This particular area in the middle of the school is a relaxing, albeit sometimes hectic area. It is an area that has booths, couches, vending machines, and two tiny little cafes–one upstairs and one downstairs. This space also has nontraditional vending machines for smoothies and diet sodas. It’s very vibrant, but is it the most relaxing area in this school? It depends on your definition of relaxation.

The Commons Area (TCA) is popular with Bob Jones students because, according to my survey, TCA is a very open area for students to go hangout and socialize with their friends and not clog up the hallways. Plus, having cushioned booths is even better because it’s an alternative to sitting in hard seats all day. Nine times out of ten, students love TCA.

Some students use TCA to eat or to talk with their friends. “[TCA] gives us a place to relax and a great place to socialize,” said Jordan Evans, a freshman. TCA is a place for relaxation but not necessarily silence. Throughout most of the day, TCA is bustling with loud conversations and large groups of friends.

Lily Hughes and Abbigail Jackson both stated that TCA is an open area and gives students the feeling of more freedom. Isabella Hall, 11th grade student, said, “I like TCA. It’s just a place where you can come sit in the mornings or at lunch or whatever. A couple of things I don’t like about it is that there’s space, but if you have more than like four people, then you can’t sit in one place. I sat on the floor one time for lunch but other than that, I really do like TCA.” 

Mrs. Panagos, whose classroom is part of the Commons, said, “It can get really loud. I love the area, but sometimes people don’t pick up after themselves or horseplay near the glass. On the whole, it’s a great space for students to have downtime. It doesn’t get used as much for academic reasons during the school day as it could be, but I do see some teachers bring their classes down to the whiteboard area a few times a month.”

TCA is a wonderful area to hang out, but it really does very little to help your study skills. It’s a nice area, but it gets full of people very fast and can get rather loud. Overall, more than 90% of surveyed students use TCA at some point during the school day, which makes it a great product of the renovation.