FDP is in the process of a major change technologically. The entire school is switching to a new "system."

Ok.....so what does that mean exactly?

First off....it means that your transcripts are almost impossible to get. You stand in line for over an hour just to get someone who says, "I'm sorry we can't give you a set of sealed transcripts....you see, you have to fill out this form.....and because of the new system, we have to hand check all transcripts.....oh and it's at least a seven day wait for this whole process.....so we might be able to send them out in two weeks."

Breathe in.....breathe out. Ok....this is why you get your transcripts several weeks beforehand....slight problems....but not really.

Second......it means that student business services doesn't work. No...REALLY. It just doesn't work. So now I have two different totals for what I owe....the problem is no one seems to think there's a problem with this.....but the realy problem is that right now I'm only scheduled to get about 1/3 of my financial aid refund back to me. So I've called SBS a total of 4 times, and waited about an hour each time to actually speak to someone. No help....no one can help me.

Breathe in....breathe out. Fine, I'll go talk to a real person....one who hopefully is over the age of 18.

So I wait in line for.....again.....over an hour. After I've been on the phone for 1 hr 45min to try and get it solved. I have to lie to the computer system to get past the dreaded Self-Help Kiosk they want to send me to. Finally I get to talk to a nice person in financial aid, who then walks me down to SBS 19yr old. F*CK! She then cops an attitude and tells me that I should get my full refund, but it's not her problem that the computer won't show up. And in the most condescending way humanly imaginable says to just call the tech department....and again....doesn't see a freaking problem.

Pause.

It's at this point in our story, I should mention that SBS is also going to a new refund distribution system in the same semester that all of these radical changes are occurring with our tech system. Meaning it's mandatory to register for a card (which I threw away thinking it was a credit card offer....specifically because we got a few emails that looked remarkably like phishing, and the card I got mailed looked like a freaking credit card). And after you register for a card, they want you to set up an account with them, but for those of us who HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS ALREADY (IE I AM NOT A FREAKING UNDERGRAD) we have to get them to funnel the money through their bank into our bank. But of course, since I don't have the damn card, they have to send me a new one....and since the first one was lost, they'll now charge me $20 for a new one.....and I have to wait 7 days for deliver (IE refund....gee I 'm glad I got paid this month).

Resume.

Now if I hadn't already wasted several hours of my life trying to get money so that I can function financially, perhaps I would have been able to breathe deeply and continue the conversation. If I had been able to get someone to even remotely entertain the idea that there was a problem with my account and that they just couldn't figure out what it was....or maybe if the person I was speaking to looked even slightly older that 13...I could have stepped back and dealt with.

Unfortunately, none of those things happened. Now....when I get angry I get angry....and it's mostly useful. But when I get frustrated angry I cry....which is perhaps the most useless response in the world, as it make you seem overly emotional and irrational. Guess what happened.

Sigh.

So here's my plan. I will wait one more day. If my computer system still has problems, I'm going to communicate my problem to the Music Grad School Advisor (who registers all grad students in the department and has always made any problem I had with bureaucracy go away) and see if he can do any better.

Peace, Love, and Tunes,

Mac.