14 Months Later: Finally Majoring in Psychology at UNC

It's taken 14 months, a lot of traveling, tons of paperwork, major headaches, and over 15,000 Argentine pesos, but on December 2nd, 2013, I was finally able to officially enroll as a psychology student at the "Universidad Nacional De Cordoba (UNC)". 

The first thing I had to do was buy my "Libreta de Estudiante", which is basically a student's personal grade book. It also serves as a student passport of sorts at the university. It only cost me 20 pesos, which is super cheap. 

The line to buy the "Libreta De Estudiante"

I thought the line to get my "Libreta" was long, but it turns out that the line at the psychology building was longer! There must have been hundreds of students waiting in line, and we were all waiting for an assigned registration number that they would begin calling at 11:15 a.m. 

The line to register at the psychology building

The requirements I had to represent were: 

1. A copy of the D.N.I. or passport 
2. 2 photos (the size of those used on passports) 
3. A printout of the online application completely filled out 
4. Libreta De Estudiante 
5. High School Diploma and Transcripts  

This final process was necessary to enroll for the 2014 school year.

Everyone was waiting impatiently, and it didn’t help that the university staff handling the paperwork inside this large classroom were all dicks.
On several occasions, I overheard them talking down to students, suggesting that if we weren’t prepared to present the right paperwork, we should consider quitting before even starting our education. Part of me was hoping I wouldn’t get one of these moody *ssholes because, even with my anti-anxiety meds, I would have lost my sh*t and gone off on them.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that.

After a good 40 minutes, I was called to the front of the class to turn in my paperwork. I had to present copies of my high school diploma and transcripts, complete with apostilles, notarization, translation, legalization, and finally validation from the Ministry of Education, which I had gotten in Buenos Aires a month earlier. There was some confusion at first because they didn’t know how to handle the fact that all of my education was done in the United States, but it didn’t take long to get everything cleared up.

The classroom where we registered

They finally stamped my "Libreta De Estudiante" and told me I was done. They sounded so bitter about it too, but I didn’t give a f*ck! I was just happy to be done with all this back-and-forth nonsense.

Now I have to wait until December 28th to receive my "cursillo" schedule online. A "cursillo" is like a prerequisite course that all students must take before beginning their first year in the career they’ve chosen. I’m told it will cover two topics: the history of the university and the psychology career, which I’ve picked.

The "cursillo" semester begins in February 2014 and will last about seven weeks. After that, I’ll have to pass a final exam—what they call a "parcial"—in order to begin my first year in the psychology program.

My "Libreta De Estudiante"

If all goes well, I might graduate in five years with a "Licenciatura en Psicología," which is the equivalent of a Master’s degree in Psychology back in the States. With this degree, I’ll be able to practice as a therapist in Córdoba, which isn’t something you can really do with just a Master’s degree in the U.S.

After everything I’ve gone through to get this far, I finally feel like I’ve accomplished something… and I’m genuinely happy, though I suppose that could just be the effects of my meds.

Now all I have to worry about is getting the house ready for the holidays, which, as you can see, my husband and I are well on our way to doing. Until next time...