For my Snapshot column last week, I had a chance to write about some outdoor study environments.But to be honest, I’m not much of a studier — not sure if I should say that in the school paper with a couple semesters left to survive, but I guess it’s out there now.But while not every student is a scholar, no man is an island.And I do enjoy partaking in a good bit of socializing when I have the time, and there are, were and will be plenty of places to meet new people on campus when you might think it’s a little early on a Tuesday to be hitting the bars — not that I think such a time exists.I said “are, were and will be” because one of my old favorites, the Memorial Oak Grove behind the Union, is currently fenced off for Union construction.My friend and I used to like to sit back on the benches in the Grove and make sure to have our conversations get as unusual as possible as large groups passed between classes and dorms.After doing that for a while, we got a few, “Hey, weren’t you the guys talking about sleeping with your   parents,” remarks when we’d do more common things in other social settings. In other words, conversation started. Friends made. Let’s move on.Another of our pastimes involved us driving around the lakes at the same speed as any randomly chosen runner while playing “Chariots of Fire,” the Olympic theme song, as loud as we could.I’m still not sure if this was comical, inspirational or just annoying to the runners, but for some reason it was hilarious to us.This might be kind of a weird or tricky use for the lakes, so you might want to just stick to walking or running around them for exercise.But if you do the Olympic thing, make sure you’re clearly visible from your car — you might earn a few more interesting conversations later on.And finally and most obviously, the Quad. You can bring the “attention-grabbing conversation” tactic from the Oak Grove here or you can just approach people with more normal tactics.Either way, it’s all gold. Just remember education is important, but no man is an island — so lower your draw bridges and make some friends, because not all the learning comes from your books.Jerit Roser is a 23-year-old journalism major from New Orleans.
 
 
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