one of those moments when I think I'm entirely entitled to use really bad language

I'm pretty sure PUC's goal is to fuck with my schedule as much as humanly possible to make next year as tough for me as, well, humanly possible.

Here's the thing: I only need 20-some more credits, and the majority of them are generals. So you'd think that I could just finish up at a less expensive, more convenient (for living in Vallejo) community or state college, right? Well, no. Because there's a rule that a huge percentage of your senior year classes have to be from PUC (meaning I could only take 8 of those classes elsewhere.) So I am stuck taking minimum credits over the course of two quarters (it's just the way scheduling worked out - more on that later) for $30,000 a year when I could be doing it locally for $5,000...

If that weren't enough of a frustration, just when I think I get my class schedule figured out they fuck it up all over again. Now, I understand that the English department is going through some problems (one teacher is retiring, another is on sick leave) but that's no excuse for letting EVERYTHING go to shit. Here's how my scheduling has gone for next year: ideally I could cram all my 10-some credits in one quarter and be DONE, but since certain classes are only offered certain quarters (and certain years at that), that just isn't going to happen. Initially I thought I could get all my classes in during Fall and Winter quarter, meaning I'd have Spring quarter off. That would be nice. Then I found out that no, actually, the classes that I need are during Fall and Spring quarter, meaning I'll have to take Winter quarter off (because seriously, I'm not going to pay the hellish sum of money PUC requires for classes I don't need.) There are only 8 credits worth of classes I needed Fall quarter, so I had to add a random class, and there were 15 credits I needed Spring quarter.

At this point let me remind you why it's very important I get my classes over with in a timely fashion and within a certain time restraint: I'm getting married this summer, and even if I wasn't my parents wouldn't be able to help me with school anymore starting next year. Because they're teachers in the Adventist school system, I've been getting a 70% discount on my bill--which basically means that my parents' extremely low professional salaries are able to pay for my bill about as much as the average professional can, and yes I still do have plenty of loans--but this discount only goes for 4 years, meaning I'm on my own no matter what next year.

That said, I'm not doing myself any favors by living in Vallejo next year (gas prices being what they are), but I'm convinced (as is Dan) that this is the right time in our three-year relationship to get married, so we're doing it anyway. He's going to have to commute an hour too. We're both making sacrifices, but it'll be worth it. These sacrifices aren't limited to travel time, however--we're both going to have to work, and since school comes easier for me/my schedule is more conducive to it (er, was)/we're going to be poor, I'm going to be working somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 hours a week. (Right now I'm working 11-20 hours a week and doing fine, but I'm also living on campus and not paying rent, etc--my loans are, actually.)

So. Keeping all that in mind, imagine how delighted I was to find out today that PUC administration has decided to rearrange my slaved-over, carefully-organized schedule once again, moving a required class from Fall quarter to Spring. Okay, at least they didn't move it to Winter (when it'd be the only class I need), I'll give you that. But that means that I officially have 8 credits for Fall (only 5 of which I need) and 19 credits for Spring. Obviously, um, this isn't going to work. My adviser emailed the students affected by this change (me being one of the three) to get our input, so I'm very much hoping that the other two girls have either 11am or 12pm free--because God knows I NEED my schedule compacted, with my 2 hours of commuting per day plus likely five hours of work... oh, plus I'm supposed to keep a house (or apartment, as the case may be) and a marriage together. Thanks, PUC.

I'm not going to say that if I knew it was going to be this hard next year, I wouldn't have decided to get married. But it would have been nice if I had been informed from the beginning of the complications, and if the rules didn't change every other fucking day.

*breathes*

Okay. There are a few things I can do to alleviate that horrible 19-credit schedule (because as it is, I'm not going to have time to sleep. Ever.) One thing I can do is take Physics (a required general) and a few P.E. classes (2, to be exact) at Napa Valley College. I'll still have to pay just as much at PUC (you pay a base amount for 12 credits, and anything under that is just obscenely expensive per quarter hour--they really like to rape you around here) plus whatever extra at Napa (SOO much less expensive per hour, seriously!), but I just may stay sane. (And sleep occasionally.) There's still the problem of my 8 credits (under full time!) Fall quarter, though...

I'm still completely pissed off, just so you know.