Right Person, Right Question

I learned three valuable lessons this week.

1) I am a pain only to those that want me to be a pain

2) Asking the right question to the right person can produce a better result

3) Taking the time to listen can really teach me alot

Let me explain the above scenarios:

Being a Pain and Right Question to the Right Person...

I went to the registrar's office to find out about my classes and my status as a student. Window 13 had a student employee. I went up to her and asked her my questions. She kept looking at her computer screen and without pause, she pulls out the catalog and said:

SE: To be a fulltime grad student, you have to have 9 credits

Me: Yes, I understand what the catalog said, but if my department chair said that it's 6 how do I...

SE: It says here that you have to have 9 credits to be fulltime.

Me: Thank you. But what I am asking is...

SE: It's says here that you have to be enrolled in 9 credits to be fulltime.

I recognized I was beginning to get frurstrated so I took a deep breath and replied...

Me: I'm sorry. I don't think I explained myself very well. I need to find out what...

But it was to no avail. So I thanked her and went to another window.

This time, I spoke with someone with more years of experience. I apologized for being a pain but she said I wasn't. I was only trying to find out the answer to my questions. She called her supervisor, and her supervisor said...

Sup: You're the first person with that question but it seems similar to someone who is going through with their thesis. She then called her supervisor and when the supervisor came, he said--

"We just need a letter from your department stating that your program considers 6 credits as full time and 3 credits is half time."

Finally, the answer I was looking for.

I needed my department chair to send a letter to the registrar's office for their record so they can send a letter stating to the appropriate agencies as proof so I could defer my student loans and only pay the interest. It all worked out from then on.


Taking Time to Listen

I learned how important it is to really take the time to listen. Even if I know the answer, taking the time to listen can really get you more information. My boss is good at that. She knows what I'm trying to ask even if I don't exactly ask it the way I want to at times.

It makes me want to take the time to really formulate the questions in the way I can get the answer or result I am trying to obtain.

As the bus driver told me yesterday...(a passenger walked up to his bus and procedeed to talk about his life. When he left, he told me everything that happened. I guess he just needed to vent).

"There are a lot of people that know alot but don't do anything about it, and there's a lot of people who don't know S^@+ and have a lot to say. No wonder the world is so messed up."

I couldn't agree more.