Baton Rouge can be a tough place to live as an introvert.
The mentality of the South as a whole, to generalize, is a social one; the Southerner takes joy in family, friends and getting together. You don’t need an excuse to “visit” with someone. In fact, it’s encouraged.
That’s all fine, but for someone not brought up that way or born here, it can be disconcerting and exhausting to suddenly be thrust into an environment where people look at you funny if you don’t feel like going out on Saturday.
Baton Rouge is especially tough. With its drinking- and football- centric culture, lack of other things to do and massive urban sprawl, there isn’t much to do if you’re not one for crowds and loud music.
That, in part, is what makes and will continue to make Highland Coffees special, until it closes on Dec. 24. With its hushed music and placid atmosphere, Highland is a place where it’s ok to study, finish homework or just sit and read a book — but more than that, it’s a place where it’s ok to just be alone.
That’s not a common thing in the area near campus. With students saddled with classes, work and who knows what else, it’s important to have a place where they can slow down and avoid being distracted by the million different things happening in their lives.
For me, Highland has been that oasis since I first arrived in Baton Rouge four years ago. I’ve spent more time than I care to count sitting on that patio with a mug of hot coffee writing, reading or just clearing my head.
It’s meant other things to others I’ve talked to. It’s a touch of the metropolitan in an area sorely lacking in authenticity. To some, it’s the best coffee in town. To grad students, it’s a second home. Even to me, it’s been more than somewhere time just seems to pass a little slower — it’s a place where important things just seem to happen.
For interviews, Highland is my go-to. My girlfriend and I went there on our first date, and I’ve had more memorable conversations with strangers there than anywhere else.
But these kinds of diverse experiences aren’t possible just anywhere. Highland Coffees is an institution in the area, a distinct place with 25 years of history behind it that won’t be replaced, no matter what moves into that building on Chimes Street.
We can hope, along with the owner, that it returns soon in a new location closer to campus. But when it leaves the Chimes Street location, the University, the students and the whole Northgate neighborhood will be poorer for it.
Gordon Brillon is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Lincoln, Rhode Island. You can contact him on Twitter @TDR_GBrillon.

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Emily Brauner

Highland Coffee, located at 3350 Highland Road, announces their closure for December 2014.