess is that you will cry at least once while at Scripps.
The question is, where? Now, you’re talking to the queen of crying. If it weren’t for my Zoloft, campus would be a swamp of my tears. Lucky for you, I feel incredibly little shame from this quirk of mine. As I settle into my sophomore year, I bestow upon you my wonderful list of the best crying corners at Scripps.
Best all-around
The courtyard to the left of Denison Library’s doors, inside the little green gates, is perhaps my favorite place to cry. There is a singular bench, preventing other crying people from sitting with you. The gate also closes so you can ward off unwanted visitors. Any time of day, it is usually vacant and ready for your tears. In my first year, I found myself sobbing to Adrianne Lenker and making shadow puppets on the wall.
In addition, I would like to add any shower as a good place to cry. The running water will drown out the sounds of your crying, and no one will be able to see the tears on your face when you get out. Complete and pure anonymity. It’s also a two-birds-one-stone situation; now you’re clean and emotionally adjusted! Bonus points if you muster up the courage to play some sad music in there. Just please, empty the drain when you’re done.
If you’re feeling risky
Sometimes crying is a game of Russian Roulette, and maybe you’re just so sad that you don’t care who sees you. If you’ve reached this point, which we all have at one time or another, I highly suggest the Tiernan Field House Wellness Room. At noon on a weekday, it’s usually empty, and it comes with mad perks! Either take in the views of the pool from the window, play with the Playdough stashed in the shelves, stare at the mini waterfall, or relax in the massage chair. Many diary entries of mine have been written in Tiernan, and, dare I say, a fair amount of them turned out slightly optimistic! Is the Tiernan Wellness Room magic?
The dorm courtyards are also a well-loved option for this game of roulette. While I would advise against the GJW courtyard, as it’s usually packed with students in the kitchen, blocking the entry to your crying destination, the other courtyards are usually empty, depending on the time of your breakdown. The same goes for living rooms, but beware of the acoustics.
For crying on the phone with your parents
The curb behind Kimberly Hall, across from the pool, is my personal favorite for upset phone calls, but I’m slightly biased as a Kimberly resident alumna. Beware that the windows of Kimberly are quite thin, so you need to keep it down for residents. Additionally, there have been a few times where people have come up to me asking if I’m okay. I never said that it was a private location, just good for phone calls.
The second best option, or first, depending on your preference, is your dorm if your roommates are gone. Again, the issue of thin walls gets in your way, but if you keep it to an acceptable decibel, it shouldn’t be a problem. My favorite effect of this crying spot is that it adds to the homey feeling you’re trying to achieve in your dorm. Is a house even a home if it hasn’t been cried in?
Are you willing to be quiet and follow rules?
Sometimes the best crying spaces are, coincidentally, the greatest study spaces. I tended to gravitate toward these options because nobody pays attention to you there unless, of course, you make noise. My favorite quiet crying spot is Denison Library. Although I never entered Denison intending to cry last year, an overloaded schedule or a frustrating course registration would usually result in me leaving the library gates with swollen eyes. I find that if you put your head down, in the arms of your sweater, and leave your computer or book open, people think you’re just having an intense study break. But, as a lover of the library for actually getting work done as well, I beg that you keep the sniffling to a minimum. As a lover of old books and archival materials, keep your hands and tears to yourself. Do not get anything on those precious books.
Before I reveal the second location in this category, I must set the record straight that I take zero responsibility for your decisions. You cry where you cry; just don’t do anything stupid. I will say it once, and never again: any empty unlocked room without a no-trespassing sign. I’m talking empty classrooms that aren’t locked at night, practice rooms below Garrison, the meeting rooms in the Student Union; the world is your oyster, or, more so, the campus is your catalogue of places to be sad! Be smart, be quiet, and most of all, be ready to give whoever shows up telling you to leave the most convincing sob story of your life. They’ll probably feel bad for you. This does NOT pertain to unlocked dorm rooms. Don’t be a freak.
If you want the full Scripps experience
I would put money on the fact that every single Scrippsie has cried in Margaret Fowler Garden at least once in their time here. There is nothing more quintessentially Scripps than sitting on the concrete benches and sobbing your brains out as you take in the beautiful surroundings.
I will admit, there have been a few cries so dire that I ended up in the chapel, seriously considering religion. One of my clearest freshman memories was kneeling on the chapel bench after my first advisor meeting, praying that I would be happy. I am not a religious person. As I said, freshman year is hard.
The two courtyards near Balch Hall, Eucalyptus Court and Sycamore Court, work great at night, once the professors and administration have all gone home (probably to cry as well). Now when your parents visit, you can finally retire the trite fun fact that “A part of Bird Box was filmed in this courtyard!”, and change it to, “I reconsidered my entire life’s purpose in this courtyard!” They’ll be so pleased.
“But Phoebe, won’t you need them?! Why aren’t you gatekeeping?” First of all, wow. I’ve listed eight options. I don’t cry all the time. Second of all, I do not intend to cry as much this year. Will update. And, if worst comes to worst, and I need to return to one of the crying corners that I’ve
listed for you today, and it seems to be occupied by a homesick/angry/confused/upset/PMSing freshman, I vow to flash a smile, give them a nod, and turn my crying ass around. They probably need it more than I do.
