82 - sunday

today is a day I've looked forward to for a long time, like the big nerd I am: studying in the restricted access grad student cluster in the library.  as an undergrad, I envied my med school friends who could swipe their IDs and gain access to this mystery room, separated from the main computer cluster by a frosted glass wall.  it was oz for nerds, and I couldn't wait to get in there.  according to the grad school technology website, "the graduate student computer cluster on Level 2 [of the main library] is a refuge of peace and quiet in the midst of what can be a very busy place."

now. this might be true in december, during finals, when all the undergrads are freaking out and the libraries are open 24 hours and every seat is taken.  but it's july, it's sunday, and I'm fairly certain I'm one of maybe a dozen people in the library.  until just a few minutes ago, I was totally alone in the grad room.  I was happily reading and note-taking when another person entered, and of all the unoccupied computers (16), tables (9), and armchairs (6), he decided to sit down next to me at my table.    and sneeze, and sniffle, and slurp and gulp his coffee, and sneeze some more without covering his mouth, and chew and snap his gum, and bang on his computer keys so hard that the whole table shook.

this is solitary confinement.  ten windowless, cinderblock cells with a desk, a chair, and an outlet.  that's it.  there's another row of ten cells in the basement.  it's prison for learning.

this is where most of my thesis and countless other papers were written, and where my GRE and LSAT studying/practice testing went down.  I'm sticking with what I know works: I apparently will be spending my study hours as a grad student here in solitary confinement -- because the grad cluster is anything but the "peaceful haven" I imagined it to be.