COUNT-DOWN TO GRADUATION: FIVE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!Let me inform you, dear readers, of a dreadful event that recently occurred to me.
A few day ago, my mother arrived in the neighboring town of
Altamonte Springs for a musical conference. As such, my boyfriend and I met her one night for dinner at the fine eatery--Mimi's Cafe. The food was delicious, and the conversation was plentiful. That was, of course, until my mother alerted me that she had news from the University of Central Florida. Proving that she does not, in fact, lose everything (and simultaneously shocking me to death) she pulled an important letter which had been mailed to her from my school.
I pulled the papers out of the official, collegiate envelope. One paper read, quite politely: CONGRATULATIONS! You have met all the requirements for your major of choice. I beamed at the feeling of accomplishment and delight that this letter provided me.....and then haphazardly glanced at the second paper. The SECOND paper, far different from
the first, appeared to be for the University requirements. It stated:
STUDENT NEEDS ONE CREDIT HOUR TO GRADUATE. In the place where the document enquired if "I" was able to graduate this semester, my advisor had callously marked "no." The check in that box looked menacing and evil to me as I looked at it.
At this moment-- I knew I was sitting at a
restaurant, I realized I was 23 years old, and I understood that something was strange. Yet I cried like a child anyways. Tears flew from my eyes as I tried to collect myself and failed miserably. Eventually, I had to scurry away to the bathroom--leaving my boyfriend and mom awkwardly sitting at the booth.
Finally, after sitting in the bathroom for a good ten minutes---I realized I probably couldn't live there for life. Sure...I could hide for awhile. But then the inevitable cleaning/closing crew would eventually shoo me out. And so it was that I finally left the bathroom of my own volition.
Upon returning to my table, my mom and beau mercifully sat there quietly---acting as if the whole dreadful scene had not just occurred before them. I wiped my eyes and pulled the papers once again from the envelope. "How could this HAPPEN?!" I wondered tearfully. I
analyzed my transcripts thoroughly....and found some serious
discrepancies. For instance...there was a "B" grade in a course entitled "
Caribbean Literature." Now...I have taken many silly Literary courses. However....learning about the readings of the Islanders has never been a passion of mine, and I was certain I would never, in good faith, pay for a text book for the aforementioned. Yet another miscalculation lie in the fact that they had missed one of my
pre-1865 courses...classes which I had slaved away at only two semesters ago!
My head began swimming in a sea of confusion...and I once again turned to the front of the document. There, in black in white on
the left-hand corner of the page laid the answer to all my troubles. The one-credit shy transcript belonged to ANOTHER student....one who's name I will not mention here. However, her last name was no where EVEN CLOSE to mine!!!!
Unfortunately, my advisor had mistakenly bundled our envelopes in the same envelope after processing them minutes apart.
So there we sat: my mother, my boyfriend, and I....all stunned by what had just happened. How could it be that three, fairly intelligent adults had not realized that my half-hour melt-down was all FAULTY DUE TO
MIS-APPROPRIATION??!! It was
embarrassing, and hilarious all at the same time--though I do feel terribly for whomever it belongs to. I plan on returning the document ASAP so that it can be returned to it's rightful owner. I just pray she's not as far into graduation plans as I am!
And so, readers, the moral of this story is undoubtedly stress management. Situations can seem terse, at best....but the best way to handle them is with a level-mind. If I had received those papers in a mentally stable fashion, it probably wouldn't have taken 30 minutes to discover there intended whereabouts. But I didn't. And, as such, I ended up crying and making a fool of myself. You just have to approach stress more calmly. This is a skill I work on daily, and probably will never master. However...you at least have to try in order to avoid events--such as the
above mentioned : )
THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO DOING ONCE I GRADUATE:
* Sleeping
* Visiting with friends
*Sushi
*Travel
*Saving
*Making real money
*Working 40 hrs/week
*Not having homework
