Although studying for exams does not always seem like a pleasurable way to spend your day, my experiences studying for my first exams as a college student were not that bad. Each day, my friends would meet up in a group, pack a bag of snacks, and camp out in the SLC for 12 hours straight. Then, once we hit disillusionment we would go back to Brumby, sleep, and do it all again the next day. It was a monotonous cycle, and everything was fine until we discovered the Main Library.  

On Day Three of exam studies, my “study” group unearthed the Main Library, which was a whole new level of intense study; an SLC on steroids. While in the SLC we could laugh, eat and mess around, in the Main Library that was unacceptable. It was a challenge that we were willing to take. We packed up our snack bags and books, and headed to the Main Library, which was like a whole new world. Its intense and piercing silence terrified us. Honestly, I felt afraid to move any one of my muscles. Things were going perfectly fine, until we got hungry. We had been there a few hours when the dilemma arose, and my friend suggested opening a Chex Mix bag. At first, it seemed like an acceptable idea, until we realized that the intolerable crinkling and crunching sound would shatter the unrelenting silence that subsisted all around us. At this point we had to get creative, and for those of you that end up in this position in the future, we came up with five practical techniques to open a Chex Mix bag in the Main Library.

1. Put on a sweatshirt and stick the bag inside of it to hide the noise while a friend punches the bag as hard as possible, severing the bag, and allowing the Chex Mix to be freed.
2. Take a pen and feverishly stab the bag, as quietly as possible, until it opens.
3. Open a binder, stick the Chex Mix bag inside, and then close the binder as firmly as possible so that the bag explodes (quietly.)
4. Stick your head, as well as the Chex Mix bag, into a backpack and attempt to open it with your teeth.
5. Use a pair of scissors.