Words and photos by Eve Harclerode
As a GW student, sometimes you just need a good cry. Maybe your long-distance high school sweetheart broke up with you, or maybe you’re quickly becoming disillusioned with the degree you thought would help change the world and have realized you’re just another cog in the machine. During finals season, it may seem like the world is ending and you need a break to go breakdown. When the tears start to flow, it’s helpful to have somewhere you can go to let go. Ranked by their comfort, ambiance, and privacy, here are five places for the best possible cry session on GW’s campus.
#5 Smith Benches / Balcony — 6/10
Smith Hall of Art offers a variety of spaces to cry that are tucked away from everyday student life, including benches surrounding the building and balconies. Though GW has cut down the trees that used to surround the front benches, if you’re looking to sit outside they’re a classic spot to sit and receive a hard phone call. If you’d prefer to stand, the uninhabited balconies around the 2nd floor of Smith and Rome Philips also offer a unique vantage point to cry above the regular GW students milling about, though you’re more likely to be intruded upon here than in Square 80. And don’t forget the scary stairwells! Located centrally on campus, these benches allow you to take a quick pause to cry in between the excessive number of classes you’ve scheduled for yourself just to avoid a Friday class, before returning to the action. Because of their visibility from the street and busy intersection, this spot loses a few points.
#4 Gelman Basement Level 1 and 2 — 6/10
Gelman, while quite popular, offers more concealed spots to cry than meets the eye. Take a break from your upstairs finals cram session or your group project with classmates who are incapable of critical thought, and journey to the basement to cry amongst the computers, stale DVD shelves, and sprawling hallways. While the inherent quiet of this location may worry criers with performance anxiety, the deepest basement offers privacy that many can enjoy. This may be a hard-cry spot for students to find comfort in, due to its negative association with studying, but its convenience for students already studying in Gelman is a huge benefit.
#3 Flagg Building — 7/10
The Corcoran School of Art and Design Flagg building’s obscurity offers many refined places to despair in secret. Usually empty due to the lack of GW art majors, Flagg boasts beautiful architecture, comfortable furnishings, and dingey hidden nooks to cry in. Whether you’re looking for luxurious wood paneling and French neoclassical architecture, or stairwells to sit on that haven’t been swept since the Corcoran went bankrupt in 2016, this charming building is great to get lost in and hide from all of your “friends” whose parents forced them to get a business degree because they have no drive or passions of their own. While it takes a good walk to get to, Flagg offers a pretty, solitary crying experience like no other.
#2 Square 80 — 8/10
Rather than be stuck on the ground with your earthly troubles, the roofs surrounding Square 80 offer a shift in perspective that a GW student needs after wasting your time expanding your worldview in a 100-level humanities course where you watch your classmates learn about empathy for the first time. What this spot lacks in comfort, it makes up for in its delicate rooftop privacy and precarious nature. You assume the risk of the height if you choose this as your spot to cry, but the height may sober you up from your sadness. The drawback of Square 80 comes from it being a prime smoke spot, while this may offer an extra layer of comfort and stress relief for some, it means at all times of day, there are people in Square 80. Plus if you need a laugh you can try spitting at the frisbee throwers on the lawn.
Honorable Mention: Vern Hand Chapel
To make sure our Vern residents have a place close to home, the Vern Hand Chapel offers a prime cry spot. From moving in to moving out, there are many times a vernie may need to cry, so it’s helpful to find a second home away from the prying eyes of your first-year living-learning community roommate where you can commiserate. The peace and quiet of the Vern provides a comfortable break from the overwhelm of city life, making this an ideal spot to cry. Hidden in the woods, the Vern Hand Chapel offers a suburban getaway for students of all religions to forget their city troubles among the rolling hills, wildlife, and Honors kids. While this spot is only an honorable mention due to the vex ride required to get there, Vern residents are free to enjoy this location whenever they want.
#1 U Yard at night — 9/10
Semi-secluded by the trees and ugly temporary fences, if accessible, there is no better location to cry on GW’s campus. Offering a myriad of seating options from grass to benches to tables, U Yard is the ideal place to reminisce over your worst moments and relive everything you hate about life. U Yard offers prime real estate to lay in the grass and let tears wet your face as you look at the stars (or lack of due to DC’s light pollution). The new sense of hostility from the double layer of fences may match the hostility you feel from your freshman-year friend group that all blocked you right after Thanksgiving break. While increased security presence definitely detracts, isn’t it nice to feel protected? To feel safe enough to let it all out? Lol just kidding, fuck the cops.
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