Why is registering for college so damn complicated? I drove downtown yesterday, after being called by some lady from Hope College who said I should come in and take the French placement exam. I had thought it was too late, so I was happy to hear I could still give it a try. Set up an appointment for 1:30, and left home around one o'clock because I knew I'd get lost driving around. Took the test, was placed in FREN 202-01 and the thing drill 202-02, but that was far from the end of it. The lady in the language department sent me over to registration, who gave me an arm-full of papers and told me to come back tomorrow after going back to my high school and having the principal sign some release thing for dual enrollment. So today, that is what I did. I chased the assistant principal down in the hallways at school and demanded he sign the form. Then I drove back to Hope and had the language department lady sign another form and write my name in on the class lists. Next I ran over to admissions and turned in my principal-signed form so they could put my name into the computer. They sent me off the admissions, with only a map and a vague comment about what a nice walk it was over to the other building. Somewhat overwhelmed, I found myself in a maze of paths leading in every which way, most filled with maintenance vans and trucks and shirtless men driving lawn mowers. I managed to walk through a cloud of pesticides, which was not too pleasant. After wandering aimlessly for a while waiting for my eyes to stop watering, I found the right building. I gave them my stack of papers, they took what they needed, and that was that. Now all I have to do is rearrange my high school schedule to allow me to take this French class, which my counselor assured me would take a lot of hard work. Sigh.