To update you: my back is as good as new, the Banquet (God, it's been that long since my last post???) went wonderfully, as demostrated by this photo of a smiling me and the CAO of the hospital (this was the end of the night... the fact she was smiling is a very good sign)
and I survived the annual Summer Picnic: yet another Activities Committee duty that was a royal pain to put together but was all worth it in the end. Anyway! My next endeavor is grad school, which starts in a measly week and a half =( I am so bummed about this. Getting here hasn't been easy. That is: dealing with WVU and getting all my questions answered, t's crossed, and i's dotted. I guess the first sign that this wasn't going to be an easy process started a year ago, when they sent me a letter saying, "Congratulations! You are starting grad school in the Fall of 2010!" Wrong. I had to call them and correct that
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when I saw my tuition fees for the first semester for the first time. I almost seized. A friend of mine finished this program a few years ago, and as a resident of West Virginia, didn't really bat an eye at the cost of tuition. Here I was, staring at a $6000+ bill for the first semester. I died. It was an out of body experience. I was expecting a few grand, sure... but SIX? No no. My goal is to get through graduate school without a loan (be it from Barack or my father) and I certainly do not have $25,000 sitting in my savings account, after having joined the workforce a year ago, waiting to be spent on furthering my education. I called them, was transferred about 10 times to different people, none of whom knew how to handle this, until I finally reached someone who knew what was going on around her. Apparently that letter I received last summer, the one that mistook me for a 2010 student, is what royally screwed my record. I guess when I applied for grad school I hadn't been a West Virginia resident long enough to be considered for in-state tuition, assuming I'd be starting in '10. Now that it's 2011, I have been a resident long enough for in-state tuition and it just wasn't changed in their computer system. I never thought I'd beg and plead with someone to consider me a resident of West Virginia. Thankfully it got bumped down to a MUCH more reasonable amount of money (so reasonable, in fact, I can already afford it with the money in my savings account now! All 2 years worth!) but it didn't go down without the following asinine conversation took place beforehand:
Them: Are you working in West Virginia?
Me: Yes.
Them: Do you have a West Virginia driver's license?
Me: Yes.
Them: Do you have a vehicle registered in West Virginia?
Me: Yes.
Them: Are you registered to vote in West Virginia?
Me: Yes.
Them: Do you pay West Virginia income taxes?
Me: Yes.
Them: When you applied, you left that section blank.
Me: When I applied, it was Spring and I had just gotten hired by my current employer. I didn't need to pay income taxes last Spring.
Them: We have your contact number listed with an out-of-state area code.
Me: So?
Them: Well that just raises a red flag in our computer system that you may not live in-state.
Me: Your computer doesn't acknowledge the fact that some people have family members living over the state line?
Them: We have you changed in the system.
And that's how it's done. But it didn't stop there. Once I paid my tuition I kept hearing rumors floating around that I was supposed to receive a letter in the mail outlining when classes start, when orientation is, etc. etc. I never received said letter, so I did what I do best: obsess about it and bug other people for answers. I saw that my classes were listed on the WVU student website, but all the relevant information was "TBA," which I find unacceptable considering they start in a week and a half. I pictured myself blindly walking into buildings on campus, checking empty rooms for signs of life and asking strangers, "are you in the Master's Social Work program? You've never heard of it?" and before you know it I have missed my very first grad school class. And my second class would be the next evening and I won't know where to go for that one, either, so the whole scenario would replay itself. See how that goes in my head? This morning, actually, is when I called WVU yet again to seek answers:
Me: Hi there. Classes for my Master's Degree in Social Work start in two weeks and none of my class information is being displayed on the website. I can see the course title and the teacher's name, but not the date, location, or time.
Them: Ok, do you know who your advisor is?
Me: I got a letter last summer telling me who my advisor is, but she is no longer employed with WVU. So I have no idea who it is now.
Them: Ok... hold on...
*5 minutes of bad music*
Them: Ok, ma'am?
Me: Yeah?
Them: Ok... ("Does she know who her advisor is?") No, she doesn't!
Me: Hello?
Them: Sorry. So you have no idea who your advisor is?
Me: ...you know, I have all the course information right in front of me, if you could just look that up instead...
Them: What are you getting your degree in?
Me: The "direct practice" track. It's not the community-based one, it's the psych one.
Them: Psych?
Me: Yes.
Them: Ohhhhh, ok well this isn't Psych, it's Social Work.
Me: No. I know that. It's the psych TRACK of the Social Work PROGRAM.
Them: Can I have your information? Someone will look you up in the system and call you back.
See? See what a bad omen all of this is? I haven't even started my second go-around at being a student in this lifetime and already other people's ineptitude is stressing me out. Out of sheer divine intervention, one of the girls I was in undergrad with is going to be starting this program alongside me. I consider her an ally in the madness, since she is having a bitch of a time trying to get answers out of these people, just as I am. She emailed one of our professors to ask what the deal was and his response was along the lines of, "oh, you didn't get the letter?"
Long story short, I now know when orientation is and I know where our classes are located. That's enough to get me through days 1 and 2. My first class is the 23rd and orientation/second class are the 24th. Another perfect example of stupidity: why does orientation take place after we have attended our first class? Last time I checked, an "orientation" gets you oriented, and the whole thing seems rather stupid if I have to figure it out on my own the first day without any guidance. I'm not a particularly religious person, but in times like these I just have to trust that this is where God wants me to be at this point in time. And I pray he helps me find the classroom on the first day (on time). And I pray I don't need to participate in any "lets get to know each other" activities that take up the first 45 minutes of class. Amen.
Enough talk about school. I have 14 entire days to relish not living my life according to semesters again so let's change the subject. Oooh! I know! Take a gander at my drawing of Will and Kate. In my last post, many moons ago, I had just finished my Miranda Kerr drawing and had the lofty ambition of drawing the royal couple (as you know my thoughts on Kate Middleton). Will is pretty much completely down on the paper, despite not having a neck or shirt yet, and Kate still has a long way to go, but here are the royal disembodied heads:
You can save your critiques. I know her chin isn't shaded whatsoever and the lines on her face look way too dark considering her chin has no depth... but it's progress. For now, my to-do list includes adding depth to her chin, darkening his features a little bit so he's not all washed out and blurry compared to her (although she is much sharper in the photo I'm copying), and give her some semblance of a neck so she doesn't look like she's hovering over him like the Ghost of Christmas Past. Her hair is going to be a big endeavor that will likely take hours but I think she looks enough like Kate to be promising. It has potential. It'll be pretty good when it's finished, considering I don't royally (get it?) screw up the rest of her somehow. Her mouth was extremely difficult but I think I nailed it - btw: have you ever noticed what a strange mouth she has?! She is so beautiful and it totally works on her face but sometimes her lips and her teeth are just going in different directions, mind you in a beautiful way, but damn is it hard to capture that strange mouth on paper. I mean her lips are pretty thin but sometimes her upper lip just disappears completely and the angles and the big teeth and UGH. Glad it's done. If you don't think I captured it correctly, please don't bother telling me because I do not have the energy to work on it anymore, so it will remain this way forever.
Anyway: the end.
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