Ancient History

I started off my college career at the University of Akron as a post-secondary student (high school senior who gets both high school and college credit at the same time, and for free), but went to Kent State for one semester after I graduated. Then I came back to Akron.

Why? Because I intensely hated everything about Kent State. My classes, my professors, the campus, the girls who lived on my floor (with the exception of my sweet roommate Dana, who sometimes annoyed me but did not make me as miserable as everything else there). My semester there was absolutely, unequivocally, the worst 4 months of my life, and the beginning of the worst year. Lots of bad decisions made.

When I signed up for the NEOMFA, I knew I would have to revisit that awful, awful place. I drove up to the campus to scope it all out, try to remember where the English building was, etc., then drove past my old dorm. I almost had to stop the car; I was shaking and sweating and thought I'd throw up. But, as with most things, my gut reaction quickly calmed and Kent became a place I had to go to...not a place I wanted to go, but if I kept to the Satterfield Hall/Student Union side of campus, no big deal. I'll never drive past Wright Hall again if I can help it though.

You're probably wondering why I'm writing about this. Well, because I had to go to the administration building today to request my transcripts. Turns out there was a hold on my account from something so old that the computer system didn't even say what it was, just that I owed $30. I don't like spending money on things I don't know about (but I'm guessing it was a parking ticket or some sort of fee for moving out of my dorm room before my contract was up).

Anyhow, after I got the mystery fee taken care of, I went back to the registrar's desk, and guess what? The woman behind the counter immediately printed out my transcripts, stuffed them in envelopes, stamped them with the official stamp, and slid them over the counter. No waiting. So the point of this post is that, after 8 years of KSU bashing, I finally found something to praise them for. This was the complete opposite of the transcript requesting nonsense at Akron, where I had to stand in three different lines and wait a week for the transcripts to arrive in the mail, in torn envelopes so that nifty "official" stamp didn't mean jack.

So thanks, Kent State, for making transcript requests quick and easy. I just wish I had remembered that I went to more than one college before the Dec. 15 deadline! Maybe Utah won't notice.