The Best Places To Cry At Royal Holloway When You Just Can’t Deal Anymore

Being a student can be brilliant. It can also be hair-tearingly, nail-bitingly stressful. You have deadlines upon deadlines, you have no idea how you’re going to pay rent, and, worst of all, the supermarket has run out of your favourite comfort food. It’s only natural that you should feel the need to cry every now and again (if you’re me, at least three times a week). I hear you, and so here are seven of the best places to cry at Royal Holloway when it all gets a bit too much.

1. Your Halls Corridor

A surprisingly therapeutic area to have a breakdown in, even if the carpet has several dubious stains on and there is definitely a funny lingering smell in the air. Bonus points if your flatmate is also breaking down at the same time so you can both sit against your doors and contemplate life in solidarity. Your other flatmates won’t say anything if they pass by because they’re probably at that point too.

2. Your House Staircase

This is a classic. Every house I’ve lived in has had to deal with me sitting on its staircase crying. This reached its peak at university in the house I lived in for second and third year because there were no parents to tell me to move. My housemate would never judge me because she also experienced staircase breakdowns. I have to admit our staircase was a bit narrow and not particularly comfortable, though.

3. Windsor Building

A popular exam spot, and thus consequently a top crying spot. I’ve done a lot of last-minute panic crying in this building thinking about how I’ve forgotten everything I need to know for the exam and how I will have to sit in a room for three and a half hours in just a few minutes. Nothing like a good pre-exam cry to rally the spirits.

4. Emily Wilding Davison Library

I actually used to prefer having a sneaky cry in the basement of Founder’s Library where the Classics books lived but now that has sadly closed I have been forced to cry quietly in the modern facilities of RoHo’s new library. Not quite as effective and people are more likely to judge you but it is what it is.

5. Imagine

For some strange reason, sitting in Imagine for more than ten minutes feels as though you are sitting in an alternate reality, especially if it isn’t busy. Anyway, something about the atmosphere, the bubble tea, and my stress levels mean I have shed a few tears in Imagine. The staff are also nice and will pretend not to notice when you order your fourth drink (bubble tea or Starbucks, your choice) with a wobbly voice and smudged mascara. Also they still don’t accept card and that’s just sad.

6. SU Toilets

Or just the SU on a night out in general. Let’s be real, the girls’ toilets on a night out at RoHo are always filled with interesting sights and sounds, and there is consistently at least one girl breaking down in floods of tears about something or other either in one of the stalls or the queue. Sometimes if the queue is too long you can just break down outside. No shame, I’ve been there, and everyone is usually too drunk to notice your complete meltdown anyway. This is definitely one of the best spots to cry at Royal Holloway.

7. Your Department Building

Your department is meant to be friendly and encouraging. It is also where you meet lecturers for a ‘chat’ and where you collect essay marks and so on. Understandably, a few sessions of breakdown-induced crying in the toilets of this building or in your actual department, if you just can’t wait that long, are a crucial part of being a student. Plus, your department has probably seen it all before, and will pretend like it never happened afterwards. Perfect.

Let the tears flow! Where do you think are the best spots to cry at Royal Holloway? Where have you cried at Royal Holloway? Let us know in the comments!

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