I like many females, love the happy ending. If a movie or a book isn't going to happen in a way that pleases me with all the ends tied and the characters in a better place than when they started, then I don't want to know about it. So nothing chokes my chicken more than those moments in TV or in movies where they are clearly setting up characters to finally get together or get everything they wanted, only have something go spectacularly to pieces. This usually happens right when something amazing is just about to fall right into place...and yet it all comes crashing down. Not quite sure what I mean? Let me give you some examples....
Friday Night Lights (and while I realize I am only in season two this one is still just chapping my ass) - Lyla and Riggins. Good god lord all mighty and his baseball bat why must these two keep missing their mark? Like seriously??? SERIOUSLY?? (yes I quoted Greys...and yes by the end of this you all will see just how TV obsessed I have been over the years...the reality is that I don't watch TV during the school year and wait for seasons to come out to see them all)...Regardless!! Riggins while listening to Lyla's Christian Talk show finally gets it! He finally realizes he's in love with her, goes running to be her to fall at her knees and confess his undying love to her...and BOOM. Moment missed and opportunity flushed out with the holy water. Riggins will now be likely to revert into his old ways and continue to drink away his future and his liver health...and Lyla will continue to preach the bible as she hides behind it to cover her butt during her confused teen years.....arrglag'asd'gasjdglkajdg'ld
NEXT: Ugly Betty. Nothing annoys me more than Ugly Betty and the THREE missed connections that fell flat in this show. While I have hopes that at some point Riggin's and Lyla will get their heads out of their butts, Ugly Betty is over and I am ANNOYED still at the idea of those jerk producers screwing with the Betty/Matt, Henry/Geo and most importantly the BETTY/HENRY. WTF? They finally look like they are going to get together and then what? OH YA Henry's cheating ho-bag of a girl friend shows up saying she's prego!! WTF?? Its not bad enough that they screwed with Henry and Betty just before trying to go to Wicked (my worlds most favorite musical which is saying something because I have seen A LOT) but then to have Charlie get prego? When in fact she is cheating? Then its Henry's?? WTF? And then Matt leaving for Africa on a total whim? ..... as I type now the steam is slowly starting to trickle out of my ears.
Gilmore Girls. Oh holy geeze nothing kills me more than the whole Rory/Tristan thing going straight to pot. Tristan kisses her at that party, and she bolts. Yes I get it...that rejection sucked, but the next episode he totally could have redeemed himself by saying "HEY I LIKE YOU" and then who knows? He could have gone after her?? WHY THE HELL NOT! He could have kissed her that night at the play before he left...HE COULD HAVE MADE MANY MANY MOVES...but no! He chickens out!....siiigh.
And Finally (not the last missed connection but the last for this evening) Greys Anatomy. Lexie and Mark. Mark the eternal player, the man-whore. Lexie, little Grey. Why the hell can't these two seem to get it together? Mark has his daughter and ignores Lexie, missed connection. Lexie 'falls' for Avery and Mark "lets her go"....what the hell is that? What kind of crap is that? They are just making up all kinds of excuses for these two to get together and yet proceed to tease us with their longing looks, and their flirty banter and cute moments, and then BAMO never going to happen.
I understand that these tactics are how the attract the viewer in. This is what keeps the viewers coming back every week, pining over every new episode and flocking to spoiler sites to figure out whats going on before anyone else. I get that. But why can't they ever throw the viewers a bone? Why must I sit in agony and pain to finally get the happy ending? Ugh I really need to get out more....
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Finding new addictions
Whenever I find myself confused about life and the direction it will take, or you know all my relationships are falling to pit, I somehow find myself looking for ways to keep myself otherwise engaged. In others words, instead of trying to find a new job, or figure out what to do between school and my extra-cirriculars (I have to decide between moving or staying here for school, if I decide to go back at all, and I volunteer a lot at competitions as an official so I have to weigh that in too)....I have decided to take on other things to keep my mind off it all.
My newest obsessions have manifested this go round as TV shows. Now I don't usually watch a lot of TV. I refuse to schedule my week around watching a TV show at a particular time or rushing home to see it, or even joining any sort of "pool" for reality TV. I would rather be out...living in reality (I know the irony huh?). I'm single and about to be jobless...TV is a cheap and easy alternative!
Enter Friday Night Lights....Or should I say cute "high school kids" (puuulllleeease...all these guys are in their 20's and everyone knows it....therefore it is not pervy....) running around all dealing with issues far bigger than themselves, and far bigger than anything I ever had to deal with in high school. Racism? You got it! Steroids? Yuppers!! Teen pre-marital sex in the Texas bible belt? Ooooo you know it! And of course to top it all off in the first episode the most promising player on the team gets clobbered and ends up in a wheel chair! (then subsequently sues the school because even though it was his fault...americans will sue anyone for anything...and get away with it). But I digress.
I don't know how I managed to arrive so late to the part on this show...Its only in its 5th season and here I am watching season one! But thats ok! I may have been late to the party but man is there a lot of dancing yet to be had! Regardless of the fact that I don't know a single thing about football, I feel this show covers a lot in only 45 minutes a pop, the plot keeps me entertained, and I revel in the fact that by watching these boys run around....that I'm at least not thinking about my exes! (ex friends or otherwise)
Another strange new addiction? Storage wars! If you have never heard of this show, I am here to enlighten you! The premise? When people abandon their storage lockers, the storage facility actions them off for a profit. Treasure hunters bid on the lockers and then try to flog the crap inside, and sometimes find these really valuable items that others have left behind. The items that have been left behind in the lockers are crazy!! $17 000 in jewlery!? 1000 worth of vintage Levis jeans? Cars? Who abandons these things? Over 20 000 worth of kitchen equipment? Its nutty! The exciting part of the show is the bidding that buyers must endure to actually get their hands on the storage units themselves. 19 episodes and you too will feel like you can make a ton of cash from other peoples crap!
So hopefully I have enlightened you on the ways of amazingly addictive tv! Today Storage wars tomorrow Extreme Couponing (Something I might have to do should I not figure out my job situation or school situation...but then again I could just watch the show and forget all about it too...hmm)
My newest obsessions have manifested this go round as TV shows. Now I don't usually watch a lot of TV. I refuse to schedule my week around watching a TV show at a particular time or rushing home to see it, or even joining any sort of "pool" for reality TV. I would rather be out...living in reality (I know the irony huh?). I'm single and about to be jobless...TV is a cheap and easy alternative!
Enter Friday Night Lights....Or should I say cute "high school kids" (puuulllleeease...all these guys are in their 20's and everyone knows it....therefore it is not pervy....) running around all dealing with issues far bigger than themselves, and far bigger than anything I ever had to deal with in high school. Racism? You got it! Steroids? Yuppers!! Teen pre-marital sex in the Texas bible belt? Ooooo you know it! And of course to top it all off in the first episode the most promising player on the team gets clobbered and ends up in a wheel chair! (then subsequently sues the school because even though it was his fault...americans will sue anyone for anything...and get away with it). But I digress.
I don't know how I managed to arrive so late to the part on this show...Its only in its 5th season and here I am watching season one! But thats ok! I may have been late to the party but man is there a lot of dancing yet to be had! Regardless of the fact that I don't know a single thing about football, I feel this show covers a lot in only 45 minutes a pop, the plot keeps me entertained, and I revel in the fact that by watching these boys run around....that I'm at least not thinking about my exes! (ex friends or otherwise)
Another strange new addiction? Storage wars! If you have never heard of this show, I am here to enlighten you! The premise? When people abandon their storage lockers, the storage facility actions them off for a profit. Treasure hunters bid on the lockers and then try to flog the crap inside, and sometimes find these really valuable items that others have left behind. The items that have been left behind in the lockers are crazy!! $17 000 in jewlery!? 1000 worth of vintage Levis jeans? Cars? Who abandons these things? Over 20 000 worth of kitchen equipment? Its nutty! The exciting part of the show is the bidding that buyers must endure to actually get their hands on the storage units themselves. 19 episodes and you too will feel like you can make a ton of cash from other peoples crap!
So hopefully I have enlightened you on the ways of amazingly addictive tv! Today Storage wars tomorrow Extreme Couponing (Something I might have to do should I not figure out my job situation or school situation...but then again I could just watch the show and forget all about it too...hmm)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
stumbling behind or pulling ahead?
I have a theory. Life is like a teeter-totter. Imagine if you will a teeter-totter sitting at perfect balance...then something comes along and plops down on one end...and suddenly you're sinking down desperately trying to get back to balance...or force it down to get ahead...My theory is that in general we like balance. We want to be sitting balanced, but life has a funny way of throwing things at us sway us up and down. Failures, decisions and set backs weigh us down, where successes and achievements pull us back up, unless they bring us too far up, something else will have to happen to bring us down. We are constantly being manuvered up and down by the events that take place in our lives, and it seems to me mostly that we are unable to control a lot of them. Things just come up. Sure we might bring some of it on ourselves.....but I know deep down somewhere in our souls that we want balance.
So what has made me come to such a theory on life? Well mine got a wee bit shaken up. Again. In fact this whole year has been a bit of a rocking horse. I've had failed relationships, and amazing adventures abroad. I've had tough decisions, bad jobs and made mistakes, that have turned into amazing opportunities, and met new people who have all changed the way I see the world. I've had family illness, and family bonding. I've had all these things happen and just when I thought I was finally getting back to normal...I find out that my job hat was supposed to pan out...has not and I have to make a decision about school...and it means facing a lot of my problems with my first degree and making them right.
The worst thing is that because of all of my failed relationships (friends and significant people of interest) I'm starting to feel like I'm all alone. In fact I can't ever remember a time I felt this alone. I've always been one to have lots of plans, to always be out...and this week I've been home in bed early every night. With decisions about school weighing on my mind, and family illness taking its toll, being lonely is wearing me a bit thin. When you are so used to having someone there all the time that listens...and suddenly they are gone....its incredibly hard to remember how you coped before.
But through all of these things that seem to be constantly changing (like my ruddy job status) I can't help but feel that everything really will work out. I will get back to being balanced. I'm starting to wonder if the shedding of dysfunctional relationships really just put me up, not down, if the choices about further education are really just bringing me down back to earth, and my job not panning out sinking me forcing me to push myself back off the ground. What if all the bad really is just all happening now so that something amazing can happen and get me back to normal? Maybe being alone, and lonely is making me realize that the relationships I was in before weren't really giving me what I needed?
What if there is this big pay off in my future and all I really need to do is remember that my feet can take me anywhere and all I have to do is have faith, bend my knees, and push off.
So here is to faith! I may be the most agnostic person in the world, but I know that some how, some way (and no this isn't going to turn into some horrible Nickelback song) the universe is looking out for me.....and maybe having a good chuckle at the same time. But it will all work out....or I'll just keep living my life. Either way tomorrow I will get up and greet the day, and do my best to get back to balanced :)
So what has made me come to such a theory on life? Well mine got a wee bit shaken up. Again. In fact this whole year has been a bit of a rocking horse. I've had failed relationships, and amazing adventures abroad. I've had tough decisions, bad jobs and made mistakes, that have turned into amazing opportunities, and met new people who have all changed the way I see the world. I've had family illness, and family bonding. I've had all these things happen and just when I thought I was finally getting back to normal...I find out that my job hat was supposed to pan out...has not and I have to make a decision about school...and it means facing a lot of my problems with my first degree and making them right.
The worst thing is that because of all of my failed relationships (friends and significant people of interest) I'm starting to feel like I'm all alone. In fact I can't ever remember a time I felt this alone. I've always been one to have lots of plans, to always be out...and this week I've been home in bed early every night. With decisions about school weighing on my mind, and family illness taking its toll, being lonely is wearing me a bit thin. When you are so used to having someone there all the time that listens...and suddenly they are gone....its incredibly hard to remember how you coped before.
But through all of these things that seem to be constantly changing (like my ruddy job status) I can't help but feel that everything really will work out. I will get back to being balanced. I'm starting to wonder if the shedding of dysfunctional relationships really just put me up, not down, if the choices about further education are really just bringing me down back to earth, and my job not panning out sinking me forcing me to push myself back off the ground. What if all the bad really is just all happening now so that something amazing can happen and get me back to normal? Maybe being alone, and lonely is making me realize that the relationships I was in before weren't really giving me what I needed?
What if there is this big pay off in my future and all I really need to do is remember that my feet can take me anywhere and all I have to do is have faith, bend my knees, and push off.
So here is to faith! I may be the most agnostic person in the world, but I know that some how, some way (and no this isn't going to turn into some horrible Nickelback song) the universe is looking out for me.....and maybe having a good chuckle at the same time. But it will all work out....or I'll just keep living my life. Either way tomorrow I will get up and greet the day, and do my best to get back to balanced :)
Monday, May 23, 2011
I'm Confused
I'm confused. Do you ever get confused? I sure do. More so now than I can ever recall.
When I left high school I didn't have to worry about the future because I knew what I was going to do next. I was going to go to school and that would buy me enough time to figure out my next move.....and I figured I wouldn't have to worry about it because the answer would just come to me. Flash forward six years and here I am. I have a degree, and no plan. And while I may have a degree.......it turns out that my grades don't make the cut for a lot of programs. So my degree is useless. But I saw this coming. My degree was not one I was suited to. It was a lot of courses that I struggled through and had to fight to pass. It was a big indication I should have switched majors. Now to switch into a major I enjoy, I do not have the grades. And I understand I've made my bed and now I must lie in it....but I thought that having an education was supposed to open doors. So why do I feel so trapped?
So here is where I stand. I have an undergrad but my grades suck. I've been told there is a spot for me at another school to start another undergrad with the help of my old one. I could go to school. Or I could continue trying to work. I could find a crap job (because degree or not the job search this year is the worst) and just keep working hoping at some point I find something I really love and want....and not just a good idea at the time...which is what I'm starting to wonder if this new "idea" is all about. A plan to avoid planning a future.
Do you ever notice that right about these times your doubt yourself the most, that others never seem to be able to help you out? Well this only seems to be adding to my problem. Friends that I have always been there for and have done nothing but console....well they all seem to be deserting me. The friend I have always supported and helped, bails on me right when I need them the most. The friend I want to step up and support me like I need, stays silent. The friend that I have known almost my whole life, is no longer in my life because they claimed I was inconsiderate....because my trip overseas was inconvenient for their concert plans.
So why now? Why is everything turning drastically crazy now? Why am I so insecure? Why am I so scared? What do I do? How do I make another decision when it seems to me if all the other decisions Ive made have lead me to this moment where I am so scared and confused?
When I left high school I didn't have to worry about the future because I knew what I was going to do next. I was going to go to school and that would buy me enough time to figure out my next move.....and I figured I wouldn't have to worry about it because the answer would just come to me. Flash forward six years and here I am. I have a degree, and no plan. And while I may have a degree.......it turns out that my grades don't make the cut for a lot of programs. So my degree is useless. But I saw this coming. My degree was not one I was suited to. It was a lot of courses that I struggled through and had to fight to pass. It was a big indication I should have switched majors. Now to switch into a major I enjoy, I do not have the grades. And I understand I've made my bed and now I must lie in it....but I thought that having an education was supposed to open doors. So why do I feel so trapped?
So here is where I stand. I have an undergrad but my grades suck. I've been told there is a spot for me at another school to start another undergrad with the help of my old one. I could go to school. Or I could continue trying to work. I could find a crap job (because degree or not the job search this year is the worst) and just keep working hoping at some point I find something I really love and want....and not just a good idea at the time...which is what I'm starting to wonder if this new "idea" is all about. A plan to avoid planning a future.
Do you ever notice that right about these times your doubt yourself the most, that others never seem to be able to help you out? Well this only seems to be adding to my problem. Friends that I have always been there for and have done nothing but console....well they all seem to be deserting me. The friend I have always supported and helped, bails on me right when I need them the most. The friend I want to step up and support me like I need, stays silent. The friend that I have known almost my whole life, is no longer in my life because they claimed I was inconsiderate....because my trip overseas was inconvenient for their concert plans.
So why now? Why is everything turning drastically crazy now? Why am I so insecure? Why am I so scared? What do I do? How do I make another decision when it seems to me if all the other decisions Ive made have lead me to this moment where I am so scared and confused?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Complicated Situations
It is no mystery to anyone that perhaps has read my blog previously that I like to speak my mind. I don't tend to censor my thoughts and I often speak without thinking. A problem that yes in past has gotten me in trouble. Trying to learn my lesson I've started to watch what I say at work and try to just buckle down and do my job. However word of mouth no longer seems to be the problem most people are facing.
Now more than ever there are more ways to incriminate yourself by speaking your mind. Enter social networking and the blogosphere. The blog (hence why I refuse to post my name or place of work in any way shape or form on here) where people have been caught bashing bosses, mocking managers, and criticizing coworkers is no longer a place to speak our minds in a way that is harmless....these days it can get you canned. With Facebook and the current trend of documenting every single move we make, (we used to all fear big brother and yet now we offer in the information up willingly...go figure) we are forced to become more recluse than ever.
So why might I be bringing this up? Well recently a situation where allegations over facebook posts have been brought to light through a complaint made about a co-worker at work. For the purposes of this post I shall call the co worker accused of abusing sick days S and the worker accusing S of being sick A. So basically how its all cracking down is that A told the manager that S took sick time off work but yet somehow managed to take her kid to a bunch of events on the weekend, and perhaps instead of taking vacation leave she just abused her sick leave. In the process A copied all the facebook posts from that weekend and handed them into the manager to start poking around. S's manager then starts asking about her sick days and how they are being covered. The untold story? S is a single mom. Truth be told they don't usually have the luxury of having a weekend off and well while I might personally object to the fact that this particular person didn't seem to think taking care of herself was important, I can't blame them for just carrying on.
So this whole situation has me thinking about social networking and just working in general. When you have a full time job and spend on average somewhere between 30-40 hours a week with people in close quarters, you tend to get to know them pretty well, whether you want to or not. If you work together, one would think that you'd all be working towards a common goal, and therefore would want everyone to be happy. But that doesn't seem to be the case in most environments Ive ever worked in. People seem to want nothing than to hurt each other and spy on them?
So whats the deal. Given that everyone has heard the many horror stories about information getting into the wrong hands, and how easily we are spotted on the net, by posting so much of our lives on the net are we asking to be spied on? Are we asking to have our personal lives violated? By posting things like our activities on facebook are we asking to get our lives questioned?
While I don't know how things will play out at work I do know that this has definitely made me rethink my opinions on how I will express myself in the future. I may not be the number one employee but I certainly like getting paid a heck of a lot more than working minimum wage!
Now more than ever there are more ways to incriminate yourself by speaking your mind. Enter social networking and the blogosphere. The blog (hence why I refuse to post my name or place of work in any way shape or form on here) where people have been caught bashing bosses, mocking managers, and criticizing coworkers is no longer a place to speak our minds in a way that is harmless....these days it can get you canned. With Facebook and the current trend of documenting every single move we make, (we used to all fear big brother and yet now we offer in the information up willingly...go figure) we are forced to become more recluse than ever.
So why might I be bringing this up? Well recently a situation where allegations over facebook posts have been brought to light through a complaint made about a co-worker at work. For the purposes of this post I shall call the co worker accused of abusing sick days S and the worker accusing S of being sick A. So basically how its all cracking down is that A told the manager that S took sick time off work but yet somehow managed to take her kid to a bunch of events on the weekend, and perhaps instead of taking vacation leave she just abused her sick leave. In the process A copied all the facebook posts from that weekend and handed them into the manager to start poking around. S's manager then starts asking about her sick days and how they are being covered. The untold story? S is a single mom. Truth be told they don't usually have the luxury of having a weekend off and well while I might personally object to the fact that this particular person didn't seem to think taking care of herself was important, I can't blame them for just carrying on.
So this whole situation has me thinking about social networking and just working in general. When you have a full time job and spend on average somewhere between 30-40 hours a week with people in close quarters, you tend to get to know them pretty well, whether you want to or not. If you work together, one would think that you'd all be working towards a common goal, and therefore would want everyone to be happy. But that doesn't seem to be the case in most environments Ive ever worked in. People seem to want nothing than to hurt each other and spy on them?
So whats the deal. Given that everyone has heard the many horror stories about information getting into the wrong hands, and how easily we are spotted on the net, by posting so much of our lives on the net are we asking to be spied on? Are we asking to have our personal lives violated? By posting things like our activities on facebook are we asking to get our lives questioned?
While I don't know how things will play out at work I do know that this has definitely made me rethink my opinions on how I will express myself in the future. I may not be the number one employee but I certainly like getting paid a heck of a lot more than working minimum wage!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Transcripts Transpirations
I am still knee deep in writing my supplimental application, and seeing as I am trying to cram in school nosing and self smoke blowing into 400 words, with absolutely no sarcasm, I required a break. So I figured this would be a great time to be super sarcastic and cow-ish to get it all out so it doesn't leak into my application. So here I go. More University Application Drama (I swear I have no idea how I get myself into these situations). The Transcripts Transpirations.
When applying to University or a College of any kind, for an undergraduate program, they generally will require your transcripts from high school. Why? Because classes that you are potentially going to have to take to complete said undergrad, most likely at some point will have a high school pre-rec. Seems reasonable enough to me. The step before post secondary is secondary so it seems fitting a school would want to ensure they aren't letting in a total block head and that you won't get in and not have any classes to take. Should you be fresh out of high school, its all they have to tell you from the stoners who hung out in the parking lot all semester.
However. This all being said, as a returning undergrad, if you are applying to a different institution than the one you graduated from (which most would mean they were going on to a Masters Program...but not me I am a sucker for punishment) the same logic applies, you need all your transcripts from the institutions of which you were a student before, so that they the people at your hope to be new school can tell you from the 2nd year who "thinks" they know what they want. The supplimental application is purely to see who can put up with show boating to simply get what they want...who is willing to jump the most hoops or who has jumped the most hoops in the past...but I digress. Back to my story.
So after I sent in my application to a school of which I had never attended and am interested in potentially attending this coming fall, the first thing I did (other than cringe at the idea of spending $110 on an application fee) was contact all my post secondary institutions to request transcripts be sent along for review. For my two post secondary institutions (good grief I've used that word so many times its starting to make me think of an insane assylum...which they may just have been when I really think about it) this was no sweat. I gave them the address to send them to, paid my 10$ a set and I was on my merry little way. Too easy.
Enter my high school transcripts. Let me back track a little for better clarification of the issue. About a year and a half ago, faced with graduation from my university, and still no idea what I planned to do with my degree, I applied to a program that required my high school transcripts to confirm pre-recs to a trades college for medical imaging. I didn't get in but that is a completely different story.But the key to this part of the story is the fact that I had to obtain my transcripts from my school board. As it had been just X amount of years since I graduated my transcripts were moved from my high school to my school board office for storage into archives. No problemo. I gave them call, requested my transcripts got them, paid my 10$ and all was good.
Flash forward to now, I do the same. I call the school board office, request my transcripts. I tell them flat out that I have left an application to pretty close to the deadline and that I need the transcripts ASAP and to please contact me if this could not be done. I am told by an answering machine that I can expect my transcripts to be ready in 5-10 working days, of which 5 would be perfect 10 would be cutting it super close to getting them in but I figure I had told them I needed them ASAP and would hear back from them if this could not be accomplished.
Five buissness days pass. I hear nothing and assume that things are just taking their time. I'm getting a bit worried but I know I can still get them in on time so what else can I really do? I get a call on day five and I think "Awesome! Their ready and I can go pick them up and mail them off and I am in the clear!"
As I was at work and had missed the call from the school board I listened to the voicemail thinking it would just be them telling me to come pick them up (I was even formulating asking to get out of work a few minutes early to get ahead of the traffic and be able to get to the post office in time to send them out on the last shipment of the day...ability to plan and multi-task...something that I think makes me an ideal candidate for the program to which I am entering).
Well planning be damned, I got a call from my school board saying that there were no transcripts under my name and they were calling to confirm that I indeed had graduated from my school, my date of birth and my name.
Now I admit, I am applying to this program very last minute (a trait I am aware does not make me appear to be successful candidate for this program), so I understand that yes I left this a little late. BUT I am not to blame for the fact that it took the school board 5 days to get back to my ASAP transcripts request. I am also not the moron who misplaced transcripts. How does one do that? I thought they were electronic and it was more a matter of pulling them up on the computer pressing print then sealing an envelope??
Turns out not. So I call the school board back...and basically all they do is confirm my full name has always been my full name and that yes I graduated from where I graduated. They then tell me that they will "keep looking"....I ask what they heck they have been doing all along. Probably not wise to bite the hand that feeds but I was irritated. So Carolyn (my not so trusty records clerk) tells me to email her my full name and spelling (because spelling it out to her the first time was clearly pointless...maybe she is solely a visual learner?) . I email her, spelling etc as well as ask that the transcripts be faxed as the time has passed for them to be mailed with any sort of promise of their arrival on time. I also ask her to keep me up to date.
I get no emails back. I barely hear anything other than "they are still missing". I start to panic. I at this point have gotten an email from my university saying that my application review of pre-recs and GPA is being held up by not having my high school transcripts available.
So every day I call Carolyn. I ask whats going on, and I get the same answer "we're still looking" and all I can think about is that there is some poor sap sitting in a warehouse sorting through my entire graduating class trying to sort through boxes of transcripts poorly filed or in the wrong place. I evntually found out that they sort them according to birthdate and not graduating year, and then they cross reference them with your last name.
So 10 business days after I have ordered my rush transcripts I am told that they thought they found them, but they were really the transcripts of another girl with a similar name (oh yes keep it coming you shmucks...you're competence is ASTOUNDING)....they then ask if I had my copy from high school. SO wait a minute?? You're telling me that you can't find the governments offical copy and that you want to accept mine as legit? ....oh good god.
Well score one for me and my hording tendancy, I totally did. I scan it and send it to them. Apparently after seeing that I am able to keep my shit together inspires them to figure it out and 11 working days after asking for them, my transcripts are faxed off.
They tell me this after 14 working days. I had to call and get some other poor clerk in the office to figure out just what the hell this Carolyn person does all day and why it was impossible for her to call/email me to let me know they had been sent (like she said they would). This new person also mentioned that usually if things have to be pulled from archives it can take up to 3 weeks, but at that point they let the person know. I say 'How strange I was told they were simply missing and was given no ETA". She also mentioned it was strange that I asked for a rush and it took this long.
So after a long long LONG chat with Christine she shakes her head and goes "OOOOOOO I know what happened" and no kidding in about 15 minutes she has my actual transcripts in her hand...the ones Carolyn could not find, saying she knew exactly where they went etc. Where my other transcripts that were faxed came from I have no idea.
Turns out it sounds like when I originally requested them a year and a half ago they had just been shipped to the school board. They never got archived. They stayed in "request holding"...
So makes me wonder what other goodies are hanging out in that "request holding" file....because I'm pretty sure I would not be the only person who has this problem.
So moral of the story today kids, when applying to University/College, it totally pays to be obsessive compulsive and controlling. If I hadn't pressured this Carolyn person to stay on top of this it sounds like it never would have gotten fixed. If I wasn't anal retentive about paperwork I may never have been able to get my official transcripts sent. And NEVER LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE. Why? Because there are more Carolyns in this world. Put your application status into your own hands, take it out of the hands of idiots and take control. Decide your own destiny, and prove you want it. ..... now....to you know totally contradict my preaching...I'm off to take another stab at my supplemental application due in like 27 hours. Oi.
Do you have any questions about applications or university? I have quite a bit of experience with this crap. I have also written the MCAT and worked in many clinical settings. If you have a question or need advice I would love to pass it on!
When applying to University or a College of any kind, for an undergraduate program, they generally will require your transcripts from high school. Why? Because classes that you are potentially going to have to take to complete said undergrad, most likely at some point will have a high school pre-rec. Seems reasonable enough to me. The step before post secondary is secondary so it seems fitting a school would want to ensure they aren't letting in a total block head and that you won't get in and not have any classes to take. Should you be fresh out of high school, its all they have to tell you from the stoners who hung out in the parking lot all semester.
However. This all being said, as a returning undergrad, if you are applying to a different institution than the one you graduated from (which most would mean they were going on to a Masters Program...but not me I am a sucker for punishment) the same logic applies, you need all your transcripts from the institutions of which you were a student before, so that they the people at your hope to be new school can tell you from the 2nd year who "thinks" they know what they want. The supplimental application is purely to see who can put up with show boating to simply get what they want...who is willing to jump the most hoops or who has jumped the most hoops in the past...but I digress. Back to my story.
So after I sent in my application to a school of which I had never attended and am interested in potentially attending this coming fall, the first thing I did (other than cringe at the idea of spending $110 on an application fee) was contact all my post secondary institutions to request transcripts be sent along for review. For my two post secondary institutions (good grief I've used that word so many times its starting to make me think of an insane assylum...which they may just have been when I really think about it) this was no sweat. I gave them the address to send them to, paid my 10$ a set and I was on my merry little way. Too easy.
Enter my high school transcripts. Let me back track a little for better clarification of the issue. About a year and a half ago, faced with graduation from my university, and still no idea what I planned to do with my degree, I applied to a program that required my high school transcripts to confirm pre-recs to a trades college for medical imaging. I didn't get in but that is a completely different story.But the key to this part of the story is the fact that I had to obtain my transcripts from my school board. As it had been just X amount of years since I graduated my transcripts were moved from my high school to my school board office for storage into archives. No problemo. I gave them call, requested my transcripts got them, paid my 10$ and all was good.
Flash forward to now, I do the same. I call the school board office, request my transcripts. I tell them flat out that I have left an application to pretty close to the deadline and that I need the transcripts ASAP and to please contact me if this could not be done. I am told by an answering machine that I can expect my transcripts to be ready in 5-10 working days, of which 5 would be perfect 10 would be cutting it super close to getting them in but I figure I had told them I needed them ASAP and would hear back from them if this could not be accomplished.
Five buissness days pass. I hear nothing and assume that things are just taking their time. I'm getting a bit worried but I know I can still get them in on time so what else can I really do? I get a call on day five and I think "Awesome! Their ready and I can go pick them up and mail them off and I am in the clear!"
As I was at work and had missed the call from the school board I listened to the voicemail thinking it would just be them telling me to come pick them up (I was even formulating asking to get out of work a few minutes early to get ahead of the traffic and be able to get to the post office in time to send them out on the last shipment of the day...ability to plan and multi-task...something that I think makes me an ideal candidate for the program to which I am entering).
Well planning be damned, I got a call from my school board saying that there were no transcripts under my name and they were calling to confirm that I indeed had graduated from my school, my date of birth and my name.
Now I admit, I am applying to this program very last minute (a trait I am aware does not make me appear to be successful candidate for this program), so I understand that yes I left this a little late. BUT I am not to blame for the fact that it took the school board 5 days to get back to my ASAP transcripts request. I am also not the moron who misplaced transcripts. How does one do that? I thought they were electronic and it was more a matter of pulling them up on the computer pressing print then sealing an envelope??
Turns out not. So I call the school board back...and basically all they do is confirm my full name has always been my full name and that yes I graduated from where I graduated. They then tell me that they will "keep looking"....I ask what they heck they have been doing all along. Probably not wise to bite the hand that feeds but I was irritated. So Carolyn (my not so trusty records clerk) tells me to email her my full name and spelling (because spelling it out to her the first time was clearly pointless...maybe she is solely a visual learner?) . I email her, spelling etc as well as ask that the transcripts be faxed as the time has passed for them to be mailed with any sort of promise of their arrival on time. I also ask her to keep me up to date.
I get no emails back. I barely hear anything other than "they are still missing". I start to panic. I at this point have gotten an email from my university saying that my application review of pre-recs and GPA is being held up by not having my high school transcripts available.
So every day I call Carolyn. I ask whats going on, and I get the same answer "we're still looking" and all I can think about is that there is some poor sap sitting in a warehouse sorting through my entire graduating class trying to sort through boxes of transcripts poorly filed or in the wrong place. I evntually found out that they sort them according to birthdate and not graduating year, and then they cross reference them with your last name.
So 10 business days after I have ordered my rush transcripts I am told that they thought they found them, but they were really the transcripts of another girl with a similar name (oh yes keep it coming you shmucks...you're competence is ASTOUNDING)....they then ask if I had my copy from high school. SO wait a minute?? You're telling me that you can't find the governments offical copy and that you want to accept mine as legit? ....oh good god.
Well score one for me and my hording tendancy, I totally did. I scan it and send it to them. Apparently after seeing that I am able to keep my shit together inspires them to figure it out and 11 working days after asking for them, my transcripts are faxed off.
They tell me this after 14 working days. I had to call and get some other poor clerk in the office to figure out just what the hell this Carolyn person does all day and why it was impossible for her to call/email me to let me know they had been sent (like she said they would). This new person also mentioned that usually if things have to be pulled from archives it can take up to 3 weeks, but at that point they let the person know. I say 'How strange I was told they were simply missing and was given no ETA". She also mentioned it was strange that I asked for a rush and it took this long.
So after a long long LONG chat with Christine she shakes her head and goes "OOOOOOO I know what happened" and no kidding in about 15 minutes she has my actual transcripts in her hand...the ones Carolyn could not find, saying she knew exactly where they went etc. Where my other transcripts that were faxed came from I have no idea.
Turns out it sounds like when I originally requested them a year and a half ago they had just been shipped to the school board. They never got archived. They stayed in "request holding"...
So makes me wonder what other goodies are hanging out in that "request holding" file....because I'm pretty sure I would not be the only person who has this problem.
So moral of the story today kids, when applying to University/College, it totally pays to be obsessive compulsive and controlling. If I hadn't pressured this Carolyn person to stay on top of this it sounds like it never would have gotten fixed. If I wasn't anal retentive about paperwork I may never have been able to get my official transcripts sent. And NEVER LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE. Why? Because there are more Carolyns in this world. Put your application status into your own hands, take it out of the hands of idiots and take control. Decide your own destiny, and prove you want it. ..... now....to you know totally contradict my preaching...I'm off to take another stab at my supplemental application due in like 27 hours. Oi.
Do you have any questions about applications or university? I have quite a bit of experience with this crap. I have also written the MCAT and worked in many clinical settings. If you have a question or need advice I would love to pass it on!
Applications.....or the kiss of death?
My latest and greatest idea in finding my way through the real world is trying to get into another school to be able to eventually start a masters degree. Then maybe medical school or being able to rehabilitate people, get them up and moving. Thats the lastest idea anyways. So this brings me to the Colledge Applications.
When applying to college the first step is filling out the application form. For the particular program I am applying to (which yes happens to be another undergrad program...but I need the pre-recs to get into the masters program so I have at least another year of hoop jumping ahead of me provided I ever get into either of the different schools I applied to) there just so happens to be a supplemental application. Which basically asks me to show off and be awesome without showing off and being cocky about my truly awesomeness.
How do you find the balance? Isn't asking what makes you great a recipe for disaster? What do you say that is going to put you ahead of all others? What can possibly said in 200 words (which is the max for the two personal questions they are asking on this current application) that will wow and really express my desires? How does it really prove why I would make a successful student?
Even worse how do I pick the things I have done in the last four years that would best show I'm an ideal candidate? Who do I put as references. How do I make up for that fact that I really don't have any academic accomplishments, awards or even recognitions to speak of with my mountain of volunteer work?
I guess I'm just scared that I have to sell myself, in the past I have always been the quiet in the background volunteer that doesn't say much, just gets the job done. There is no recognition for those who just do their job. I have never done anything truly worth recognition, I just do what I feel is right and no one volunteers to win prizes. I guess I'm just concerned that for once I actually want something and yet I'm afraid to get rejected.
So here I go! Tomorrow I put in the final step of my application...put my heart out there, and probably get trampled on because not only do I have no major academic accomplishments to speak for, but my GPA is not the greatest in the world. But should I get told no, at least I tried. And it does not stop me from living my life, it just changes the game plan, and if there is anything I have learned (and moments of which I totally plan on putting into this darned application) is that change is good. Accept it. Get rejected by it. Just never forget that pass/fail, win/lose, get in/get rejected, there will always ALWAYS be cupcakes...or beer....or more opportunities to blog about how much growing up at 24 sucks!
When applying to college the first step is filling out the application form. For the particular program I am applying to (which yes happens to be another undergrad program...but I need the pre-recs to get into the masters program so I have at least another year of hoop jumping ahead of me provided I ever get into either of the different schools I applied to) there just so happens to be a supplemental application. Which basically asks me to show off and be awesome without showing off and being cocky about my truly awesomeness.
How do you find the balance? Isn't asking what makes you great a recipe for disaster? What do you say that is going to put you ahead of all others? What can possibly said in 200 words (which is the max for the two personal questions they are asking on this current application) that will wow and really express my desires? How does it really prove why I would make a successful student?
Even worse how do I pick the things I have done in the last four years that would best show I'm an ideal candidate? Who do I put as references. How do I make up for that fact that I really don't have any academic accomplishments, awards or even recognitions to speak of with my mountain of volunteer work?
I guess I'm just scared that I have to sell myself, in the past I have always been the quiet in the background volunteer that doesn't say much, just gets the job done. There is no recognition for those who just do their job. I have never done anything truly worth recognition, I just do what I feel is right and no one volunteers to win prizes. I guess I'm just concerned that for once I actually want something and yet I'm afraid to get rejected.
So here I go! Tomorrow I put in the final step of my application...put my heart out there, and probably get trampled on because not only do I have no major academic accomplishments to speak for, but my GPA is not the greatest in the world. But should I get told no, at least I tried. And it does not stop me from living my life, it just changes the game plan, and if there is anything I have learned (and moments of which I totally plan on putting into this darned application) is that change is good. Accept it. Get rejected by it. Just never forget that pass/fail, win/lose, get in/get rejected, there will always ALWAYS be cupcakes...or beer....or more opportunities to blog about how much growing up at 24 sucks!
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