Today was my Monday as yesterday was spent at the university in orientation. An entire day, wasted. The only thing I gleaned from 8 hours of nothing was that I enjoy my college's advisor's humor. He has a droll wit and I made him laugh (always a high for me).
The day started with my husband dropping me off by the student union where the orientees are to meet. He parked the car and walked me about halfway to my final destination and when I knew where I was going, I left him without a backwards glance, saying, "Bye! Don't embarrass me!" as if he were a parent dropping off his child on the first day of school.
Let me talk about my husband for a bit. When we met, I was attending my current university's arch rival university. This did not truly bother him but I have endured the digs through the years, especially during football season. I simply roll my eyes and ignore him. When we moved from Central Florida to this city, it was like a dream-come-true for him. He enjoyed his college years here and while this wasn't a career goal for him, moving here was like coming home (to him). [I had a very rough time adapting when we moved, but that's another post.] So for me to attend his alma mater is yet another dream-come-true for him. He couldn't be more pleased for me to earn my degree(s) from this school.
Needless to say, he was more excited for my orientation than I was. As he walked me around the student union, I could practically feel the contentment rolling off him.Any minute I felt like I was going to be caught in the way-back machine with him as he remembered hanging out with his friends at the Union. My being blithe about leaving him was more about bringing the focus back to me than it was about being snippy towards him. So I left him in my dust as I beat feet to check-in.
After I was greeted by overly chipper children wearing gaudy vertically-striped polo colors in the school colors, I was told to "Go stand in that line" because I was missing my health form.*
(*The health form was still at my doctor's office because last Wednesday, I spent the most horrible lunch break of my life there. I received 4 vaccinations, one in each upper arm and one in each buttock (heh, heh). I am still sore from the Tdap (that would be tetanus, diptheria and pertussis to you non-medically-inclined people) injection! Because I have a weakened immune system, my doctors decided to torture me by saying "Sure! Go ahead and get vaccinated against Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and meningitis! Oh, and throw in the tetanus shot for good measure!" At first, I was aghast--why the hell did I need to get immunized against a disease that teenagers get who live in close quarters [i.e. dorms] as well as a sexually transmitted liver destroyer? Oh, right, because I'll be attending school with promiscuous children who live 4 to a room and have festering illnesses and I have no immune system. Whose idea was this going to school thing, anyway?!?!)
So my health form was still at the torturer's (I mean doctor's) office and I had to explain this to the young woman who checked me in and she told me to get in line with the 73 other kids who didn't have their health forms so I could explain my lack of health form to yet another perky young woman after I stood in line for 30 minutes.
Luckily I had the forethought to pack my Nook in my tote bag. I read a lot yesterday. A lot.
Then the orientation began in earnest. The happy young folks sang the school's fight song which we, the newest university students, were invited to sing along with. And from there, the day went downhill. I learned how to fill out my financial aid forms (I don't need financial aid because I am employed fulltime with my own pocket money to spend on trivialities like tuition); how to be safe on campus (I went to college during the infamous serial murders of the early 90s; I know about the buddy system and to be aware of my surroundings); and how to study (I got here, didn't I? Doesn't that count for something?). I sat there, actually wishing I was at work, swamped with all my tasks. I wished they had a program for mature students. I thought I might design one when I get to be a big name on campus. I texted my husband and friends. I wanted to pull out my Nook but thought that might be a tad rude.
The afternoon eventually rolled around. We all split off into our little groups, lead by our frisky orientation (read: camp) counselors. We trouped to an older building and the trio of kids showed us how to register for our classes. Then, we were split up further into groups based on our majors and told to walk to the colleges' main buildings.
Have I mentioned the hilliness of this campus? And the fact that I am not in shape? Add those two things to the group I was walking with--all children in their earliest 20s who thought that the faster we got to the English building, the better. I have shinsplints today from walking 9 miles uphill the whole way [really it was less than half a mile; I am just really out of shape and almost 40, for chrissakes!].
After I cooled down and visited the restroom, we sat through a PowerPoint hosted by the droll advisor mentioned above and then, THEN, we were able to actually talk to said advisor. I now have my classes planned out for Summer, Fall and Spring, and they're all classes I am excited about!
(*Picked up my health form from the doctor's office on the way home yesterday. Did not open the envelope until this morning at work. The health form is NOT SIGNED. Spent my lunch hour driving back to the doctor's office to get the damned form signed. Grr.)
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