Moving to Law School and Finding Housing

Naomi Stewart: Welcome back to Apply Yourself, a law school admissions podcast hosted by Washington University School of Law’s JD admissions office. My name is Naomi Stewart. I serve as one of the directors in the admissions office.

Anna Donovan: And I am Anna Donovan. I am the Communications Program Manager.

Naomi Stewart: And today, we are talking a little bit about winter in St. Louis.

Anna Donovan: Heck yeah.

Naomi Stewart: Yes, it’s a bonus episode, and the St. Louis episodes have been quite popular. So we’re back with another one about…

Anna Donovan: Yeah — millions of listeners are waiting for us to talk about what there is to do in St. Louis in the winter. And we are here to give you that information.

Naomi Stewart: Yes, we’re here to bring that information. The first thing on our list, I actually haven’t done — because of a ski injury — ice skating just sounds too scary.

Anna Donovan: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the best parts of WashU’s campus is the fact that the front yard of our campus is Forest Park, which is beautiful and amazing. Everyone, Google it. Look at some pictures. There are so many free cultural institutions there. We’re going to touch on, actually, I think, two of them specifically in this episode.

But there is an outdoor ice skating rink called Steinberg. They just got some funding to renovate Steinberg. You know, winter — it’s cold here in the Midwest — and you can go, you can get a hot chocolate, and you can do a little ice skating outside in the park.

Naomi Stewart: Yes. I go and watch people ice skate. I let my friends ice skate, for sure. It is absolutely a beautiful ice rink. It’s lovely. And it’s in a beautiful park, so a really, really fun thing to do.

Not too far from Forest Park is the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Anna Donovan: Yeah.

Naomi Stewart: It’s open all year round, and it’s one of the premier botanical gardens in the entire world. Truly. Absolutely gorgeous at all times of year. Winter is no exception. It is definitely something to see in the wintertime. They have different lights programs and all kinds of different things that happen during the wintertime.

Anna Donovan: Yeah. They have different events. You can become a member. And really, I think with all of these things and Midwest winters — you’ve got your coat, your hat, your gloves, your boots — you’re fine. You can go outside and do all the things.

We were talking about, you know, one of the great things about all the parks in St. Louis is how many farmers markets we’ve had and we have here. So many of those transition into kind of artisan markets — they may be staying outdoors, or they may be moving indoors or to different event spaces. I know there are some that take place at breweries in St. Louis. So those keep going even in the months when the weather isn’t super great outside.

Naomi Stewart: Yes, they do. It’s just a great way to find really local and fresh breads and honey and yogurt and just everything you can think of. It’s nice that it’s still available during the winter months. One of my favorites — and I’m going to call it the wrong thing, because they renamed it — but the Kirkwood Farmers Market.

Anna Donovan: Yes, it will always be the Kirkwood Farmers Market.

Naomi Stewart: Oh my gosh, it is just so, so cute. You go in and you get your little chocolate-covered honeycomb and the whole bit. I mean, they have everything.

Anna Donovan: They do. It is an excellent one. And really, wherever you are in St. Louis — wherever you’re staying in St. Louis — there’s probably one close by, so you can just do a quick Google search.

We’re going to take it back to Forest Park, but I love going to the zoo in the winter. The zoo is one of the best free experiences in St. Louis. It is so incredible. In the winter, it’s just a little less crowded. Again, get your winter gear on, but you can still see all the animals, stroll around, stay as long or as short as you want. It doesn’t matter, because it’s free. The polar bear loves it. We have a really excellent polar bear — you know, all the exhibits and stuff like that. We still saw seals — I just went a couple of weeks ago. It’s a nice little thing that you can do even in the winter.

Naomi Stewart: Yes, the St. Louis Zoo is amazing. You know, growing up in San Diego, I feel like I have this really high threshold for zoos, and the St. Louis Zoo has been ranked the number one zoo in the United States several times. So it is an absolutely fantastic institution for animals.

And another fantastic institution for animals, of course…

Anna Donovan: The Wolf Sanctuary.

Naomi Stewart: The Wolf Sanctuary. And it is actually — of course, I’m going to bring this up again, it’s going to come up as often as possible — it is actually a wolf center. A sanctuary would be where animals go and they’re not re-released. At this wolf center, they are there to be re-released into the wild. So it’s a really, really neat service. And it’s run in part by Washington University.

The reason it’s a great winter activity is because the wolves that are there are very, very active during the winter months, so if you really want to see them, and see them doing their wolf thing, going in the winter months is a great thing to do.

Continuing on our animal train: Lone Elk Park. There are some hiking trails at Lone Elk Park, but you can also drive your car through. You do not have to get out. You can stay in the warmth of your vehicle and see the bison there, which is very cool. Even as a full adult, I think it is thrilling and exciting to do that. It’s great for kids, but really — you want to take a little drive but stay in your car and see some animals, Lone Elk Park and seeing the bison is at the top of my list.

Anna Donovan: Yes. And, I mean, if you wanted to make a whole day of it: the Wolf Sanctuary — sorry, Wolf Center — Lone Elk Park… they’re all out, you know, probably like a 20-, 25-minute drive from where WashU is located. Also out in that area is Hidden Valley Ski Resort.

Naomi Stewart: Yep — we have ski slopes.

Anna Donovan: We do have ski slopes. It is not like Colorado, so — temper your expectations, everyone, about what skiing in Missouri is like. But Hidden Valley is actually owned by Vail Resorts, and so it’s run by them. It is a great place if you love skiing, snowboarding, all kinds of stuff — you can do that here. That’s what I tell all of our incoming students: all the things you love to do, you can do here. It’s a great place to go on a weekend or in an afternoon and to practice. It really is very, very enjoyable.

Of course, it’s not like Colorado Alpine skiing, but it is just a wonderful thing to have here. And, so much so — I think it is the most eastern and southern ski slope owned by Vail Resorts.

Naomi Stewart: Yeah, that’s what it seems, right?

Anna Donovan: Yeah, it’s wonderful. It’s super cool. I think it is definitely a hidden gem for people who love their winter outdoor sports. They also have very good deals on getting passes. You can get a pass to Hidden Valley, but I think you can also opt into something that may get you discounts or passes at other Vail resorts — kind of like a multi-mountain pass. You can tell that we are not skiers as we are telling you all about this.

But some very cool stuff in the winter. You know — common misconceptions of Midwestern winters: I think people just have in their head sort of the pictures you see of a Chicago, or a Michigan, or a Minnesota, or, you know, Madison, Wisconsin. We actually get very light winters here. It’s cold. We’ll get a few small snows. They will immediately melt. So really, our students who come every year — and some who have never seen snow before — find it very easy to adjust to the pretty mid-range, I don’t know, Midwestern winters. It’s not warm, but very manageable. Get that gear and you’ll be fine.

Naomi Stewart: With a warm coat, it’s just fine. There are a few weather events each winter — like, maybe just a handful of snowstorms, I’m saying in quotes — and the snow sticks for a few hours, and then it is gone. But really, it is quite manageable, and it’s just a beautiful environment. It really is lovely. There are just as many outdoor adventures as there are indoor adventures. So again — we love St. Louis so much, and we want people to love it. And every single season — do your own Googling if you’re planning a visit to St. Louis. There’s some great stuff to do here in the depths of [winter]…

Anna Donovan: Absolutely. If you have questions about St. Louis, or if there’s something that you like to do in the winter, or if you are like me — from a warmer climate — and have some trepidation about moving to a bit of a colder climate, we are always happy to answer questions and give recommendations of things to do. You can email us at applylaw@wustl.edu, or you can find lots of ways to connect with us at law.wustl.edu online.

Yeah — same as Naomi, I love to talk to people and convince them that they are going to love St. Louis as much as we do, so please do reach out to us.

Naomi Stewart: Well, this was great. I hope that in the spring we can spring up the Wolf Center again.

Anna Donovan: Yes, always coming back. All right — well, thank you, Naomi.

Naomi Stewart: Thank you, Anna. Bye-bye.