"Haiyo! So easy oso donno ah?!!"

"Haiyo! So easy oso donno ah?!!"

 

A lecturer once hissed this to me at computer class, many years ago at college. I readily admit that I was completely ignorant. Worst of all, I was phobic, so I used to grow very cold and blank out during the torture sessions at the computer lab. In my poor psychological state, her remark wasn't at all helpful. However, on reflection, this condescending remark was her only useful contribution to my life as a teacher. I learnt never to say this to anyone, and I never have, because I became acutely aware, on that fateful day in that computer class, that "easy" is indeed a very relative concept.

 

What got me thinking was my repeated failure in accomplishing what was supposed to have been an “easy” task. I wanted to change the header graphic of this blog and replace it with my own customized version. I tried and I tried. As the minutes went by, it became evident that I was failing miserably in doing an “easy” task. Change the header. What's so hard about that?

 

The instructions said: "To use your own header image enter the complete url into the Header Image URL box below - eg http://www.yoursite.com/yourfile.jpg.”

 

I was perplexed. What is "mysite"? I don't have a site. The next question was, should I be starting some kind of site? That would be way, way, too much trouble for such a small task. In search of a simpler solution, I figured out (wrongly, it turns out) that I should key in my WordPress address for "mysite". Didn't work. In desperation, I keyed in the local destination address in the "yourfile" part of the URL. Didn't work either. This went on for a good half hour. I was getting tense and terse. I told my husband - "You try it!"

 

He said, "Apparently, it looks like your image file must be stored somewhere online." It was a good observation. It was actually the key to the solution, although we didn’t know it at that point.

 

"Let's try to get the URL of any picture, and paste it in the box and see what happens." I said, "No, it won't work!" Like I said, I was tense. It should have been easy for me, but I couldn’t do it.

 

He said, "Look, just do it! No harm trying. It might work." So we pasted the URL of a random picture and, you guessed it - it worked. It should have been obvious to me. But it wasn't, and that is the point I'm trying to make. "Easy" is a very, very relative concept. I try not to take it for granted that what is "easy" for me is also "easy" for another person.

 

My epic struggle with changing the WordPress header image reminded me, once again, that learning is often painful. It is sometimes utterly miserable. As teachers, we don't need to compound the misery for our students with cutting remarks like, "Haiyo! So easy oso donno ah?!!"

 

A perceptive teacher who is also a serious learner will be keenly aware that "easy" ain't necessarily so.

 

That said, a future post will be a tutorial on how to change the WordPress header image. The WordPress instructions are appalling. So, if you want to upload a customized header, you must first go through a merry-go-round process of uploading your images elsewhere first. I'll explain it in a forthcoming post. What a headache!

 

I hope you approve of my new header. I went on a trek to Alaska and back to get it there. That's why it's so "cool"! Harhar!