At Least She's Nice

I went to an advisor in the English department to see if I could sub a 3000 level class I took (Contemporary Fiction) for one of the 2000 level "Composition/Literature" requirements. The college of arts and sciences couldn't do that substitution, so they sent me to the English department. The advisor told me that the required classes satisfy the general ed requirements set by the college and she couldn't substitute something else. It sounds pretty circular to me, but whatever. It won't change anything, and I can still finish all but the last French in the spring.

The advisor was this little old lady who clearly didn't like giving bad news (but she didn't want to try to change it, either). After she said she couldn't do anything, she said she had something for me. I was thinking on the order of a form to fill out requesting the substitution from some other office, but she pulled out a box of bookmarks and sifted through them until she found one appropriate for my major. "I'm sorry, I don't have any religious ones, but this one is kind of philosophical." It's got a quote from Lincoln on it, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Then she asked if I liked any sports. I thought she was just asking to be nice and make conversation, but when I said I run, she pulled out this ginormous file of folders - the kind you'd see in an elementary school kid's booksack, bright colors and soccer balls or skateboards. Luckily she didn't have anything on running and I stood up and thanked her before she had time to push any more crap on me.