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My Life in Coffee Shops
"Out of the eighty-three problem sets I've solved for physics class this year, I think over two-thirds of them were completed at a coffee shop."
By Maureen Dougherty
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Listen up Starbucks: A school assignment has Youth Radio's Maureen Dougherty thinking about the role coffee shops play in the academic, and social, lives of youth. After designing her own coffee shop, Maureen starts to realize how much time she's spent in what she calls "dimly lit, highly caffeinated places"...and why these shops can never replace home. (November 5 on KCBS)
A few months ago my economics teacher asked my class to design a coffee shop.
Supposedly this would help us learn about resources and money management. But it made me think about what attracts me, my friends, and what seems to be the entire teenage population to these cramped, dimly lit, highly caffeinated places. Maybe it’s the atmosphere itself – the whole coffee shop image left over from the beat generation. A coffee shop exudes coolness and maturity.
Earlier this year my friends and I filled out college applications in the coffee shop across the street from the college I'm going to attend next fall. Maybe it helped. A coffee shop is also an ideal place for doing homework. Out of the eighty-three problem sets I've solved for physics class this year, I think over two-thirds of them were completed at a coffee shop.
As much as I love coffee shops I know they can't replace my own home. I mean, where else can I get a free cup of coffee at one in the morning while I work on a radio commentary?
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