This story has a happy ending.

So about 2 or 3 weeks ago, now, I went online and I searched for all the classes I want to take next semester. I was being really prepared and I saw which classes I should take so that the time wouldn't overlap or anything. The classes I wanted were: Intro to the Criminal Justice System, Gen Chem II, Gen Chem Lab, Trig, Freshman English II, and Intro to Stats for Behavioral something (that's a psych class). After I got it all figured out I had a week until I registered for classes, which I mentioned earlier.

Then I learned that I had an Immunization Hold on my account. I went down to the Health Center and asked how I get it removed, and they told me. It was a really simple process, all that I really had to do was get a copy of my immunization records and give it to them.

But I had plenty of time to do that, so no rush. I was mostly worried about not getting certain classes. For instance, I want this one Gen Chem Lab class, and I want this one Gen Chem II class. The Lab teacher is my chem teacher now and he's really good. And Chealomen said that the Gen Chem II teacher was pretty good, so I kept checking the availability on those two classes to make sure I'd still be able to get them. They were getting pretty full, but I was going to be able to register soon, so the chances were still decent that I'd get all the classes I picked out.

So, being busy and a pretty bad procrastinator, I waited until the Monday I could sign up for classes to get that in. But that shouldn't have really been a problem. I had a hold on my account last semester, and it took all of 15 seconds to get cleared. I even turned in the papers a good hour before freshmen were allowed to register, just in case. I went to the Health Center and turned in the papers and the lady at the front desk there looked them over then told me I was good to go.

"Cool. How long until the hold is taken off my account?"
"The hold should be released within 72 hours."

Oh. Wow. 72 hours. That's quite a long time to have to wait. I went and looked at the availability of all my classes again. At that point, the trig class I wanted was full, as was the psych class and my gen chem lab. It was pretty upsetting, but I could probably go through and rearrange everything and get the classes I wanted still, even if I didn't have the specific teacher I wanted for lab. And then I spent the next couple days checking my account every couple hours to see if they released the hold yet. And everytime I saw that they hadn't released my account, I had to check to see if I'd still be able to get my classes.

It was Tuesday morning one time when I checked, right before chem was starting, and I looked at the gen chem labs. All full. Not just Ball's, the one I wanted, but every single one of them. There wasn't even one seat open. And I still couldn't register :( I had no idea what to do. It's kinda important to my major that I get into a lab class, since they're only offered in the spring.

I talked to my teacher and he said that I wasn't alone and that they'll probably open up another class because so many kids need to take it. Then he asked if they were to open up a seat for me in any of the classes, which teacher would I want to have it with? I told him that I was really hoping I could take his class, and he said he'd let me know if a new class or anything opened.

After class was over, I went to check and see if they had released my hold yet. They hadn't. So I checked on the Gen Chem Lab classes instead. They had opened a new class (which was at the same time as the gen chem ii class I wanted) and added 6 additional student to each existing class. I was so excited because I would be able to take the chem lab with Ball if they released my account soon enough. So I kept checking in on that.

Later that night, Ball emailed me to let me know that the opened a new class and had a few more students in his class. He said that he can't override my immunization hold, but he'll try to hang on to a seat in his class for me as long as he could. I kept checking in on his class and it was filling up pretty slowly, so that by Wednesday (I still had 24 hour to wait for my account to be released) there was only 1 seat yet.

Now, I'm getting really really anxious. It would make my semester so much easier if I could just get this class, and there's only one seat left. I decided that rather than wait the 24 hours, I would just go to the Health Center and ask them to clear my hold for me. So I went and talked to a different girl than I had talked to before.

"There's a hold on my account, I was just wondering if you could get it taken off for me."
"Did you turn in your paperwork?"
"Yes, I did."
"When?" Oh dear. I'm going to tell her, and she's going to tell me I have to wait another day and then come back if it's not released yet.
"On Monday." Wait for it.
"Oh, it should already be released." Well that was a pleasant surprise. She took my ID number and said she'd give it to her supervisor and get my account released by 5 pm. It was already 4 pm. :)

Then, as I was leaving campus, some guy stopped me and asked if I had a minute to talk. He was with a guy who had a camera. I said sure and he got my name, then showed me some pictures of dead people, or grave yards, or smoker's lungs that they're trying to push to be on cigarette boxes, and he asked if I thought they would be effective for teens and people in their 20's. I said no, because the smoker's don't really think that kinda thing will happen to them, or if they do think it'll happen to them, they don't care because that's pretty far ahead in the future, so no need to worry now. It was weird, but he got what he needed and let me go on my way.

I went home and signed up for classes. I got into Ball's class, and also the other chem class I wanted. My original schedule plan had me going to school every Mon Wed and Thurs from 9:30 to 3:50, and Tues from 9:30 to 10:45. My actual schedule has all the same classes, but instead on Mon and Wed I go from 9:30 to 3:50, on Tues I go 5:00 to 7:45, and on Thurs I go from 12:00 to 7:45. And I've got a break for lunch/ dinner Mon, Wed and Thurs. It'll be cool :)

And, if you were wondering what the little smoker interview has to do with anything, it was apparently a part of a thing they were doing for the Today Show. Guess who was on National TV? :D Although, they don't mention my name so I don't know why he asked, but it was still cool ha. I didn't even know this was for something real, I thought maybe it was for a class. But then my friend told me she saw me on TV. Sweet! If you want to see the clip, it's on my facebook. :)

For such a stressful week, it sure made for a happy ending.