I got a letter from the school today; I get to skip one year! Wooooo!
I'd been fighting and fighting with Student Administration for about a month, getting tossed back and forth between them and the department office, having to wait days and days for a response to every phone call I made. After several weeks of this, my request for an advanced placement interview got rejected by Student Admin. I finally lost it, got dressed up one Monday and hauled myself into the department office. I asked to see the new head and explained my situation to the department's administrator. After checking with Student Admin, she let me in to see a lecturer, who did her best to hear me out. She was sympathetic, but tried to discourage me from seeking an interview for advanced placement. However, I persisted and she finally agreed to schedule an interview. She sent me down to Student Admin to arrange an appointment date, so I headed off, happy to have been given that much of a chance.
At this point, you'd think that part of the battle had been won, wouldn't you? I had my interview and the scheduling was pretty much a mere technicality. Well, when I arrived at Student Admin, I faced this woman, this
administrator, who proceeded to give me a
lecture on how I was wasting my time and how the lecturer who had conducted my initial interview and signed off on my acceptance didn't think I had what it took to be allowed to skip a year. She didn't offer me a seat, a greeting, any common courtesy. I explained my reasons —
again — for requesting consideration for advanced placement: financial concerns, my age, my belief that I could handle the work. Her response was to ask if I believed that my opinion of my abilities was worth more than that of the lecturer who'd interviewed me. She told me to spend my energy looking for ways to solve the money issue instead.
I think what it is is that she was unhappy I'd skipped Student Admin and gone straight to the department. I think she was also unhappy that I was making such a big fuss about the whole damn issue and causing her so much 'trouble'. Never mind that an extra year would cost me another $14000, force me to waste another year, and place me in the company of 16-year-olds. Never mind that I'd be doing much work that isn't directly related to the course I'm interested in (my acceptance is conditional on my specialization; I don't get to change my course after the first year.)
If I was 16, 18, years old, I'd probably have backed down. Strong-willed though I am, I don't think that I'd have had the conviction and courage at that age to fight so hard for what I wanted and believed in. I'd have been frustrated and upset, but I'd have backed down.
This time, though, I kept fighting. Inside, I was panicky and yelling, but I kept arguing for the appointment. If the department agreed to interview me, why was an administrator holding me back? So I stayed there until she gave me an interview date. I thanked her for arranging the date and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't mean to make trouble for you. It's just that this is really important to me." Her response was snipe nastily that I'd "better not bring the same portfolio" I did for the initial interview. Now, that's beyond bitchy. I think she definitely overstepped her bounds in telling me I needed to find more money, in implying I didn't have the talent, in critizing my portfolio (which she hadn't even seen!)... in so many ways I can't even begin to express it. I think she was unprofessional and discourteous, and I believe she shouldn't be allowed to treat students, potential or otherwise, this way.
The point, though, is that I prevailed. I got my interview date. I worked my butt off for a week to produce more pieces. I asked people for recommendation letters. I must have done something right too at the interview, because the end result is that I got what I wanted: an exemption from the foundation year.
I thank God for the good fortune I had with this, but I also realize that this is a personal victory for me. I believe that if I had not had the conviction and courage to keep fighting, I would not have been granted the interview. I believe that if I didn't have the talent and the willingness to work hard, I wouldn't have aced the interview. I believe that the decision to ask for recommendation letters, and the kindness of the people who wrote me these letters, made a huge difference. I believe that the support of my friends and D and all the good words and love and advice they gave me helped make this possible. I believe that I am lucky, but that I made it happen too.
Now to put all this passion and hard work and talent into getting the other things I want... :)
I'm glad I won. I can't wait to start school!
