Lyons: Pack some fun into that hour between classes

Like most students who live off-campus, I find myself bored during that hour or so that I’m stuck on campus between classes. Like most students who live off-campus, I find myself bored during that hour or so that I’m stuck on campus between classes. But don’t fear, there are always fun things to do during that awkward time when you can’t quite make it home before your next class. After all, normal activities like reading in Dunkin’ Donuts and sitting at Schenley Plaza won’t keep you occupied for an entire semester.

Board games are always a great way to pass the time. If you’re on campus and happen to have a few friends who have yet to move off campus, store a board game at their residence hall and play some fun ones like “Sorry!” or “Parcheesi” during your break. Annoyed with your friend for never coming to visit your dive of an apartment in South Oakland? Nothing says passive-aggressive like distracting him while he’s playing “Perfection” so that all the pieces explode in his face before he has the chance to fit them all in the slots. Do you have a friend who lives in Tower C or Lothrop? Pick up a great two-player game like “Stratego” or chess. These logic- and tactic-based games will get your brain working and ready to get back to reading that dense philosophy chapter before your class starts in an hour.

Another way to warm up your brain before heading back to class is to make lists or raps about a given topic. This brainstorming is a sort of mental stretching that gets you thinking and ready to engage in more mentally stimulating activities, like studying. Don’t feel like studying for that statistics exam quite yet? Make a list of the top 10 things you would do if you won/inherited/stole $100 million. Dreading the paper that’s due in your creative writing class? Write a few raps to get your inventive juices flowing. Who knows? Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa are both from Pittsburgh. It’s hard to have less talent than them — maybe you can write a song about two random colors or the type of shoes you’re wearing and become famous and never have to worry about reading that stupid chemistry textbook ever again.

And what if you actually need to get work done between classes? You can get your creative juices bubbling with a change of scenery. Try dressing up and doing homework in a professional school. If you’re having trouble with your finance homework, throw on some professional attire and head to Mervis Hall. The change of location and clothes will motivate you to focus on your future and concentrate on the work you have to do. There’s nothing better than sitting in Scaife Hall and thinking that you better start reading that microbiology textbook or you won’t be able to attend a medical school as nice as the one you’re working in. Even if you don’t dress up, doing work in graduate school buildings beats sitting in Hillman with a bunch of loud underclassmen whose motivation to plan which fraternity house they want to play beer pong at next weekend outweighs their desire to study for their intro-level classes.

Turning away from time-killing activities that have a beneficial effect on your studies, a fun game called “shadowing” is a great way to waste some time when you’re stuck on campus between classes. Get one of your friends and sit in a populated location like Towers lobby or the Cathedral commons. Then choose one person to follow for an extended period of time. Whichever one of you gets the closest to the person for the longest without being noticed wins the game. Considering how much creeping you do on Facebook, this is really not that odd of an activity. It’s a fun way to become more ninja-esque, and it’s sort of like playing a real-life version of Assassin’s Creed. Plus, if the person notices you following him, you can explain this awesome game and possibly make a new friend — or get a dirty look.

Another way to eat up time between classes is by touring some of the lesser-known buildings on campus and exploring their nooks and crannies. Most buildings are open relatively late, so if it’s an especially slow day and you’re too lazy to make the 15-minute walk home, make the trek to a random building like Eberly or the new O’Hara Student Center. This will make you more knowledgeable about the campus as a whole, and you can impress your friends with your helpful knowledge that there are pool tables and student lounges in O’Hara or that you can only go into 25 of the 27 nationality rooms in the Cathedral.

If you don’t feel like taking a walk to a University building, try cooking or baking something at a friend’s residence hall with the luxury of a kitchen, like Ruskin or Bouquet. This will put you in good favor with your friends and give you a nice snack to eat during the impending lecture. In addition, this could expand your culinary horizons and give you a new set of skills that could make you a more desirable friend or significant other: If “Hi, I make a great french toast casserole. Let’s be friends/go out sometime?” isn’t a good ice-breaker, then I don’t know what is. Also, sharing your freshly baked cake in your computer programming recitation would instantly make you the coolest person in class.

Always remember that you don’t have to succumb to boredom or mundane homework between classes. Feel free to use any of these suggestions when you get tired of people-watching in the Cathedral or having freshmen swipe you in to Market Central — you’re bound to entertain the people around you, as well.

Email Kelan at kjl27@pitt.edu.