On Wednesday, September 8th, I woke up bright and early to attend my orientation and registration day at my new university for my new program. After bumbling my way around to try and catch a streetcar, I managed to make it to the building...only to find a line-up outside the door which was about the length of a city block.
This set the tone for the day.
I stood in four different lines that day, costing me about an hour and a half of my time. I stood in line to receive my registration package, complete with class and day schedule and sticker indicating which of two welcome assemblies to attend. This was about a 20 minute wait. I then stood in line to get my picture taken so that my instructors might get to know who I am (a line which was about the size of the lineup outside, except centralized in a cramped hallway, and doubled upon itself). Also about a 20 minute wait.
After the wonderful welcome ceremony, I went upstairs to find the room in which I was to process my financial aid. Very surprisingly, this would prove to be the shortest line of the day. 2-3 minutes tops.
Just a quick side note is needed here. Whenever I have had to wait in line for said financial aid at my old university, I would have to bring a pillow and a book, and expect to miss a class if I had less than 30 minutes before its commencement. This university is about 3-4 times larger (I'm guessing), so my comparably small 2 minute wait was dumbfounding and simultaneously pretty amazing.
That was line number 3.
Line number 4 is where things got pretty epic. After our obligatory cohort meeting, wherein we got to meet our instructors and fellow students, we were given a small textbook list and told that it would be "a good idea" to go purchase them before Monday, since the lineup by then would be "pretty hectic".
Taking those words to heart, I sought the store with the books that I would need.
There was a lineup from the door to the counter, which was probably about 20 meters away.
I stood in that line for 40 minutes.
40 minutes.
But by this point, the extensive standing and waiting had ceased to phase me.
Earlier in the day, I had gone to a welcome assembly, which was led by the Dean of my department. The Associate Dean made a wonderful speech about how Teacher's College will be an experience which is similar to the experience of riding a roller coaster. Everything up until our first practicum is the slow ascent; our careful preparation. The in-class practicum itself would be the first major ride down, complete with loops and the general feeling of helplessness and panic combined with adrenaline. It would be both exhilarating and completely terrifying, but by the end, you will be sad to get off the ride.
This part? The part that involves standing in line and waiting for basically everything this past Wednesday? This was exactly like waiting in line to get on the roller coaster itself. I felt agitated at the fact that I even had to wait, but I didn't want to leave, since I didn't want to lose my spot, and I really, really, really wanted to get to the front so I could get the stuff I needed to get on the ride. Knowing that I just needed to endure these short spurts of standing completely still and waiting for an extensive period of time was basically torture, but I felt surprisingly calm, since I knew I would eventually reach the front of the line and do the next thing necessary to prepare for my wild ride. I wasn't bored, far from it. I was happy to be there, as I am happy now to wait for Tuesday, when I start my first set of classes.
Though I have to say, I felt really bad for the folks who waited in line for textbooks behind me, since as I left, I noticed that the line had quadrupled in size, as it went out the door, and down the street about 80 meters.
Suckers.
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