If you have spent at least one full year at Northeastern University… or in my case four (cue the quarter life crisis), then you probably already are cynical about our school’s ability to handle certain student situations. No, I’m not talking about how students take part in the “NU shuffle,” or compete for on-campus housing, or fight their way into a full class. I’m referring to how Northeastern manages myNEU and big student events- two things that go together like Lorelai Gilmore and her mother… and by that they don’t.
If you know anything about Northeastern, then you already know at least three things about this year’s Homecoming:
- The guest is Amy Schumer *screams internally*
- Everyone will rush to get tickets as soon as they are released… because it’s Amy Schumer (wait how did Northeastern even get her?)
- myNEU will be terribly unprepared to handle it
Tickets were going on sale at 9 p.m. and I desperately wanted one, so I decided to prepare for the heavy traffic. Here is my dramatic timeline of events:
8:30 PM: I had the myNEU tab open and credit card on hand.
8:50 PM: myNEU crashed. Are you serious? It’s not even 9 p.m. yet.
9:00 PM: I angrily refresh the login page until I finally manage to log in… after 20 minutes.
9:20 PM: I access myTickets and get sent to a “virtual waiting room.” I “virtually waited” for 30 minutes, unable to use my computer for anything else in fear I would lose my “virtual spot.”
9:50 PM: I become ecstatic as my turn comes (finally!!), but then my session expires. I login, thinking myNEU will pick up where it left off… not. It seems myNEU had short-term memory when it forgot I had been waiting for half an hour and made me start the whole process all over again. Seriously?
9:55 PM: I am once again in the “virtual waiting room.” It feels like I am in a cycle of torture that will never allow me to get Amy tickets. I can’t be alone in this, so I decide to check social media on my phone and see if other students are sharing my misery.
Turns out, my situation was pretty common. Students were posting in the event’s Facebook page about experiencing similar issues, and Northeastern’s Council for University Programs (CUP) was urging students to be patient. Patient? In a time of crisis? I think not. On Twitter, some users decided to be funny and accuse Amy of exploding myNEU. But seriously though, this is not a laughing matter. I need my Amy ticket.
10:10 PM: The cycle of torture continues. I switch off between waiting, my session expiring, login back in, virtually waiting and finally accessing myTickets… only to have my session expire again. Tickets are probably sold out by now, but I have to persevere. Amy is worth it.
10:30 PM: I finally make it to the purchasing page (I think I might cry). There are only balcony tickets left. I put in all this effort to only have the option of a balcony ticket? You know what, it doesn’t matter anymore, I’ll take it. I just want to see Amy.
And this is how I finally managed to acquire a balcony ticket to see Amy Schumer. Yes, there is humor in the story, but in all seriousness, how is it possible that one of US News’ top 50 schools has such an outdated student portal? It took me an hour and a half to purchase a single student ticket for a college event. This seems outrageous and unnecessary. I could have been doing other things with my time, such as studying for my upcoming midterm (oops). And don’t think this is an isolated incident, myNEU experienced similar problems when students tried to purchase tickets for Kid Cudi’s 2013 Spring Fest concert.
I am sure Northeastern has the resources and capacity to revamp myNEU, let’s face it, we have a hideous student portal. I am not a computer scientist, but it doesn’t take one to know myNEU could use an update. The Amy Schumer glitch has been a very frustrating one, but it’s not myNEU’s only problem. The portal is oftentimes slow and repetitive, has a confusing and cluttered layout and sessions expire unnecessarily. Maybe the Amy Schumer glitch can instigate an effort to improve myNEU. Surely the administration will be aware of this problem and acknowledge that it is unacceptable for a top-tier university to have a second-rate student portal. Right? Until that time comes, I will be “virtually waiting” for myNEU to get itself together. At least I have Amy Schumer to look forward to.