Apr

3

There’s a light up ahead…

Filed Under Babbling, School 

Because of Wooster’s birthday, my cat superceded the post that I could have made on Tuesday. And then yesterday I decided to mix it up with the CD review instead, so here’s the post that could have been on Tuesday because that’s when it all finalized.

On Tuesday, it was made official. I had my final sign off and instructions.

I will be walking at commencement two times on August 2, 2008. I will be walking for a Bachelors of Arts in English: Creative Writing and I will be walking for a Bachelors of Science in Management: Human Resources. I started at UCF on August 20, 2001, and now? I’ll finally be done. Seven years straight of college, and even after it all? I have a great story of university bureaucracy to share.

Before filing either of my intent to graduates, I got e-mails from both colleges with the instructions. The ones for each college varied, but were still pretty simple:
Business:
1) Register for classes.
2) File intent.
3) Register for Capstone when it opens.

Arts & Sciences:
1) File intent.
2) Meet with Advisor.
3) Register for last classes.

For my English degree, I had finished my last classes for that back in 2005/2006’s school year, so I was long over and done with it. I met with my advisor for that college on March 28th, and albeit even being thirty minutes late to my own appointment, I was in and out of her office in five minutes with a “You’re good to go.”

Well, the Business office wasn’t as fun.

A few days before, I had confirmed the steps that I wrote above with an acquaintance of mine that works in the Business office. I was ensured that I wouldn’t need to talk to an advisor at all.

And then, I filed my intent and I got automated e-mails from both colleges telling me to come in and make appointments. So I called up the Business College and the Peer Advisor couldn’t help me. Her answer? “Well, if you got an e-mail, you need to come in.” I kept insisting that it was just a generic automated e-mail, and all she could tell me was that I needed to come in then. Great.

That may not sound like a bad thing ,but the problem is as follows: the Business College’s Undergraduate Affairs Office is not a place you want to go around registration time. If you wait two hours, that’s a short wait time. No joke.

I went by on March 31st around noon and was told to try back after 2pm when everyone came back from lunch. There were about eight folks waiting then. When I came back around 1:40 that afternoon? Another acquaintance of mine was working and he told me that I was better off coming the next morning a half an hour before they opened. And the same eight people were still waiting, with another two to three joining them. Just. Great.

On April 1st, I arrived at about 8:40am at the office, and even though their doors didn’t open till 9am, there were already four other people waiting ahead of me in line. And when they came out to do a sign in at 8:55am, it was the acquaintance that told me I wouldn’t need to speak with an advisor. Shocked to see me, when I told her my ordeal about how someone told me that I needed to see someone, her response to me was that I probably didn’t need to see someone at all.

Ten minutes later, those suspicions were confirmed when I was checked in and given a copy of my degree audit. The only things I was missing according to the university were Capstone (which is the final course every business student takes) and one restricted elective (which I was already registered in for summer term). And then, I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And just before 10am, I finally got to see an advisor. And it was another in-and-out the door in five minutes. A few scribbles on my audit of what I neded to take and what I hadn’t yet taken, and that was that.

When I got home? I stapled it to the wall in front of my desk. It’s a nice reminder of how close to being done I really am…

My final degree audit...

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    About The Site


    Thanks for stopping by, folks! My name is Adam J. Cohen, and I'm a guitarist/songwriter in Champaign, IL, recently relocated from Orlando, FL where I'm a UCF grad. Here, you'll find vignettes on my life, setlists from open mics and reviews, and whatever else crosses my mind. Enjoy!