Amy's Adventures in Academia, or You Call This Education?
Ugh. By which I mean, UGH.
Wherein the universe makes a first attempt at getting in my way (last week and the week before):
I registered for classes last week, and was told that I had 48 hours to pay the tuition bill, so, less than 48 (but more than 24) hours later, I hopped online and made the payment. A few days later, I went online to check my class schedule, and found that I had been dropped from every class! WHAT?!? Down to the admissions office I went, and was told that, no, really, you have to pay within 24 hours, or all your classes will be dropped. Urgh. So, I re-registered for both in-person, show-up-in-a-classroom classes, but had to switch my online class from psychology to history, due to the fact that even online classes have a maximum capacity.
Wherein the universe gives me a gift (Wednesday):
U-Pass! Didn't even know that it existed, but it seems it does it exist, and I'm eligible for one! Free unlimited CTA usage, just for being a full-time student!
Wherein the universe screws with me again, part 1 (Thursday morning):
Day one of class, I board the #80 bus at an absurdly early hour (how do these people expect me to function at 8 am?), and feed my little U-Pass into... the cash slot. Oops. You see, I've been using that wave-the-plastic-card-in-front-of-the-spot Chicago Card for so long, I sort of forgot which of the put-a-thing-in-the-slot box was for cash, and which was for cards. Or maybe I just wasn't fully awake yet. In any case, the U-Pass disappeared into the cash slot just as I realized I should have placed it in the slot 2 inches to the right. Ack! Eek! Well, the Flying Spaghetti Monster giveth, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster taketh away. The bus driver told me to call the CTA central office and give them the bus and route number, and I might get the card back. Yay!
Wherein coffee betrays me (Later Thursday morning):
So, I make it class, which turns out to be both dull and frustrating, in part because the teacher seems unable to teach facts first and his personal philosophies second. Well, it happens. I didn't expect to enjoy economics, anyway. During the class break, I fill my nice, big travel mug with coffee, then settle in for another hour of trying hard to care about the subject matter. I'm in the seat closest to the door, and the noise from the hallway is, well, noisy, so I decide to close the door. Just as I'm doing so, a late student runs in, causing me to step back to let her pass, bump the desk, and knock over the coffee cup. Now, this is not the kind of travel mug that has a fully-closable lid, oh, no, it's the kind that has a nice sippy-spot that doesn't close at all. Did you know that knocking one of those things over will cause coffee to splatter all over the desk, chair, wall, floor, syllabus, and your purse? It will. So, despite the instructor's suggestion that I just move to another seat, I scurry down the hallway to find some paper towels, since I figure the spreading puddle right in front of the doorway was probably some kind of slip-and-fall hazard. Can't find the women's bathroom, so I grab a random man from the hallway and send him into the men's for paper towels. He brings me one. No, dude, I need way more than that. He goes back in, and brings me the entire roll from the machine. Good random man, very good. Return to class, mop up the worst of the java puddle on the floor, then move to the only remaining seat in the class- sharing a table with the 55-year-old woman who insists on turning every question into a conversation with the professor re: her life experiences. That's fun. After class, I finish mopping up the coffee left on the chair, wall, and floor, much to everyone's confusion. Why? Why is everyone so amazed that I spilled something and then cleaned it up? The instructor even told me to leave it for the janitor. Now, tell me, please, if I have created a giant coffee pond in front of a door people will use, why should I just leave it there in the hopes that someone else will eventually clean it up? And, if I have the paper towels right here, and wiping up the rest of the mess will take about 10 seconds, why should I not just do it? I told the instructor that I just didn't want anyone to slip in the puddle, and he said, "Oh. That's nice of you." with a very confused look on his face.
Wherein the universe screws with me again, part 2 (Thursday afternoon):
Call the CTA office only to be told that the bus driver should have given me a form to fill out, confirming that the fare box ate my card. (Apparently, this is common enough that a procedure for dealing with it exists.) If I had this form, I could just get the U-Pass replaced, but the bus driver never mentioned any form- she just told me to call the main office and explain what happened. CTA office guy (and CTA bus garage guy, because I called them, too) told me that if they locate the card they will send it back to me, but otherwise I'll have to pay a $35 fee for a new one. $35 is still a pretty good price for as often as I'll use the CTA before the end of the term, and before last week I didn't even know such a thing as a U-Pass existed, but... I had it and I lost it and I want it back.
The rest of afternoon was, for some reason, filled with minor irritations, including, but not limited to, being lost in thought and missing my train stop, and having to listen to some snotty butthead making rude comments behind me as I stood in line to pick up lunch.
Taken separately, these are all minor things, but added up, I was starting to feel like someone, somewhere, had engineered a plot to make sure I had a very bad start to the summer term.
Saturday, what a day:
Had geography today. When the professor wasn't making sure we all knew that schools at all levels fail us miserably by not properly teaching geography, and when he wasn't making snarky comments about misinformation coming from and misinformed decisions being made by Democrats in congress, he actually was very interesting, and kind of entertaining. Only... look, I know it's not possible to keep opinion out of these things, and you should definitely share your viewpoint with us, but can we please have, say, facts first, so we can form opinions on our own, and then hear what you think about it? Please? Also, despite his many comments re: how undereducated we all obviously must be when it comes to geography, we were let go from a 6-hour class meeting after less than 3. At least there's free wi-fi on the lower level of the building. Playing with LJ is a productive use of what was supposed to be class time, right?
Wherein the universe makes a first attempt at getting in my way (last week and the week before):
I registered for classes last week, and was told that I had 48 hours to pay the tuition bill, so, less than 48 (but more than 24) hours later, I hopped online and made the payment. A few days later, I went online to check my class schedule, and found that I had been dropped from every class! WHAT?!? Down to the admissions office I went, and was told that, no, really, you have to pay within 24 hours, or all your classes will be dropped. Urgh. So, I re-registered for both in-person, show-up-in-a-classroom classes, but had to switch my online class from psychology to history, due to the fact that even online classes have a maximum capacity.
Wherein the universe gives me a gift (Wednesday):
U-Pass! Didn't even know that it existed, but it seems it does it exist, and I'm eligible for one! Free unlimited CTA usage, just for being a full-time student!
Wherein the universe screws with me again, part 1 (Thursday morning):
Day one of class, I board the #80 bus at an absurdly early hour (how do these people expect me to function at 8 am?), and feed my little U-Pass into... the cash slot. Oops. You see, I've been using that wave-the-plastic-card-in-front-of-the-spot Chicago Card for so long, I sort of forgot which of the put-a-thing-in-the-slot box was for cash, and which was for cards. Or maybe I just wasn't fully awake yet. In any case, the U-Pass disappeared into the cash slot just as I realized I should have placed it in the slot 2 inches to the right. Ack! Eek! Well, the Flying Spaghetti Monster giveth, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster taketh away. The bus driver told me to call the CTA central office and give them the bus and route number, and I might get the card back. Yay!
Wherein coffee betrays me (Later Thursday morning):
So, I make it class, which turns out to be both dull and frustrating, in part because the teacher seems unable to teach facts first and his personal philosophies second. Well, it happens. I didn't expect to enjoy economics, anyway. During the class break, I fill my nice, big travel mug with coffee, then settle in for another hour of trying hard to care about the subject matter. I'm in the seat closest to the door, and the noise from the hallway is, well, noisy, so I decide to close the door. Just as I'm doing so, a late student runs in, causing me to step back to let her pass, bump the desk, and knock over the coffee cup. Now, this is not the kind of travel mug that has a fully-closable lid, oh, no, it's the kind that has a nice sippy-spot that doesn't close at all. Did you know that knocking one of those things over will cause coffee to splatter all over the desk, chair, wall, floor, syllabus, and your purse? It will. So, despite the instructor's suggestion that I just move to another seat, I scurry down the hallway to find some paper towels, since I figure the spreading puddle right in front of the doorway was probably some kind of slip-and-fall hazard. Can't find the women's bathroom, so I grab a random man from the hallway and send him into the men's for paper towels. He brings me one. No, dude, I need way more than that. He goes back in, and brings me the entire roll from the machine. Good random man, very good. Return to class, mop up the worst of the java puddle on the floor, then move to the only remaining seat in the class- sharing a table with the 55-year-old woman who insists on turning every question into a conversation with the professor re: her life experiences. That's fun. After class, I finish mopping up the coffee left on the chair, wall, and floor, much to everyone's confusion. Why? Why is everyone so amazed that I spilled something and then cleaned it up? The instructor even told me to leave it for the janitor. Now, tell me, please, if I have created a giant coffee pond in front of a door people will use, why should I just leave it there in the hopes that someone else will eventually clean it up? And, if I have the paper towels right here, and wiping up the rest of the mess will take about 10 seconds, why should I not just do it? I told the instructor that I just didn't want anyone to slip in the puddle, and he said, "Oh. That's nice of you." with a very confused look on his face.
Wherein the universe screws with me again, part 2 (Thursday afternoon):
Call the CTA office only to be told that the bus driver should have given me a form to fill out, confirming that the fare box ate my card. (Apparently, this is common enough that a procedure for dealing with it exists.) If I had this form, I could just get the U-Pass replaced, but the bus driver never mentioned any form- she just told me to call the main office and explain what happened. CTA office guy (and CTA bus garage guy, because I called them, too) told me that if they locate the card they will send it back to me, but otherwise I'll have to pay a $35 fee for a new one. $35 is still a pretty good price for as often as I'll use the CTA before the end of the term, and before last week I didn't even know such a thing as a U-Pass existed, but... I had it and I lost it and I want it back.
The rest of afternoon was, for some reason, filled with minor irritations, including, but not limited to, being lost in thought and missing my train stop, and having to listen to some snotty butthead making rude comments behind me as I stood in line to pick up lunch.
Taken separately, these are all minor things, but added up, I was starting to feel like someone, somewhere, had engineered a plot to make sure I had a very bad start to the summer term.
Saturday, what a day:
Had geography today. When the professor wasn't making sure we all knew that schools at all levels fail us miserably by not properly teaching geography, and when he wasn't making snarky comments about misinformation coming from and misinformed decisions being made by Democrats in congress, he actually was very interesting, and kind of entertaining. Only... look, I know it's not possible to keep opinion out of these things, and you should definitely share your viewpoint with us, but can we please have, say, facts first, so we can form opinions on our own, and then hear what you think about it? Please? Also, despite his many comments re: how undereducated we all obviously must be when it comes to geography, we were let go from a 6-hour class meeting after less than 3. At least there's free wi-fi on the lower level of the building. Playing with LJ is a productive use of what was supposed to be class time, right?