We’ve all had that moment when a tickle in your throat presents itself and threatens to cause a scene in the most public of places. You are left with the choice of enduring the judgemental looks from peers or hurrying to make your great escape.

While coughing in public may not be a Penn State-specific experience, our harsh winters and large student body size ensure that you will fall victim to coughing-related unwanted attention at least once, if not more, in your time as a student here.

However, not all coughs were created equal, and with that, I present to you the top-10 most embarrassing places to cough on campus.

10. Drop-In Advising Line

On average, those waiting in line for a drop-in advising appointment are not in the best spirits, an understandable attitude for those who didn’t get into a required class, aren’t passing one, or are lost in the madness that is LionPath.

Coughing in the waiting area — no matter what building — is like poking the bear, except the bear gets more irritated the longer they wait, and the bear is totally texting about the idiot sitting across from them who keeps coughing.

9. Sparks Building

Ranging from 330 to 347 seats, the Sparks Building lecture halls provide a very average lecture hall coughing experience. While there’s still a large audience size at play, these lecture halls’ acoustics are nowhere near as aggressive as some others you may encounter, and the seating isn’t nearly as compressed.

8. Ross Study Center

The Ross Study Center is such a beautiful section of the library. It’s also a section that I’ve never studied in and never intend to simply because it’s too scary. This place is so quiet that even the sound of my footsteps walking into the room are loud enough to warrant looks. I shudder to think of what the people who frequent here would do to me if I coughed.

7. Bar Line

While many factors are at play in this scenario, one being whether you’re next to strangers or friends, coughing while in line for the bar can either be uneventful or a disgusting offense. If it’s prime time and patrons are packed into the queue, no one wants to be squished up against the person getting their germs everywhere. Additionally, those on their second or third stop of the night may be quicker to throw a revolted look your way.

6. THON

As any THON-goer knows, it’s a big no-no to show up to the event with any illnesses of the contagious sort, not only as a courtesy to those around you but to the immunocompromised who we are gathered in support of. Even if it’s due to water going down the wrong tube, coughing in your org’s packed section is a sure way to earn judgmental glances from others.

5. CATA Bus

Whether it’s the White Loop or the Blue Loop, you can count on fellow riders being less than enthusiastic about sharing their personal space with you and much less so with your germs. On the bright side, any embarrassment can be as short-lived as you’d like if you request the next stop.

4. Forum Building

A step up from the Sparks experience, lecture halls in the Forum Building have anywhere from 355 to 369 seats and architecture much more supportive of reverberation. Forum lecture halls are unique in being slightly steeper, though, meaning that if the person behind you is coughing, it can feel extra gross.

3. HUB Food Court

This is one of my least favorite Penn State experiences of all time. Let’s set the scene: You’re standing at the salad bar, container in one hand, lid in the other, and a purse stuffed to the brim on your shoulder. You suddenly feel a tickle in your throat. Oh no, you have to cough, but both of your arms are busy, and there’s an open display of food in front of you.

You quickly step backward into the aisle to put distance between yourself and the food and try to cough into your shoulder, but this action makes your heavy purse slip off your shoulder and into the crook of your arm, making you spill your salad on yourself, and now you just look stupid. While this one may not have many witnesses, it sure does pack a punch.

2. Harry Potter Room

Some people come to the Harry Potter room to lock in, and some come to pretend that they are, but this high ceiling does not discriminate, and its dramatic reverberation of your coughing fit is guaranteed to reach anyone with ears. In fact, it was this room that inspired me to speak on this topic — my muse, if you will.

1. Thomas 100 Lecture Hall

Not only is Thomas 100 the largest lecture hall at Penn State, but it’s also amongst the largest in the country, holding 726 seats. An audience of this size combined with the previously mentioned lecture hall-related factors create what can only be described as the ultimate embarrassment experience.

With this being said, I firmly believe in finding the good in every situation. While having a coughing fit in a public place may make you consider never leaving your room again, it shows that you know how to honor your commitments even when you aren’t at your best.

Everybody coughs, and next time, you can take comfort in knowing that I am making these rankings based on my personal experiences. You are not the first nor the last to suffer the embarrassment that comes with coughing on campus.