drop/add.

first of all. here it is called drop/add. why it is not called add/drop... i cannot tell you. but it is disorienting to say the least, just add it to the list of things i don't understand slash choose not to.

as an independent visiting student at AUP (when i told cornell i was applying their response was "oh, we don't send many there"... clearly i ignored them), i was unable to pre-enroll in courses. while students visiting from northeastern and GW could simply show up at course enroll and state they were there, placing them officially in the classes they pre-enrolled in, i had to do it the old school way.

and by old school i mean: no computers. one-on-one advising. waiting in line after line. receiving a red stamp declaring i was "REGISTERED" and receiving my AUP id, which resembles a bad fake with a grainy photo taken moments after i landed in paris.

after my meeting with geoff gilbert, my advisor, a professor in comparative literature at AUP, i created a hand written list of 6 classes i would be willing to take, 4 top choices, 2 alternatives. as i sat in the vacant chair in his office, he extended his arm and declared "cornell, eh? i spent two of the worst winters of my life working on my doctorate there, no wonder so many jump, eh?" to which i smiled (so un-french of me, i know!) and responded "you should visit again, we have fences." with no obviously appropriate response available, he smiled, told me he'd be lecturing there in march, and we began to search for available courses.

as i scooted out of geoff's door, he remarked "young american women often are too embarassed and self-conscious to truly embrace the french language, don't be afraid to sound stupid." sorry geoff, i am a young american woman... but thank you for the advice.

after all my lines had been waited in, all my papers stamped, all my tuition payments approved, i found myself with these lovely 18 credits:

French I (6 credits)

History of France Through Architecture (4 credits)

The French Revolution and Napoleon (4 credits)

Drawing I (4 credits)

two unanswered-emails later i am still unsure if drawing I or napoleon will get me any credit at cornell, but once again i am reminded that while i have maintained my connection with cornell via their $5,000 tuition charge, they actually could not care less about me seeing as i am no longer attending their institution.