Hello, Mr. Chips.

It was quite funny- and quite typical- on November 30th when I was on the phone with my mother. She was talking away, as mother's do, and asked me about my course:

Mom: When do you start your course?
Me: It starts in January or March depending on the school.
Mom: So which school are you going to?
Me: Well I figure that the course is going to be the same no matter where I take it. It goes on my Ontario certification as a completion, and there are no marks submitted anywhere, simply a pass/fail. So I'm going to the one that is the shortest, the cheapest, and the one that finishes first.
Mom: And?
Me: That's *****.
(pause)
Me: Wait a minute! What's the date today?
Mom: It's November 30th.
Me: No, no, no, no. What time is it?
Mom: 10:30. What's the matter with you?
Me: Today is the registration deadline!

I had four months to register and I put it off until 90 minutes before the deadline. What kind of an idiot does a thing like that? (Incidentally, with the $150 spending money that I have each month it's going to take me over five months to pay for the course. A part of me was hoping that I would find a job that wouldn't need the course. I guess that explains my procrastination)

I managed to register in time, and then zipped on over to www.mcgill.ca to request a transcript. McGill has the best transcript request policy ever. First of all, it's free (which is a rarity) and second of all it's all online. In just a few clicks you can request the official transcript and have it sent to the institution of your choice. It usually arrives within 2 weeks.

So I received a white envelope from the University late Friday afternoon. I had the important-letter-panic-attack as I contemplated not opening it. When I did manage to tear it open I saw a white sheet with official letterhead and with a sick feeling in my stomach, I read.

Now there was absolutely no reason for me not to get into the course. It's fully online, after all, and I don't expect that an online course is a huge stress upon the university or its staff. When that 8 week fully online course costs $865 I'd be shocked if they reject anyone even if they register after the deadline. Sounds like a textbook case of cash grabbing to me.

I was relieved to see that I had registered for the right course and that everything appeared to be correct. It looked upon initial glancing that it wasn't a rejection letter (I've got a sixth sense about these now). I was over the moon when I noticed that under "Required Documents and Prerequisites" was written "None".

I'm in the course and will begin January 10th. I know that it's a complete waste of time and money, but in my experience that's what teacher training programs are all about. It frustrates me that I'm a victim of a bureaucracy that has been set up in order to make life more difficult. I can't begin to fathom how frustrating it must be to immigrate to Canada and have to redo a law or medicine degree even though you've worked for 20 years and have saved/helped thousands of people.