As much as we all know and love the University of California, Riverside (UCR), we or someone we know has been affected by the horrors of a bad lecture hall. Many students fear seeing the name of a bad lecture hall when they open “Instructor/Meeting Times” for their course on the registration website.
I argue that having a bad lecture hall can make you dread a class just as much as having a class with difficult content, a professor that doesn’t align with your learning style or strict rubrics. Here is a list of some lecture halls you can try to avoid if you can help it — or prepare yourself for when you inevitably end up having a class in one.
Life Sciences 1500
This is the least heinous lecture hall on this list, but that doesn’t mean that it’s good by any means. I have only been inside of here once to take a singular final, but I pity those that have had a lecture here. The seats are so close together, you’re practically rubbing elbows with the people next to you. And don’t get me started on that strange high-pitched whirring sound. I could barely focus for the final — I can’t imagine how it would be having to focus during a lecture at eight in the morning. Also, one simply cannot feel safe putting down their water bottle in this classroom for fear of it rolling all the way down to the front. I only hope that I can graduate without ever having an actual lecture here.
Physics 2000
In my first ever quarter at UCR, I had a class in this lecture hall. Right away, I knew something was off. At the beginning of the fall quarter, on the warmest days, the hall would be hot. Not warm. Hot. Sweat-drippingly hot. You would think you were in a sauna and many students dozed off because of the extreme warmth. However, at the end of the quarter, on the colder days before winter break, the temperature in the hall would be frigid.
Not to mention, the chairs are a nightmare. No student wants to dig their leg into the chair next to them when they try to get in and out of the seat, but this is the reality when one tries to sit in this lecture hall. The chairs can spin which can be fun and keeps students occupied when they feel antsy, but the fun is completely ruined when they accidentally hit their friend with the recoil of their spinning chair on the way out.
Lastly, and yes, perhaps this is a gripe I have due to having a shorter torso, but I heavily dislike being level with someone’s toes when I turn around to grab something from my backpack on the floor behind me. There have been too many times where students from the row above me have nearly touched my head with their shoes. It’s absolutely disgusting to be so close to someone’s feet. The only good thing about this lecture hall is the charging port in every row.
Bourns Hall (particularly Rooms B118 and A125)
Oh, Bourns Hall, how I dislike you so. There isn’t a single good lecture hall in Bourns Hall. I had a class in Room B118 during my first year here. And dare I say — the desks are absolutely atrocious. They’re practically falling apart with the cloth on the back and bottom of the chairs ripping at the seams, exposing the dirty cushion underneath. Additionally, there’s never been a desk with a clean underside of the table in this hall.
Please, fellow students, let’s have some decorum. I’m sure our lovely custodians on campus have better things to do than scrape every piece of gum off of every Bourns Hall Room B118 desk. Some of the pieces of gum look like they have been stuck there for years.
Worst of all are the columns in this hall that prevents one from seeing the front of the classroom. If you’re unlucky enough to get a seat behind a column, I recommend getting to class earlier for better seats. Even if you’re late to class, doing the walk of shame to sit in the very front is better than being stuck behind one of those godforsaken columns.
Don’t think that you’re safe, Room A125. The chairs always squeak awkwardly whenever students sit down. I am someone that lacks shame, but I still managed to feel a little embarrassed shifting in my seat at any given moment. The same goes for the door! Paired with the squeakiest chairs are the smallest desks. It is impossible to write anything while trying to fit both a notebook and a water bottle on the tiniest table. Shoutout to all of the engineering students of UCR — one of my best friends included. But I’m so sorry you have sad lecture halls to go with it. Hopefully Bytes makes up for it.
Of course, this article is completely for fun and simply a space I have used to rant. I am eternally grateful for the education I receive at UCR, even if some of the lecture halls leave more room to be desired.
