Journal Entry

Thursday, August 24, 2000

The first official day of school has arrived. Welcome to Cornell!

My first order of business today was to move my math course to what it is on the schedule posted here, M-F 9-10am. I arrived at the Math department, and let me tell you, they need some major work there. A line of only 15-20 people took an hour to process. Once I got to the front, I figured out the holdup. One lady, processing everyone, one by one. Not only that, but she *had* to consult with everyone on their times. Just process the forms!!

Well, it turns out that the two 9am times were FULL. Great. So I settled for an 8am time. Believe me when I say this is changing next week.

I barely made it out of that office in time for my CS100 introductory lecture. Fortunately, its location was just across the street. Quite lucky! I walked in just as the professor did. And, I got him to sign the math exchange form. He's a very nice guy, but just a little overwhelmed this week. Not only does he have freshman advisees, but also CS advisees, and new course curriculum to deal with.

The CS lecture was simply an introduction to the computer programming course itself. No material was really covered. The differences between the M and J versions of the course were described. CS100M covers MATLAB and Java languages equally, whereas CS100J is almost all Java. I am leaning towards the M course so I can decide which language I like better. The M course is suggested for engineers as well, because of its practical data analysis uses.

The majority of my time today was spent on hold with Cellular One. I wanted to get voicemail set up on my phone, and for some reason, they were having trouble doing so. But they weren't the only ones. I had a terrible time reaching a live person. Calling 1-800-CELLONE was impossible from a regular phone... they required a "valid" cell phone number, and mine wasn't accepted. If you were "not a current customer," staying on the line simply led you to a message that said the number you entered (even if you didn't) wasn't valid, and you were clicked off.

Thankfully, those smart folks came up with the *611 feature so I could reach customer service directly. But that meant talking on the cell phone the whole time, from inside the dorm, where it insisted on going to analog mode, so they couldn't determine what features I had and didn't have, because in analog mode, none of the add-ons are functional.

Hours later, voicemail became operational. Hooray for technology.

Tonight I spoke with the crew of the Cornell University Emergency Medical Services (CUEMS) about being on the EMS team. Although no experience is necessary, it helps to have some certifications. I still have no idea whether or not I'm actually enrolled in the EMT PE course. If I don't get a "no, stay away or else," then I'll be showing up for it anyway. What's more irresistible than an ignorant freshman who thinks he's confirmed in the course and still really, really wants to do it?

The food here really does rock. So many options. It's like the mall. Except here, they check you at the door, and the rest is all you can eat. We have professional chefs on staff, with an amazing crew of student employees who do a great job. And no, this isn't just for the first week. It lasts all year.

I've got an 8am class to deal with, so I'm signing off for now. Best of luck to all of my fellow college-goers!

Aaron