Tales from the Library

Those close to me know that I don't study in the library. It is populated with many of my "classmates," who tend to want to distract with human interactions and conversations upon seeing me. I prefer to study in the homemade sensory deprivation chamber in my apartment, where the audio-notes are continuously pumped in over Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries".

But this weekend, I got this urge to join my peers in this ritualistic practice of learning in the library. I braved the last throes of Chicago winter and entered this temple of books. I wandered upstairs and began to study on one of the many comfortable couches by the windows. But...sometime was wrong.

Pictured above: I took off my glasses to show everyone around me how intense I was studying. Also, it's fun to take off glasses dramatically.

Sure, I was learning the three R's of medical school (Reading, 'Riting, and R'Anatomy), but I found it difficult to concentrate in this corner of the library.

Pictured above: My "vintage laptop", which is just a stack of printed notes. More portable than my peers' conventional laptops and just as wireless.

I found that the excess of natural light and sunny disposition of my classmates was distracting me from my studying. So I ventured down into the catacombs of the library in search of the ideal study spot. Despite the etchings of warnings on the walls, I continued down into its depths. After literally minutes of searching, I finally arrived in the abandoned basement of Galter.

Pictured above: No minotaur, but the mobile shelves can crush a man just as easily.

It was everything I had dreamed of. Exposed pipes and wires. Low ceiling and poor lighting. The sense of impending doom. I had finally found my perfect study sanctuary.

Pictured above: Paradise.