As I sit down to write, I believe there is probably still smoke coming from my ears or tears dropping from my lids. A recent encounter with a professor on campus leaves me disappointed, yet again, with an experience at Northeastern Illinois that should have been positive. Allow me to first backtrack, and then, explain.
With the hope of avoiding the proverbial Dorothy and Toto jokes or comments about my missing ruby red slippers, let me indulge that I am from Kansas. To be exact, I am a transfer student from Hays, Kansas. The small town of approximately 20,000 people is also the location of my “home” university-Fort Hays State. Ah western Kansas-the land of heavy winds, vast prairie and ever-changing, unpredictable weather. However unappealing it may sound to the reader from big city Chicago, after residing here for a few weeks, I actually find myself missing the sunflower state.
After being accepted into a student exchange program titled “National Student Exchange,” I picked NEIU as my location for higher education. With friends of the family living near the campus and a diverse student population, I decided it would be a great school to attend. However, there have been numerous times when I wish I would have stayed in small-town Kansas. With the new system NEIUport, figuring out my classes and registering proved to be extremely difficult-especially while living twelve hours away. My advisor was as helpful as she could be but the frustrating process was only exacerbated by the fact that most instructors I attempted to contact via telephone or email did not return the messages I continually left. In addition, it’s not as though I was registering late or trying to get into closed classes-this was all occurring early April. It’s also terribly irritating that wireless access can be obtained almost nowhere on campus. It is certainly a change considering my much smaller home school has free, available wifi-even in the most remote corners of campus.
Now back to that initial story. Leaving names out of the picture, I was extremely upset after my most recent experience with an NEIU instructor. After discovering that one of the classes I enrolled in wouldn’t transfer, I searched, in vain, for another course. Due to the fact that the university doesn’t offer my intended major of Journalism, it has been difficult to find classes to take and after finally finding one…I realized, to my disappointment, that it was full. Making a long story shorter, I proceeded to call, email and stop by the office of the instructor over the next few days to no avail. Finally, I walked the five blocks to campus in the rain that evening when the class was in session-knowing he would be there to teach. After an introduction and full explanation of my difficult situation as well as inquiry of my attempts at contact, I was returned the two-word answer “it’s full.” A blank, cold stare was all that followed as I stood sopping wet, hoping to hold my tears until safely out of the room.
Now, not wanting to sound like a negative individual, I have had positive experiences during my time here. There are always kind people willing to lend a hand to someone new. An example is Assistant Dean of Students, Robert Bedford. Due to the fact that my advisor was not on campus until classes began, I was very lucky to meet Dr. Bedford on my first day. He gave me a student survival kit as well as pointing out a local bank and grocery store. In addition, I have met many warm and friendly students in fellow Independent staff members as well as classmates and all of my current professors are lovely. Chicago is definitely a movin’, shakin’ city and events such as the downtown Jazz Festival and charming local concerts in the park have given me beautiful memories in my short time here so far. Thus, as with any experience in life, I suppose the bad must be taken with the good.