Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building

(This is Stop #13 in the Texas A&M Building Writing Tour, my attempt to motivate myself on my dissertation by writing in every campus building before I graduate.)

I am so glad for my little write-every-building project. Without it, I’m sure I would have never set foot in the Joe Reynolds Medical Building, and I would have missed out on a special place. Its first surprise was on the plaque right inside the door…wow, I didn’t even know Texas A&M had a College of Medicine! Then another mystery: the name and picture of the new dean of libraries is near the door. Why would his office be in a medical building instead of a library?

(Actually, I’m still not sure whether we have a medical school. My lit review wizard mentioned it had moved off-campus somewhere. Then one of our Grad Camp speakers said the medical school had gone away during the mid-1990’s, but might be back soon. I am perfectly capable of looking it up, but somehow that feels like cheating. Plus, my complete ignorance about the buildings makes the tour more fun.)

What struck me most about the Medical Building was how LOUD it was. When I walked in, thirty people or so were gathered in the lounge talking. They left at the same time, and it momentarily fell quiet, like a normal building. Not for long. After writing here for a while, I noticed this building was different from the others I’d visited. Other buildings are full of individuals, with no connection to each other. These students actually know each other! 

They wandered through the lounge in clumps of two or three, always talking. Sometimes they talked about class, sometimes about medical topics (animal or human, I couldn’t tell). Sometimes they talked about innocuous things, like dinner plans or racquetball. A couple students were setting off to visit the new tunnel. For a brief moment, I enjoyed that feeling of superiority, which comes from knowing information other people don’t. (Completely ridiculous, but real…the human ego is untamable.) Yes, I had already discovered the tunnel. It runs under University Drive and connects the Vet Center with the Medical Sciences Library. I wonder…did those tunnel-touring students write in the tunnel, or just walk through? 

Medical school or no, these are clearly medical people. They wore scrubs, mostly maroon. They carried either nothing at all, or giant books—nothing in between. No purses. I saw “Atlas of Anatomy” on a bathroom shelf and was thankful to be an education major. Though really, when I think about it, writing a dissertation intimidates me far more than learning that atlas….if I could, I might just trade! 

While I was writing, two young men stopped by and played the piano for a while. I wish all my writing sessions had live music. Wow, what a treat!  

I was in a rush, and forgot to ask the piano players' names. I did ask, and receive, their permission to post the photograph on my silly building-writing blog. Thanks for the music, guys, you made my day!!