SBGradMag Stony Brook's Graduate Student Magazine

Back in the spring of 1996, I remember getting to choose my schedule of classes for the very first time. I was at the end of the eighth grade, getting ready for the monumental (it seemed) leap from middle school to high school. The ripples of excitement in the classroom were palpable, and I remember the guidance counselors coming to our classes and giving us little talks about how to choose classes wisely.

You put the key in the door and step inside. The room is painted in easy-on-the-eyes butter and mint, with slightly less-aesthetically-appealing gray carols arranged like the spots of the five on a dice. Three face north, the other two south. You've made an attempt to make the office more personal, but it's obvious that you're new to all this. There are no posters on the walls, no plants on the floor, no shelves overflowing books, as other offices are likely to have.