These months of clearing all administrative requirement before going to my University witnessed more difficulties as I expected.
Immunizations, finance documents, travel documents, insurance, class registration, housing, meal plan, flight, transcripts mailing… some went quite smoothly, yet many did not.
Assorted sudden, dramatic changes and strange errors have happened at a ridiculously, or so I think, pace: Student Application were lost due to system bugs, flight ticket price surged unreasonably high, testing agencies sent my transcript wrongly to Canada (I still never figure out why), and waiver forms received two contradicting confirmation emails… Admittedly, some complications originated from the COVID-19 situation, but the absurdity of complications I encountered made me feel like one of the most unluckiest incoming international freshmen at my school this year.
There are plenty to learn from the experience. When something gets wrong in an administrative process, do these in the specified order:
- Try to re-do the process and see if the problem is gone (e.g., refresh the page, retract the previous form and submit a second form).
- Check their Q&A to see whether they got this error covered.
- Ask people around you or on the Internet to see whether they have had similar situations.
- Find their contact method and ask for help.
We hope the first three steps can resolve the issue but often they do not. We have to get into the fourth step, i.e., contact an official/manager in charge (frankly speaking, the solution you get by asking people around you is often just the fourth step, too). If possible, call them up; if not, submit a ticket or email, describing the problem with proper screenshots/proof documents attached, if any. The process is probably tedious - but when working with agencies, keep two p-words in mind: persist and polite.
What does persist mean? It means when no one is answering the call in the morning, call again in the afternoon, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Do not give up. It means if the person at the other side is not replying, send another email the next day, and three days later, and a week later. Be patient, never give up, but do give the other side a gentle little reminder once a while. Be prepare for a “seesaw battle”, so to speak; do not channel all your mental energy on this unresolved problem.
What does polite mean? It means to have gratitude and courtesy. Remember, for many other unreasonable things you cannot even find a contact number to ask for help. You have nowhere to complain or submit ticket to. If there is a contact number, it is already not the worst case. Moreover, be polite is important if you plan to nudge the other side every once a while. Never become irritable.
Again, persist and polite.
Edit in 2024:
So… I now have been through a lot other administrative processes. Filing tax. Applying for a credit card. Some are more smoother than the others. I think, to be honest, my general lesson, or maybe a general feeling, is that if something is pretty standard (in the sense that many people have done it before), it is likely to be smoother; if the goal is clear and objective, it is likely to be smoother.
Let’s see some examples. For instance, I wanted to visit Japan for tourism and thus I needed to apply for a travel visa. The goal is clear, and the process is standard. Submit a form online and you are good. Even though I still managed to make a mistake in the form twice (which, makes my situation non-standard), I just needed to be patient and communicative. The process took a bit longer, but it was not a big deal.
For a contrasting example, I wanted to get my hair done. I had no idea what I wanted. I just wanted to look better - which is natural, but not objective. I observed that I tend to over-compare and overthink, and as a result I spend more time deciding where to go or what to get, rather than actually getting it. It ends up being a chore that I procrastinate on, and I just keep wearing a hat. The end decision is probably not even that important, but I made it important. I ended up just rushing a decision nevertheless - and I think it is … alright? I still don’t know. In the future, I think one actionable thing I can do is to set a time limit for myself to decide. Maybe a week to gather information. Maybe ask 3 friends for opinions and that’s it.
I have some other opinions on these “subjective” values that a person holds. But that is for another post.