I'm feeling kind of procrastinatish, so here's a list of the top ten places to study:
10. Mudd Library. I think it's the only semi-nice place to study on the forty where people won't be coming in all the time. There are magazines too!
9. Borders. It's so crowded sometimes, but the food is really good and you can take notes from books and then put them back.
8. Medical School library. I actually drove to find it... it's right next to Barnes-Jewish hospital (Lindberg, to Kingshighway, to Medical Center Drive, I think). It's 10 stories tall and has a huge atrium with balconies. It's really nice to study there at sunset because the windows are huge and it's such a beautiful view of forest park.
7. Astronomy and Physics library. I think it's in Crow Hall, (the almost most north-eastern part of campus). It's on the second floor. It's very quiet.
6. East Asian Library. It's the most beautiful library on campus and it's never very crowded. It's in January Hall, right across from Holmes and up the stairs. It's fun to explore the upper floors and there are no distractions from studying because everything's in Chinese or Japanese (unless you happen to know those languages- then it might be super distracting).
5. Music Library- This is a good place because almost no one goes there. It's inbetween campus and the forty, and there's stained glass. The hours are kind of annoying, but I might be the only one who likes to study on Sunday morning. There are also tiny rooms in the basement- you can ask for a key from the desk and listen to classical music while you work! It gets really claustrophobic after a while.
4. Olin Library- This is only here (oh wow, I'm such a nerd!) because the library is so handy for everything you need. There's the new computer lab with diner-booth seats, the wireless internet (but only on the 1st floor), and books in general. Does anyone else kind of miss the weird things that were written on the old desks, though? And how the graduate study rooms looked like confessionals? And the secret desks in the back of what used to be the 2nd floor? And the stale, musty book smell?
3. Law School Library- Just being there makes me feel sneaky. To get in after hours: enter on the 3rd floor (groundfloor facing campus), walk past the checkpoint without making eye contact with the student, make a right and take the stairs up to the fourth floor, walk around the quad area and into the library. Super-weird fact: in the 4th floor bathroom, it always sounds like someone is bagpiping in the distance! It reminds me of Harry Potter. There's also an ethernet port at every desk.
2. *shock* Starbucks. First, you get caffeinated drinks, which are important to any college student. You also get a comfy place to sit. You can talk to people around you or read the free newspaper if you get bored, but there's not always someone studying really hard right next to you to make you feel guilty. I've studied in them everywhere, including Oxford. My absolute favorite one, though, is on the corner of Wydown and Hanley, in Clayton, MO, because the people are all super-rich (fun to watch), and they bring their adorable children, Mark McGwire frequents it, and all of the baristas are really nice. Oh, and in the second week of April, the flowering trees are gorgeous.


and....





1. At home, in my bed, with my big fat cat cotton purring in my lap and a cup of Earl Greyer Tea on my nightstand.

5 more days of college!
-nicole