jenna tynan's blog

Alright, so I'm going to be going off to class pretty soon and those of you on the West Coast, I know it's going to say my blog was posted at like 5:30, but it's really 8:30 over here.  Anyway, I was considering what little bit of info that I could give about Cornell dealing with classes because I know some of you seniors might be looking into Cornell.

Okay, so you might think that because it's own of those heavily endowed research universities that the class sizes are small, but that's really not the case.  Well, at least for your freshman year it isn't.  I have five classes. Three of them have about 300-400 people in them, one has about 150-200, and the final one has 17.  The class with 17 is a required freshman writing seminar which is supposed to prepare you for college writing.  Really, it matters what seminar you get into because mine is just like AP literature but has a sole focus on Naturalism and Romanticism.  There's even one class taught by the famous professor Maas called psych 101.  There are like 1032 people in that class.  However, he might be retiring next year and all the books for that class alone cost three hundred to four hundred dollars.  Read More »

Hey everyone, I don't know if you got my first blog about starting this discussion forum on schools and jobs so bloggers can learn about different education and employment opportunities across the country.  Alright, so I'm a freshman at Cornell University.  Most of you probably know about it already but if not, it's the largest of the ivies and considered the easiest to get into.  Read More »

Alright, so I'm guessing that most of us are enrolled in some sort of schooling or work program that some days seems really miraculous or can be a pain in the tush.  What I'm suggesting is a forum to talk about these things everyday.  Someone can start the thread under an agreed upon title such as "school and work forum" and we can blog away.

So I'm suggesting this forum because it could serve two really progressive purposes.  First of all, it gives you the ability to get something off your chest.  If there's something really good about a work experience you had, maybe that would inspire some fellow bloggers to look into that career path.  If there's something bad about your day, blog about it because it could show the pros and cons of that certain career decision (i.e. working in a pet groomers: Pro would be taking care of really sweet animals and a con would be being bitten one day.)  Also, especially for college students like me, I think it would be great if you could keep sort of a journal entry of your college experience.  I bet there are a lot of high school seniors and juniors that wish they could get that inside track information about colleges across the country that the USA today college report doesn't have.  Read More »

Now I know that all you guys reading this are going to think that I'm going to go on some feminist tirade on how "the man" has kept us women down.  But no.  I'm going to try to stay pretty objective and just give you some facts and describe some human behavior that has led to the consistent inequalities in the workplace.  This article by Irene Padavic and Barbara Reskin describes these statistics and social behavoirs.  Read More »

I don't know about you, but it seems like I change the way I speak when I'm in different company.  When I'm around guys, I'm more direct and crass.  When I'm around girls, I'm polite and sometimes beat around the bush.  Well an article by Deborah Tannen called "men and Women in Conversation" define this type of speech as ritual speech.  Sometimes the words that come out of our mouths are a ritual where the exact meaning is not implied.  Read More »

Alright so I know that one time or another you all have been introduced to the concept of popularity and cliques.  Have you ever wondered why certain kids seem at the top of the pecking order and are dominant figures in the high school hierarchy?  Well, I read an article by Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler describing how boys and girls go to the top of the social ladder.

There are certain elements that make boys and girls more prone to popularity and in the study, the aspects that were found in girls were more consistent than those found with boys.  Boys were considered popular if they had some athletic ability or at least an interest in sports (you know you're stereotypical jock).  Boys were also considered popular if they displayed trouble and toughness and were rebellious to authority (the bad boy).  Boys along the middle of the intellect spectrum and who were "ladies men" were also considered popular.  Read More »

I know that this is going to sound strange, but have you ever been thankful, I mean really thankful for a school assignment?  Well, I never thought I would be.  I mean, I would be happy that I gained some knowledge into a subject or maybe gained a new interest, but the first time I was ever truely thankful for an assignment was today at 11:00 am eastern standard time.

A man by the name of Reverend Edward Pinkney came to my school today to remind us students about our roles in changing society for the better.  First, I'll give you some background information on this man then, I'll tell you how poignant his speech was today.  Read More »

So, I don't know about the type of tests you guys and gals are all administered but I get a mix of scantron (multiple choice), fill in the blank, short answer and essay.  So when I get a scantron test, I'm happy because it's usually easier and I expect to get it back quickly.  I mean, all what the teacher has to do is throw it in the machine and watch the machine spit the scantron out.  Read More »