Just a quick little note, as I forgot to announce it sooner:
I am now an employee of Penn State University. Apparently, the intervview went as well as we all thought, and that job is MINE!
I started last week. So far, so good. . .
Now, onto something that has NOTHING to do with the subject ^_~
Note: this is an EXACT copy of my post from my other journal. The "previous post" about the be mentioned was my note that I was going for the interview. Now, back to the post:
If you read the previous post (or have been speaking to me lately), you would know I had my interview at 1pm. Here is the basic lowdown of events:
I arrived in the building at 12:45 and introduced myself. The student employee brought me to who I needed to speak to, and then bounded off to gather the other person needed for the interview. The interview began with a partial tour of the building, and we stopped about 1/4 of the way through to meet everyone for the interview.
At first, they thought they would be too intimidating by sitting across from me. I chuckle, and tell them that will not be an easy task. "After having to stand in front of 100 people who didn't speak English," I began, "and having to address them in Japanese, I think EVERYTHING else is simple." Many laughs ensued from this comment, and we started off with conversing of language skills and working with international students before the real stuff began. . .
They at first asked about my job at the Stevenson Library, and tried the usual "If this happens/happened, what would/did you do?" I passed all of those with flying colors, and I also answered some of their "harder" questions ("What does a student employee have to offer to us? What about problem students/patrons?" etc). I asked a few questions of my own about how things work and how others are set up. Some of my questions had them all thinking, so I think that is a good sign ^_^;
After we finished the interview/questioning session, I was given the full tour of the place, where everything was, how it all worked, etc. I was also introduced to everyone on duty (except one person, who was in a meeting at that time). From everything I have read about how interviews should go, this one ended VERY well.
I was told that I would be told within 1-2 weeks about the decision. When I said "I hope to hear from you soon" to my interviewer, she replied "Oh, you will." I'm taking that as a damned good sign that I am getting the job.
Oh, and the ending time? 2:10pm. I was there for an hour and twenty-five minutes. NEARLY AN HOUR AND A HALF! Let's face it: all the things that make a successful interview (running over, tour, introductions, etc) happened today ^__^
Oddly enough, the more I play through the interview, the more I realize that this is in the bag. No hesitation (unless I placed it there for dramatic effect, like taking a drink between questions), answers that inadvertantly chained to the next question (which, btw, were apparently tailored to me for my experience; they all had sheets with questions to ask), Japanese styled manners and modesty with American confidence, and just overall just a show of experience and skill.
And throughout the interview, they made it sound like it was my first day on the job ("This is where you will be working, here is someone who you will work directly with, that guy is in charge of this, so ask him for that, here's where you will be doing task Y", etc). If I don't get this job, I'll find who got the job and go Dewey Decimal on their Microfilm.
Oh, and the previous quote came from Nick.
Ironically enough, the library has neither of those :-p
Anyway, for now, I am going to get some stuff taken care of, decide what to do for dinner (too excited to cook a major meal), and. . .wait ^__^
Cell's on, so. . .try your luck!
As a note, this is what has been taking up all of my time. This is my reason for not being on the RPGs, writing any new fanfics (and I now have plenty of ideas...two of them have book potential...but not enough time to get started), or talking to anyone via Skype.
First, I would like to apologize to you all. For those who have had me snap at them in the forums, "ignore" them for some time, or just never getting around to responding, I am sorry.
Now onto the story...
A few weeks ago, I recieved an email from the international office here at my university. They claimed that they did not know how my courses were to correspond with my major, and did not know how to use them to assist with my graduation. So, I spoke with my department chair (the man who runs the whole English department, who helped get me to Japan in the first place) and he sent an email in return, and both sides said that everything was taken care of. . .
And then it went downhill.
My mother recieved a letter from my university almost a week later. A letter that contained a bill for over six thousand U.S. Dollars. this did not make sense to me, since the government and my personal loans should have paid for everything, not leave me with a bill that is equal to the tuition for the semester.
I spoke to a few employees in the offices, and discovered the problem: the courses from my year in Japan did not carry over, and each course was considered "incomplete." This essentially means that an entire year of courses was not counted for me at all. Until this mishap is corrected, I do not recieve any financial assistance from the government, nor do I receive any of my loans from the government either.
So, I go to the offices once again, and begin to cause problems for them until the began to fix things. They claimed that they sent everything to another office, which claimed they sent it to another office, which claimed. . .
You get the picture.
So, after running around the university, to three seperate buildings and five offices later, I finally received a straight answer (almost): my information became lost in one of the offices, and the employees there had to wait until their supervisor got back to them.
. . .
Its a miracle I didn't murder somebody up to this point. But it gets even better.
I discovered that because of my job before I left (and the income from that), the lack of a job during my year abroad, my late paperwork because of my year abroad, my sister no longer being in school, my brother and his job(s?), my sister and her nursing job, and the raise that my mother received at her job, I had another one thousand five hundred dollars revoked from my financial assistance. This is due to the government believing that the family made too much money this year. Which therefore means that after my other aid finally does clear (whenever it clears. . .), I will still owe the school money that I do not have.
Why?
They are asking for somewhere between six hundred and seven hundred USDs. My mother lost her job before I returned from Japan, and therefore cannot assist me. My brother does not have much money of his own since he lost one of his jobs, and is preparing to go to school for next spring (maybe even next fall). My sister lost her job and is preparing to move out, which is taxing my mother very greatly bother physically and mentally (and of course, costing her a great deal of money to help her in the process). I am working the only job I am able/allowed to work, which is just like any other job for those of us without a college degree or the time needed for a "real" job: a dead end desk job at the library, making minimum wage.
Therefore, I cannot receive assistance from home. My own job would take me nearly 14 weeks of working, without spending ANY money at all, in order to pay for one semester (which is less than 4 months long, with holidays). Additionally, because of my lack of a job during the past year, I cannot take another loan to pay for school.
. . .
I have spent days asking around with professors, advisors, department chairs, and I have been working my way up the ladder, and all are saying the same thing:
"You're screwed."
I basically need to find some way to earn this money within the next two weeks. If I do not, I will not be allowed to register for my classes for the next semester. Without registration, I am not longer a student. If I am not longer a student, I technically "dropped out" of school, which therefore means that I need to start paying for my student loans almost immediately. Meaning the current fifteen-thousand dollar debt will land upon my unemployed head.
Great. . .
As you can see, I have been greatly stressed by this, and this doesn't include my classes! The workload I have makes me start at 7am (and usually, I am awake and doing something around 6am), and I usually do not return to my room to "relax" (aka: sit down, do more homework, and then sleep) until almost midnight. I may only do that twice a week (on Fridays, I just say screw it and take the night off), but my two "days off" are spent either here at the library, working, or spent tutoring foreign students, or just spent doing my homework, which usually consists of reading for my speech course, writing speeches, writing papers, reading the bible, reading Greek Mythology, reading classic British Literature, reading classic American Literature, reading books about computer programming, and writing programs for said course. This also doesn't include my "special" assignments, like my journal for Core Texts, my term papers, my portfolios, my exams, my twice a week quizzes, or any of the other aspects of my life. . .
So yes...I have been busy.
I apologize for ignoring you all, but. . .
At this moment, I am not even sure if I will be allowed to attend school any longer.
Wish me luck . . .