Posted 5:42 AM by Blah blah

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College Life

The bioinformatics program here was started by a very friendly woman. She went to Harvard and Penn State and spent the last two years doing research at the National Science Foundation in Washington, DC. She has been incredibly nice to me.

I'm so used to impersonal, uncaring bureaucracies in college, but here I'm shocked that people, including administration folks, are actually willing and eager to help students. Teachers give you their numbers and invite you to call. Everyone is within a few minutes' walk of each other too, plus the classes are NOT overcrowded, and I seem to be able to add whatever I want---even late adds. For an Oracle DBA class, the teacher happily said I could audit it for free, if I didn't want to formally take it. They have brand new flat screen Macs in the library (at least 15) for all students to get on the Internet. There is no line, no need to take a number for these Macs. The library is air-conditioned, a plus since it was 94 F on Monday and I was literally dripping sweat. Registering for classes is incredibly efficient and simple. It's all online. Or you may use a touchtone phone system. Several classes also offer an online section, for working people who can't be there physically.

Please tell me this is not a dream. Sorry, I'm still in shock.