As many of you know, I am currently a student. I know, I know...I'm 27 years old and should have graduated a long time ago. In fact, whenever I think of it I am reminded of the scene in Tommy Boy where David Spade's character is making fun of Chris Farley's character for graduating college so late in life. Farley defends himself with the statement, "Tons of people go to school for 9 years." To which Spade replies, "Yeah...they're called doctors."
Darn. I'm definately not a doctor.
But, in my defense I haven't been in school for all of nine years. I've taken at least a few years off. And Grand Valley is my (count 'em) fourth college. All that transferring kind of screwed me up and I ended up taking a lot of classes that don't actually count towards graduation (e.g. GVSU does not recognize Old Testament Survey from IWU for credit). But I've kept at it like that tortoise in the race with the hare and am scheduled to graduate next spring.
Today, however, I was looking over my transcript and degree analysis (a spreadsheet that tells me which requirements I have met and have yet to meet) to make sure everything looked right. I've done this a thousand times, but I'm a double-checker. Now that I have my classes scheduled for next year, those classes show up on said degree analysis and I just wanted to reaffirm that everything was in order (again), as to avoid surprises when I apply for graduation in the winter. As I glanced over this analysis an interesting thing caught my eye; something I hadn't noticed the first 999 times I looked at this report. At the very top was a column which read Total Credits Required: 120. Next to this was a label that read: Total Credits Used: 119, Not Met. If you haven't guessed, this meant that with my current schedule I will be one credit short of graduating next spring.
ONE CREDIT SHORT! Are you kidding me?!?!
As this realization washed over me and the bile began to rise in my throat, several things crossed me mind. Things like, Gee. It sure would have been nice if my #*@& advisor had ever e-mailed me back after the three thousand nine hundres twenty seven times I e-mailed her to make sure I was all set.
These pleasant thoughts were added to as I attempted to get ahold of the registrar's office and recieved only a busy signal. For TWO HOURS. I finally got through and, after a valiant performance of pretending like I wasn't ready to strangle the next person I met, confirmed that yes, I was screwed unless I changed something. All that transferring had satisfied several class requirements without actually giving me credit for them, leaving me short of total credits that count towards graduation.
So, for the next half hour I scrambled through the registrar page, desperately searching for a class for which to sign up to get me over the 120 credit mark. Thankfully, I found one which will work with my schedule.
Every once in a while, I find myself celebrating my tendencies toward anal-retentiveness and OCD. Basking in the rewards that can be reaped from over-efficiency and obsessive double-checking. If I hadn't done this now, I may not have caught it until it was too late. Even if I had waited, I may not have been able to find a class to join. It was all just another reminder that God makes us the way we are for a purpose. I'm not saying He gave me the characteristics I have just to save me from taking another semester of school. But He did give them to me for some reason, which I may not ever know.
Psalms 139:13,14 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." God made me the way that I am with care and attention to detail. He knit me into being. Like Max Lucado says, I'm not mass-produced and I didn't come off an assembly line. God didn't just slap me together like an irresponsible bride trying to finish her centerpieces the night before the wedding. He was delicate and deliberate. And even though He's perfect and He doesn't make mistakes, He still took His time on me. What an amazing God we serve!
P.S. The only class I found is called Intermediate Fiction Workshop. Maybe Linda won't have to wait so long for her novel after all. :)
