I Can Study Too, Just Like You

I Can Study Too, Just Like You

The picture above basically describes what I feel like doing right now. I feel another rant coming on. I've decided that during the hour between my Culture and Mass Media class and my Creative Writing class I would spend a little time writing my blog on the Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays that I have it (which is holding true; I can only promise to be posting three times a week since school has begun again). Usually there is no class occupying the room during the hour before Creative Writing starts, so I just sit in the room with it all to myself and study and blog; it's pretty great.

I was already feeling just a little peeved since when I arrived at the room it was occupied by a bunch of nice but very socially awkward graduate engineering majors. In fact, when I asked to make sure they would have the room, none of the six of them could get the words out that ,yes, they had reserved the room. They stood there and stumbled and stammered over their words like God had asked them what they were doing for charity lately. But I digress. Anyway so I understood and left. They reserved the room and I most certainly had not, it is just kind of my little (only holds 20 students at a large round table) private study room for the hour and I quite enjoy it, but I have no claim to it. So I moved on.

Directly across from the Arts and Science building where that room is at is the Law Building. They have a very nice library in there that, from peering through the huge glass windows, I could see was practically empty. Now, let me just add that I happened to go to Ellis Library for a silly scavenger hunt I had to complete for a class that is meant to acquaint students with Ellis and the Mizzou libraries in general, and one of the questions was to find the closest library to my residence; it happens to be the law library. This is significant because you would think that since the library system is advertising the law library to all students that all students would be welcome. No. I saw a sign that if you are not a law student you must sign in, which is reasonable. However, as I walked up to the sign-in sheet the desk attendant started asking me questions.
"Are you a law student of the university?"
"No."
"Okay, you'll need to sign in. Are you here to conduct legal research?"
"No, I am just here to study in the library."
(in a sappy, empathetic tone)"Oh well I am sooo sorry, you have to be conducting legal research in order to enter. Have a nice day." and then he turns to face the other way and pays me no more mind.

Excuse me, although I know this is an argument made since tuition was created, I PAY A HELL OF A LOT OF MONEY to attend here. ...Or...my parents do. I walked out extremely peeved and even had trouble getting the door since I was so frazzled. The law library was basically empty; I wasn't taking anything away from the precious law students, I just wanted to sit in a desk with an outlet. I know it isn't because the legal documents are that precious either, because he would have easily allowed me to use them if I had said it was for legal research. I didn't even want that though! I JUST wanted a quiet library space in close proximity to the class I had in less than an hour right across the courtyard. It frustrates me because there is no reason I can think of that should prohibit me from being aloud to study in a library at a university of which I am a paying student. It is my right to study wherever I want, and the only reason I wasn't aloud is because they didn't like my purpose for being there. When did studying at college become an invalid reason for utilizing a library?