Monday afternoon found Noel in the art building's collaborative workspace a large, open room with high ceilings and natural light, meant for students from different programs to work together.
He'd discovered it by accident two weeks ago, looking for a quiet place to work that wasn't the library.
The space was usually empty this time of day, most art and design students in their studios, business students in their own building.
Perfect for concentration.
He spread his materials across a large table near the windows—laptop, research papers, notes for his capstone that were slowly, finally, starting to make sense.
The conversation with Luca last week had helped. So had being honest with his advisor. Progress was happening, just slower than his perfectionist brain wanted.
He'd been working maybe thirty minutes when the door opened.
"Oh, hey," Alex said, spotting him. "Didn't know anyone else used this space."
"Usually no one does. That's why I like it."
