The Times and Travails of Re-Enrolling in Uni (Part 3)
This has been such an effort, it's getting its own title now.
This morning, I arose at a chilly 6.30am to dress hurriedly and with speed and flee downstairs so Mum could drive me to the train station by 6.45am. I needed to get to Kensington and then back to Parramatta (where work is) by public transport before 9.00am.
I got to UNSW by 7.45, so I had a hot chocolate and banana bread at one of the cafe's on the central walk. The new buildings are now finished along the boulevard, and look very Architected. It's nice to have the area open again. I was waiting for 8am when e-spot opens so I could get a new student card and password.
BUSTED!
I can't get a student card until I'm enrolled in subjects for more than 24 hours. And I can't get enrolled in subjects until I go talk to my School Office. I wander over to the Materials Science building (even more eclipsed by the new Law Building, but at least it's still all ours, and no longer surrounded by high white walls fencing off a building site. And I can cut straight to it now).
The secretary, of course, is not in. Plus, it's now 8.15, so I need to go catch a bus and a train to Parramatta.
I get to work a little late, at 9.30, but the weather was totally dreadful, so no one particularly minds. I try to think of a convincing reason why I need to leave early.
I cough a bit all morning - it's cold and wet, and I have the tail end of a cold that won't go away.
By after lunch, I'm having one of my coughing fits, and Philip looks at me worriedly and asks if I'm all right. Genius! I think. I'll stop pretending I'm well; I'm getting pretty light headed from all the coughing, anyway. By 2pm my boss has sent me upstairs with two panadol and orders to have a hot cup of tea and a lie down; I'm coughing, red cheeked, dizzy and my legs are giving out a bit. I'm actually worried now - I'm stoically coping with the start of a hot flush and wondering if I've actually come down with the flu. I'm past hamming it up at this stage - I'm hoping I'm not going to spend the weekend curled up in bed around a hot water bottle, with the flu and my visitor.
As I've already done piles of work today, having not been interrupted too often, I beg off to leave early at 3pm. My boss orders me out the door with instructions to drink more tea at home and have an early night. I drop off the mail and make for the train station hastily.
After a train and a bus ride that connected, for once, I get to uni and go to see Flora at the School Office. She looks at my timetable and tuts, complaining that she's got a headache and can't cope with integrating the old timetable with the new Flexible First Year. She sends me off to Dr Owen, to let him have the headache.
Dr Owen hunts out the old and the new list of subjects I'm supposed to do, and tells me that yes, of course they'll count all 18 credits I already have, so we only have to sort out another 30. And yes, I can count my Solid Modelling and Computing as my computing, so I don't have to do a whole nother term of C programming. I silently cheer. Dr Owen is outraged that chemistry has been demoted down to 'suggested elective' in the Flexible First Year, and only part A at that. As I've passed it, he suggests, firmly, that I take part B as my other elective. I'm fine with that, as the other suggested elective was Engineering Mechanics. He's also outraged that they don't make us to part B of physics anymore, but that one I don't have a problem with avoiding, for more focussed stuff in Second Year. Besides, he can't make me do more Physics and more Chem, and he'd rather I take the Chem. He adds my Maths I need to do to that, and the compulsory Materials subject, and then throws in Engineering Design, which is a compulsory and sounds interesting, anyway.
We go back down to Flora, and she's off cleaning up. I wait around for her, and then she enrolls me manually on the system, which is problematic, as it shoves me anywhich where for classes. I'll have to actually sort out labs and tuts at home.
Of course, I can't do that till I get a new password, and I can't get a new password until I get a new student card.
Hail Uni at 8.00am next Monday Morning...
This morning, I arose at a chilly 6.30am to dress hurriedly and with speed and flee downstairs so Mum could drive me to the train station by 6.45am. I needed to get to Kensington and then back to Parramatta (where work is) by public transport before 9.00am.
I got to UNSW by 7.45, so I had a hot chocolate and banana bread at one of the cafe's on the central walk. The new buildings are now finished along the boulevard, and look very Architected. It's nice to have the area open again. I was waiting for 8am when e-spot opens so I could get a new student card and password.
BUSTED!
I can't get a student card until I'm enrolled in subjects for more than 24 hours. And I can't get enrolled in subjects until I go talk to my School Office. I wander over to the Materials Science building (even more eclipsed by the new Law Building, but at least it's still all ours, and no longer surrounded by high white walls fencing off a building site. And I can cut straight to it now).
The secretary, of course, is not in. Plus, it's now 8.15, so I need to go catch a bus and a train to Parramatta.
I get to work a little late, at 9.30, but the weather was totally dreadful, so no one particularly minds. I try to think of a convincing reason why I need to leave early.
I cough a bit all morning - it's cold and wet, and I have the tail end of a cold that won't go away.
By after lunch, I'm having one of my coughing fits, and Philip looks at me worriedly and asks if I'm all right. Genius! I think. I'll stop pretending I'm well; I'm getting pretty light headed from all the coughing, anyway. By 2pm my boss has sent me upstairs with two panadol and orders to have a hot cup of tea and a lie down; I'm coughing, red cheeked, dizzy and my legs are giving out a bit. I'm actually worried now - I'm stoically coping with the start of a hot flush and wondering if I've actually come down with the flu. I'm past hamming it up at this stage - I'm hoping I'm not going to spend the weekend curled up in bed around a hot water bottle, with the flu and my visitor.
As I've already done piles of work today, having not been interrupted too often, I beg off to leave early at 3pm. My boss orders me out the door with instructions to drink more tea at home and have an early night. I drop off the mail and make for the train station hastily.
After a train and a bus ride that connected, for once, I get to uni and go to see Flora at the School Office. She looks at my timetable and tuts, complaining that she's got a headache and can't cope with integrating the old timetable with the new Flexible First Year. She sends me off to Dr Owen, to let him have the headache.
Dr Owen hunts out the old and the new list of subjects I'm supposed to do, and tells me that yes, of course they'll count all 18 credits I already have, so we only have to sort out another 30. And yes, I can count my Solid Modelling and Computing as my computing, so I don't have to do a whole nother term of C programming. I silently cheer. Dr Owen is outraged that chemistry has been demoted down to 'suggested elective' in the Flexible First Year, and only part A at that. As I've passed it, he suggests, firmly, that I take part B as my other elective. I'm fine with that, as the other suggested elective was Engineering Mechanics. He's also outraged that they don't make us to part B of physics anymore, but that one I don't have a problem with avoiding, for more focussed stuff in Second Year. Besides, he can't make me do more Physics and more Chem, and he'd rather I take the Chem. He adds my Maths I need to do to that, and the compulsory Materials subject, and then throws in Engineering Design, which is a compulsory and sounds interesting, anyway.
We go back down to Flora, and she's off cleaning up. I wait around for her, and then she enrolls me manually on the system, which is problematic, as it shoves me anywhich where for classes. I'll have to actually sort out labs and tuts at home.
Of course, I can't do that till I get a new password, and I can't get a new password until I get a new student card.
Hail Uni at 8.00am next Monday Morning...