Local study spots in need of late-night hours

If you’ve never had to dash to the emptying food court of a Korean grocery store at 10 p.m. the night before a calculus test, consider yourself lucky. I can genuinely say I’ve never been more stressed than in that moment, with binder paper slipping from my folder like wilting leaves on an autumn day and with the somewhat sketchy, late-night frequenters of H-Mart grinning at me in mysterious inquiry.

In the past few months, there have been quite a number of poorly timed power outages in my neighborhood. These times bring about the all-consuming pit of despair that wells in the stomach immediately after the lights zap out in the middle of the afternoon.

It’s the opening-of-the-fridge to see, not a bright light shine across the boxes, but a despotic shadow. It’s the rapid flickering of the light switch only to realize that despite one’s best efforts, there is no light anywhere.

Worst of all, it’s the sinking realization that, as the sun itself begins to lurk away, there seem to be no cafes, no restaurants, no establishments within a 50-mile radius that stays open late enough to accomodate for my studying needs. Call me problematic, but as an overwhelmed junior, this lack of late-night stores, restaurants, bars, auto-shops — really late-night anything in Saratoga — is a major source of concern, even when there’s no power outage. It’s impossible for me and many other students to study at home, a safe haven from school where the bed or couch lingers just around the corner, beckoning for a slumber that will probably last a few hours longer than optimal.

Plus, my house is just plain loud. The house presents perpetual distractions, whether it’s a family member yelling across three rooms and the dining area to someone who happens to be outside on the patio, a hair dryer or a sibling practicing piano (practically the same sound), or the clanging of a washing machine.

So what’s the next step? Heading to the local library or coffee shop downtown would seem natural choices. But we are forced to retreat back home, when we see the blinds are drawn and the doors are closed at 5 p.m.

I will call a few of these places out. The Saratoga library is open until 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays but is closed at 5 p.m. for the rest of the week. Big Basin Cafe closes at 9 p.m. every day of the week but it often stays crowded until right before closing because it’s one of the few places available.

It’s easy to say, “‘Just improve your study habits so you won’t have to engage in a staring contest with a locked cafe door later on!’” But it’s often not that simple. Come junior year, the homework load often piles up to more than four hours a night, which rules out any possibility of finishing before the sun sets. Not to mention the extracurriculars and activities that call for even more time immediately after school. That leaves the only available time for study at around 8 p.m. to midnight.

For those of us with no permits or licenses, this lack of late-night stores in the local area equates to provoking the hibernating bear of a parent to ask for a ride to Cupertino. 85 Degree Bakery and even the H-Mart food court are viable, fairly close-by options, but even then, parents generally feel uncomfortable leaving their child studying into the night at a store that is miles away.

The same worries arise even if you do have a license, which is why having late-night options for students in Saratoga, a small town where activity seems to revolve around the bustling high school, is the most reasonable option. That way, Saratoga students won’t have to default too far away.

Going back to one of the most anxiety-inducing nights of my life, I still remember furiously practicing math problems on papers, Korean restaurant napkins — anything that was within reach, to be honest. And then my phone rang. At first, I ignored the call with a fit of fractions filling my brain, but as the sound slowly overtook my pre-test jitters, I had to pick it up.

It was my dad urging me to go outside ASAP because it was getting late and we needed to be back home. I argued that there was no light at home, that H-Mart was open until 11, that all things considered, I needed to do well on this math test. But to no avail. It was time to head home and go to sleep in a dark, powerless house.