Well, July is off to a bangin' start.
My Purdue advisor advised me to have what is called a STAR day on campus. I naively signed up for it thinking, "Surely my advisor knows what he's talking about, why not go?" However I did not know at the time that signing up for said STAR day (yes it is always obnoxiously capitalized like that) would require me to be on campus by 7:30 in the morning. I called and asked if I really had to be there at 7:30. They said yes.
Purdue also neglected to send me an email with all the additional info I would need for my STAR day so I had to call around and figure it out for myself. This ended in me staying up vair late Sunday night (my STAR day was Monday) printing off stupid medical forms (still haven't turned that in), , a schedule (that didn't tell me anything helpful, and a parking permit (somehow I still managed to get a parking ticket).
So I begrudgingly woke up at 7 something and left my apartment wearing some very bohemian clothes (I wasn't intentionally going for that look), no makeup, and glasses because I just couldn't deal with my contacts at that hour in the morning. I finally get there and sit in the auditorium for a very long time. I figured I would pull out my phone to entertain me while I waited for the orientation to start only to realize that I left my phone at home. If there was ever a time where I DESPERATELY wanted/needed my phone, it was at this stupid STAR day. I was also quite literally the only person there without a parent and over the age of 18. I had to sit through two different orientation meetings (roughly two hours). Some of you may ask why I bothered to sit through them when I could have just hopped in my car and left. I will tell you why I stayed. Everyone told me I had to go to them so I could find out when my meeting with my advisor was (the only REAL reason to go to STAR, you have to meet with your advisor before they'll let you sign up for classes). Sadly, they only told us the really pertinent information at the end of every meeting so I really did have to stick around for all of it. I did learn, however, that they require all of their students to take an online alcohol education course (complete with test) before the semester begins. Toto, I don't think I'm at BYU anymore.
I got lost on campus. Multiple times. I've lived in West Lafayette for 18 years but that does not mean I know where something called the HOVDE is. I used a semi-helpful GPS Purdue map on my phone (I ran home to grab it after one of my meetings), but it wasn't very effective considering the fact that I don't know how to orient myself with the cardinal directions. Someone stopped me and asked for help which was a bad move on their part. Pretty sure they ended up going in the opposite direction of where they needed to go. Finally, I finished meeting with my advisor, taking placements tests, and registering for classes. I then returned to my car to find a lovely little parking ticket placed on my windshield. Apparently, I forgot to put my parking permit on my dashboard. I then proceeded to go to the police station to prove to them that I was legally parked there. I got there at 4:14. The parking kiosk closed at 4. I then got on the phone with the police and asked if I could show them my paper work and not have to get the ticket. They told me that they would have to transfer me to something called "parking facilities" to get that question answered. The parking facilities lady then told me that I would have to mail in the materials then they would eventually "review it". She didn't exactly instill much confidence in me so I asked if I could bring the paperwork in sometime and she said "Well I mean yeah, but we close in ten minutes." Challenge accepted, parking facilities lady. I then sped over to the other building in 7 minutes and made it just in time. I don't know where these parking facility people get their authority, but she told me that my ticket was taken care of and I didn't have to worry about it. I said ok and left. I finally got home around 5:30 and realized that three days out of the week next semester, I will be on campus from 7:30 to 5:30, like I had been today. That thought did not exactly get me excited about Purdue. But I don't have classes on Monday ever which is pretty sweet. I love three day weekends <3
Today (Tuesday), I started my job at Endocyte. I get my own cubicle. Granted it is vair dusty and I can't determine the hygiene level of the person who used it previous, but hey it's still a cubicle. My job consists of going through a bunch of boxes (roughly 45) one at a time then taking every binder and folder in each box, scanning every sheet of paper, putting said paper back in the EXACT SAME SPOT, inventorying it on an excel spreadsheet, then reassembling the box. The most exciting part of my job is probably lining up the papers and seeing which ones have the same staple marks from removing the staple to scan it then getting to RE-STAPLE the same papers I just UNSTAPLED not two minutes ago!! It's great fun.
I'm going to write a book. It will be entitled "How to Walk 50 Miles in July in 10 Foot Increments". How will I know how to do this? You ask. I will tell you. I walk to my cubicle, to the scanner, back to my cubicle (roughly 10-15 feet) around 36 times a day. I'm quite certain by the end of my time there, a worn-down trail on the carpet will have been left by me. It will be called "The Trail of Annie's Tears".
Supposedly, there's a girl named Ashlyn who is supposed to be helping me. My supervisor said she wasn't sure what time she normally comes in, but to keep an eye out for her and that her cubicle was the one with "all the bright orange sticky notes and smiley faces" on it. Great, I thought. So anyway I'm keeping my eyes out for this girl and after lunch, I see this 15-16 year old girl in black clothes and black hair wander into the office, see me, then turn around and wander out. I didn't see her the rest of the day and I'm 99% sure that was Ashlyn. Based on that, I think I will just do this project alone. I'm hopeful that I will be done by the Holidays.
