So, with the two signatures in hand, I walked the fifteen minutes it takes to get across campus to turn those papers in to the financial aid counselor. He said that I also needed signatures from two more professors for the following term, so I went back across campus to get them (going through the same professor tracking down experience as before), and then walked back to the financial aid office to hand these new signatures in. (For those keeping score, that's approximately 45 minutes of walking. Most of it, by the way, in the pouring rain.) Of course, the second time I got the signatures in, he said that the other thing he now needed was an e-mail from each professor confirming my current work completing strategy. I felt the strong desire to kick the chair out from underneath him, but I smiled and thanked him for taking the time to meet with me. I probably wouldn't be so miffed if I hadn't already been through a similar process the week before. Most of the first week of school has been spent in meetings or organizing meetings with the various campus resources I need.
Sunset
But on a positive note, I am fairly certain that all of this work will actually pay off. I do believe that my petition will be approved some time next week, and then I won't have to worry about paying rent or affording groceries On top of the back and forth on campus today, I drove across town and had my driver's license renewed. The experience at the DMV was not all that excruciating in that I was in and out in less than twenty minutes, which gave enough time to buy some food at the grocery store. But, after the walking, the rain, and the driving, I was pretty tired. I plan to not really do very much tonight except read the assignments I have for Thursday's class.
I could say more about the meeting I had with the professors: one, in response to my description of the difficulties I have had the last two years, said "Life is full." I think it was his attempt to say something profound about the nature of life's problems, or the inevitability of suffering, but while I appreciated the sympathetic gesture, I found it a little corny. The other professors seemed somewhat surprised that I was still hanging around working on the same problems I had discussed with them last year. I feel like a barnacle on this institution, desperately clinging to rock. Like I said, I could say more about the professors, but I think I might save that for later. Suffice it to say that I feel that this is my last best chance; now I need to show some work for it.