Chapter 41 Running into Obstacles Everywhere
The first class ended at ten o'clock.
During the break, Rebecca called her academic advisor and assistant professor, Dean Palmer, carefully expressing that she wanted to change dorms.
Dean was a young, good-looking guy who had just graduated not long ago and was always patient with students.
Dean knew a bit about Rebecca's situation. When he heard she wanted to change dorms, there was a pause on the other end of the line, as if he had roughly guessed the reason.
He didn't even ask why. Dean's voice was bright and cheerful as usual, "Okay. I'll fill out an application form in a bit. Come pick it up when you have time, and then just work it out with your dorm building manager."
"Thank you, Mr. Palmer!"
Rebecca felt a huge weight lift off her chest.
After two long classes, students poured out of the academic building toward the dining hall.
Rebecca turned around to find Dean and got the dorm change application form with his signature of approval.
Looking at that official form, she made a perfect plan in her mind: go to the Housing Office at 1 PM to handle the paperwork, start moving at 3 PM, and sleep peacefully in her new dorm tonight.
She could move in smoothly tonight.
Simply perfect!
However, while Rebecca had it all figured out, reality is always much harsher than imagination.
The Housing Office was on the second floor of the Student Center, one of the busiest places on campus.
Rebecca waited in line for twenty minutes before it was finally her turn.
Behind the counter sat a middle-aged woman named Susan, with short blonde hair and thick glasses, her face screaming "I'm very busy, please don't bother me."
"Hi, I'd like to request a housing change," Rebecca tried to make her tone sound polite but firm as she handed over the form.
Susan took the form, glanced at it, then looked up at Rebecca with obvious impatience in her eyes: "Honey, it's mid-semester. We don't just let students switch rooms whenever they feel like it. This isn't a hotel."
Rebecca felt her cheeks burning. Susan's tone reminded her of being scolded by teachers as a child, but she tried to stay calm: "I understand, but I have my academic advisor's approval, and there are some personal circumstances—"
International student? Roommate conflict? Rebecca bit her lip. Susan clearly knew nothing about the situation but had already labeled her.
"Ma'am, this isn't about homesickness. I really need to change rooms, and my advisor has already approved—"
"I don't care what your advisor approved," Susan's voice went up an octave, "Housing decisions are made by Housing Office, not by some jewelry professor. If you really, really need to change rooms, then you need to find someone willing to be your roommate. No roommate agreement, no room change. That's the policy."
Rebecca felt blood rushing to her head. Was this the legendary bureaucracy? A reasonable application being controlled by one staff member's personal mood.
"Could you please tell me which rooms have available beds?" Rebecca took a deep breath and decided to play by Susan's "rules."
Susan reluctantly tapped on her computer a few times: "Maple Hall has a few openings. But like I said, you need to get the current residents to agree first. Good luck with that."
Holding a printed list of rooms, Rebecca walked out of the Housing Office. The autumn sun was warm, but her mood had hit rock bottom.
Over the next two hours, Rebecca experienced what it meant to "hit walls everywhere."
First stop was Maple Hall 308. A blonde girl answered the door, looking like a sorority member, with perfect makeup and wearing expensive perfume.
"Hi, I'm Rebecca from the Jewelry Design program. I heard you guys have an empty bed, and I was wondering—"
"Oh, sorry," the girl didn't even let Rebecca finish, "That bed is reserved for my friend who's studying abroad this semester. She'll be back in spring."
"But the Housing Office said it's available—"
"Well, they're wrong. Sorry!" The door slammed shut.
Second stop was Maple Hall 415. This time a friendlier-looking girl answered.
"Hi! I'm looking for a roommate, and I heard you guys might have space?"
The girl showed an apologetic expression: "Oh, that's so sweet of you to ask! But we're all from the same major, and we kind of have this study group thing going on. It might be awkward to have someone from a different program, you know? Nothing personal!"
Third stop, fourth stop, fifth stop... Each time was a polite rejection, each time with seemingly reasonable excuses.
"We're not really looking for new roommates right now."
"The room is actually pretty crowded already."
"We've been living together since freshman year, it's kind of a tight group."
By evening, Rebecca had knocked on every room on the list. She dragged her exhausted body back to the Housing Office and found Susan packing up to leave.
"Excuse me," Rebecca walked to the counter, "I've contacted all the rooms on the list, but none of them are willing to take a new roommate. Is there any other way to handle this?"
Susan looked up at her, a flash of "I knew this would happen" crossing her face: "Well, that's unfortunate. Maybe you should try posting on the Facebook housing groups, or check with Student Affairs. They might have some other options."
"Student Affairs?" Rebecca caught the key word.
"Yeah, they handle appeals and special circumstances. But they're probably closed now," Susan checked her watch, "You'll have to wait until tomorrow."
Rebecca nodded and turned to leave. She had already reached the door when she suddenly heard Susan call her: "Hey, wait a minute."
Rebecca turned around and saw Susan's expression was somewhat complicated, as if she was having some kind of internal struggle.
"Look," Susan's tone was softer than before, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but there might be one option. It's not ideal, but if you're really desperate..."
Rebecca's heart raced: "What kind of option?"