Juliette Des Rosiers ’26
Copy Editor Intern
Whether over a bad grade, a bad date, or plain old homesickness, I hate to break it to you, but crying in college is inevitable. Odds are you’ve already cried by the time you are reading this captivating issue of The Scripps Voice. Maybe you’re even crying right now…
To prepare you for your moments of tearful despair, the following is a carefully curated list of Campus Crying Locations™ so you will never be left searching for the perfect place to endure your (hopefully short-lived) misery.
Most Cinematic
The Scripps campus is known for its aesthetics, with the lush browsing rooms and excessive use of Greek columns. Therefore, there are many spots on campus where crying makes me feel less like a snotty toddler and more like Keira Knightley in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. First, the Margaret Fowler Garden provides a certain tranquility and is often empty. My favorite time of day is sunset, when you can watch the light reflect off the fountain and paint the trees golden. Suddenly, you are not a homesick college student, but Cleopatra languishing the death of Mark Antony in ancient Alexandria.
Unfortunately, the Margaret Fowler Garden is temporarily closed for renovations. Thank goodness Scripps is brimming with scenic alternatives. A more traveled but equally cinematic crying spot is the Browning Hall tower. The twisting route up to the tower is enough to bring tears to my eyes, but the dusty tower provides perfectly sized windows for a Rapunzel-esque cry overlooking the Scripps campus. Lament your decision to take the singular Race & Ethnic Studies class at Claremont McKenna and enjoy a good cry underneath the lesbian albatross painting.
Most Private
Stairs: architecture’s most treasured feature. An emotional Scripps student’s promised land. Though most stairs are in near constant use, there are some hidden, undervalued characters. Any outdoor stairs going to a dorm basement will likely be free of foot traffic, but the indoor alternative in Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Hall is ideal for a quiet cry. My favorite, however, are those across from Kimberly-Wilbur Hall, in the ‘alley’ between Margaret Fowler and the Humanities Building. Steep, secluded, and accompanied by a deafening air vent that will drown out your cries of emotional anguish, these stairs are almost definitely the most private part of campus. However, plan your cries accordingly because I plan to occupy this space every other Tuesday night after my back-to-back Biology and Organic Chemistry labs. Interrupting my crying time is not something you wish to witness, believe me.
For the Nighttime Scaries
The only benefit to Denison Library closing as early as it does (9 p.m. on a school night!?) is that the entrances to the library are a perfect, sequestered nighttime meltdown location. Sitting between the columns for a dramatic, medieval moment or simply lying on the cobblestone courtyard floor is well-reviewed. Regardless, the entrances flanking Denison guarantee a spot of solitude for deep thoughts of despair.
24-Hour Access
The Scripps gender-neutral bathrooms are, if anything, dependable. They will be there for you during both your gastrointestinal and emotional troubles. In every dorm on campus, the privacy of a single stall allows you to have the slide-down-the-door sob that is essential to every college experience. Whether it be 4 a.m. or 4 p.m., the gender-neutral bathrooms are available for everyone’s crying needs.
Open Air Despair
If you are someone whose emotions already make you feel claustrophobic and would rather be unconstrained by physical buildings, there are a few places on campus to take advantage of fresh air during an emotional moment. Since dorm courtyards can feel a bit like a fish bowl due to the windows of surrounding rooms, I would instead recommend using the Alumni Field. Whether you are lying on the field or sitting on the concrete bleachers off to the side, both locales will give you a comforting view of the outdoor classroom tents and the starless, light-polluted Southern Californian sky. Perfect for a nightly refuge, I wouldn’t recommend this location in the middle of a hot September day. Best experienced in a storm in your best dress…
Best Sunday Morning Spot
Though I am totally not speaking from personal experience (ahem), the best weekend morning spot to hide and cry would be the Humanities Building. Although all the bathrooms and classrooms will be locked, a corner of a stair is all you need for a quality sob. Guaranteed not to be disturbed, this is the best place to go when overwhelmed by the avocado toast line at Malott brunch or a particularly visceral realization that you are a college student (aka proxy adult) now.
Image Source: Discover Claremont
