As of 3pm here today, I was supposed to have hit 'submit' on my application and have been finished. In fact, my plan was to do it earlier than 3pm (which would have been midnight 9/23 in Seattle--end of the deadline); to this end, I turned on my computer around 10:30am. And when I did, I found...nothing.
I don't mean to imply that my essays were gone. Rather, the website was. I went to log on to discover a page saying it had suffered a fatal error, listing an email address to contact, and a whole host of error messages. I emailed the listed address and got back an auto-answer saying there was a fatal error with that address and listing a second one; I emailed that and got the same answer. Gulp.
So I emailed SPU's liaison, and discovered that people had been having problems with it all day--which was then confirmed by an email from one of the professors whom I'd asked to submit a recommendation for me. Fortunately, though, the liaison told me it would be fine to submit it late--a grace I didn't fully appreciate at the moment, but we'll get to that.
So the rest of the day was spent in watching shows, reading articles, and periodically checking back in with the application web site, to see if it had healed itself. (It never had.)
Then, around 5:30, I went to Chialing's to meet up with her, Samia, Emily and Lydia for a night of Italian food we'd planned yesterday. It was delicious, and such a welcome change! Chialing and Samia--who is pretty much the nicest person you'll ever meet--had pretty much done all of the cooking by the time I got there, so I felt bad that I couldn't participate in the cooking part of the plan, but the EATING part was wonderful!
And as an added bonus, Fonda and her niece, who everyone calls "little Fonda" were there at first, and "little Fonda," who's about 4, wasn't as scared of me this time, and even gave me a high-5! No way not to love that. :)
Emily and Lydia were running a little late because they'd been in Zuoying with Karina and playing with the puppies, and while we ate, Samia and I started chatting about our days, and I mentioned my oh-so-fun tangle with technology. She asked what my application was for, and when I said the Marshall and started to explain, she cut me off with "I know." Turns out, she applied last year, made it to the interview stage, and applied again this year, thinking that Fulbright would have pushed her application over the edge (which I am 100% sure it would have--she is superwoman even without the Fulbright), but her university turned her down because of a missed deadline.
See, I told you we'd get there. And it wasn't even her missed deadline, or the Marshall's deadline, which is still a week away even now. Her recommenders hadn't turned in their letters before her campus (read: phone call in the middle of the night here) interview, so, after the interview, they told her no. Absolute insanity--one arbitrary deadline missed by the applicant's contacts, with a full month to go before the real deadline, and they won't back the person who is undoubtedly their best chance for winning a prestigious award?
Really made me grateful for SPU's graciousness today.
After Italian food, we set out for the movies, where we watched "Crazy Stupid Love," with Steve Carrell, which was brilliantly funny and (at times) poignant, I thought. Definitely worth a watch.
Then it was back to my computer, where I discovered two things: the web site was working again, and I had previously missed several sections I needed to fill in. Good time I waited till I was fully awake and functioning before I hit send! Prayers for my application would be greatly appreciated. And hey, if I get an interview, I'll be back in the States for a few days in November sometime!
Anyway, now that my application is in, my self-embargo on book-reading has been lifted. So I've really got to go. :)
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