Study: Cardigans + Sprinkles =A’s? (In My Dreams)
Last night, I dreamt I was flipping through a magazine from work. Nestled between articles on higher ed enrollment trends and nifty niche majors was a curious piece summarizing a “research” study that found colorful study spaces led to higher exam scores.
The first page of my imagined article featured a picture of four smart-looking college-age girls dressed in bright purple cardigans and matching plaid skirts. They sat in in an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, like something out of a 1950s musical. They had cracked a few big, serious looking books while eating spoonfuls of vanilla ice-cream dotted with colorful sprinkles. The facing page captured a gloomy dungeon where a group of students—dressed like background characters in Harry Potter—studied under flickering torchlight, their textbooks chained to stone tables.
According to the dreamed-induced study, the happy ice-cream eaters in the colorful cheery space scored higher than the dreary dungeon dwellers on an exam the next day. While I’m dubious about the scientific rigor of findings in a dreamed-up study, I have to admit that there is something to be said about the impact of colorful surroundings on me.
I may be done with test-taking, but my subconscious clearly thinks I need a comfy purple cardigan and a scoop of ice cream next time I need to concentrate.
So I’m curious—what’s your ideal setting for creativity or productivity? Are you a bright-light, loud-music, candy-sprinkle type—or do you thrive in the quiet shadows?
About the Image
This graphic was AI-generated in Canva using my description from this story.
