I went to a very small college where most administrators could know most students by name, or at least recognize their faces, and maybe it was for this reason that – though the school is small enough that it can afford a greater degree of disorganization than larger schools – my interactions with the administration were seldom negative. And of course I’ve had to interact with many other administrators of various denominations throughout my life, with widely different levels of satisfaction and frustration. But today, here at Ole Miss, I had perhaps the most satisfying encounter with an administration official that I have ever had.
During my undergraduate career I took a few more loans than the ordinary amount, and several times during those years my debt was sold from one lender to another, so I now unfortunately have to manage student debt through four separate organizations. Now that I am enrolled at the University of Mississippi I need to defer my loan payments (no interest accrues during such a deferment, thank you Uncle Sam) but have been busy and rather uninterested in sorting through the information, walking to the registrar’s office to learn the procedure here, and filling out forms to have proof of enrollment sent to four addresses. Today I located the building and paid a visit, with the idea of learning the procedure and perhaps picking up some forms, and filling out one of them with the address to my old college (the only pertinent address I knew without searching). This was my aim, I had no expectation of exceeding it, and I knew enough of administration to have been neither surprised nor overly disappointed if I should have been somehow thwarted from accomplishing even that.
I was welcomed in by the registrar – an exceedingly friendly woman – who asked to see my student ID and to be told my Social Security number. She entered the latter into her unholy people-tracking database, read to me (correctly) the names of my lenders, and sent me on my way. I was in her office for maybe one full minute, and I touched no form. Proof of registration will be sent everywhere it needs to go, she tells me.
Any horror at my presence in her powerful machine was mitigated completely by the surprise of great convenience and administrative competence. Thank you, registrar, and thank you, Big Brother!