The Lighter Side

 

Ideas Excite

I'm sure it wasn't planned. My professor was so eager to get his points across he stood on his chair to explain a graph on his Powerpoint. Then he clapped his hands to ground home a point about historical economic comparisons. All in the name of good teaching.

Navigation Issues

While learning good things from smart people and good books, I have to learn unexpected things. It's part of the journey.

Take yesterday. Here's the path to checking my registration and seeing last semester's grade. My TA asked me to check my registration by going to the Student Center. Having never heard of a Student Center at Cornell -- Willard Straight? Purcell? Appel? -- I figured I would just stop into the registrar's office on my way to class. They sent me down a floor to the School of Continuing Education and Summer Studies, where a staff member looked up my record and confirmed that I am auditing my class this semester.

"Great. Thank you," I said.

"You can go to the Student Center for that, too" she said.

"Where is the Student Center?" I asked.

"Well, the best way is to go through Just the Facts."

Wha....? I thought, and then, "Oh! You mean the Student Center is online!" Now I was getting somewhere.

"You know I was also wondering how to find my grade from last semester. Is that how I would look it up online?"

Indeed it was. I'm just beginning to navigate Cornell's online universe from a student perspective. And when to go online and when to show up in person.