At this point you are supposed to shut yourself up in your room, get your nose into your books and start cramming - blokken. The problem for today's students is all the temptations: Facebook, MSN, sms and all the rest.

To put these temptations behind them, many students come together for support. In Ghent during de blokperiode students queue in the early morning for a seat in university buildings, such as de Boekentoren and de Therminal: samen studeren helpt het leed te verzachten - studying together helps relieve the pain. Apart from collective suffering, there is de verbondenheid - solidarity and sociale controle.

Group cramming has become so popular that Ghent University is looking for 500 more places. Students also come from local colleges and even other universities. The university is happy to accommodate as many as possible: the more students cram, the better the results.

"Collectief blokken is natuurlijk een nieuw fenomeen" - Collective cramming is of course a new phenomenon, says the university's director of student affairs. Perhaps, but many of you will have done something similar. The difference may be that students arrange to meet up to study together through electronic means.

When students all acquired laptops, it was thought that university libraries would soon become redundant. Integendeel, zo blijkt - the opposite, so it appears. The typical architecture of a library (with a cafeteria) is conducive to studying. That's the explanation given by someone working in de Boekentoren "want echt gezellig is het hier niet" - because it isn't particularly cosy here".

And the rules are as they should be in a library: je mag alleen water drinken - you're only allowed to drink water; je moet muisstil zijn - you must be as quiet as a mouse; and if you speak too loud, je wordt op de vingers getikt - you will be rapped over your knuckles. Literally? I wonder.

An overfull library is not to everyone's taste. Apparently, the professors complain that they can't consult a book during de blokperiode in peace. Yeah, students are such a nuisance.

Some need a change of air to cram. For €70 you can spend a week at a study camp in the Ardennes. For that, students get kost - food, inwoonst - accommodation and ontspanning - relaxation; and what often makes the difference, lots of discipline.