Returning to NIU after a lazy month off, it’s hard to get used to that 8 a.m. Spanish class.

Sometimes, one just has to recharge, and if you live off campus, running home for a snooze isn’t in the cards.

-That’s why we scoured the campus for the best places to nap.

The ladies have it the easiest. In the fourth-floor bathrooms of Founders Memorial Library, there are “fainting” couches, relics from at least 40 years ago judging from the yellow-orange color. This is a great place to crash for 20 minutes and freshen up. It’s reclusive, dimly lit and all you have to do is put up with the antique smell.

The lounge area downstairs in the library also has a few couches. Sophomore history major Brian Prall, a library employee, has found people napping there.

“Unless it’s closing time, we just let them sleep,” Prall said.

The foreign language lab is great for most things Internet and the occasional mandatory session of Dasher Drills. And since every foreign language student is forced to do time in that dungeon, why not rest up while there? Each cubicle offers enough privacy to rest the eyes. To the casual observer, it just looks like you’re deep in thought, figuring out that proper conjugation.

Reavis Hall has a couch on the second floor near the administrative offices that definitely is from the ’70s. It’s brown and either leather or a real good faux leather. It’s so soft you’ll have no problem catching some winks despite the public nature of the surroundings.

Cole Hall’s seats are very uncomfortable when sitting in them normally, but if you can grab a two-chair radius all around you and stretch out with your limbs bridging armrests, then it’s snooze-certified, which comes in handy for those boring two-hour anthropology lectures.

The Art Building’s main auditorium probably is the greatest slumber station. The seats are cushioned, the lights always are dimmed, the professor’s voice is soothing and those wonderful paintings grace the screen. With all those factors in play, it’s a wonder why they don’t include nap time in the syllabus.