Frustration
Posted by Robert Frittmann on 22 June 2009
I am still waiting to hear from the University of Auckland (UofA) as to whether I have been accepted on their BSc programme for semester two, 2009. Today I received my student ID card from Massey University (MU). They seem to be much more organized than UofA. However, I am still holding out for a placing with UofA as transportation to and from class will be much easier if I am studying there than at MU.
One thing that I really appreciated was finding that UofA have a public iCalendar for the important academic dates, including semester start and end dates, study breaks, etc. I have added the UofA iCal to my Google Calendar. I have also sent an email to MU, Unitec, and AUT to enquire whether they also have an academic dates iCalendar. I’d like to collect them all in my Google Calendar.
In the meantime, I have been organizing payment of fees and my living expenses. I started the application process for a student loan using the StudyLink website, and have gotten up to the stage of deciding on living expenses. This is something that I cannot decide on alone, as it affects my wife as well, so I am trying to arrange an appointment with WINZ for my wife and I, to discuss the options available to us. This presented itself to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Just trying to arrange the appointment! I called WINZ to request the appointment, but got the third degree from their officious operator, Makelita (of the Wellington Contact Centre), who would not listen to what it was we were trying to achieve, and only wanted to follow her prescribed script to sign us up as a new beneficiary. As soon as I mentioned that my wife has a permanent disability, this Makelita woman didn’t want to speak to me at all any more, and would only speak to my wife, who according to her script would now become the “primary beneficiary”. Oh, give me a break! We haven’t even decided whether we want to be on a benefit yet, and whether it would be financially viable for us or not, considering that my wife is still working. All I wanted to do was to make an appointment to come in to a WINZ office with my wife, and discuss the options available to us. We may end up signing up as beneficiaries after that discussion, or we may find some other way to meet the living costs while I study. My wife is considering studying as well, and this would also need to be considered in any discussion of living expenses. I am waiting now for Makelita’s manager Susan to contact the local WINZ branch to arrange a suitable time slot for an appointment for us.
Talk about frustrating!
