Levels of security, irony

My official academic registration with the university does not have my correct name. It's missing my middle name. This record originated with my application to graduate school, where there was no separate field for middle name and so I only entered my first and last. (It must have originated there -- on all other documents, including the passport on which I entered the country, my name is complete.) Now that I'm getting a diploma, I'd like my name -- my full name -- to be on it.

In order to change my on-record name, I need to present a birth certificate (back in the US), a baptismal certificate (same), a marriage certificate (?), or a court name change. But my name hasn't changed! I think it's ridiculous that the barrier for changing the record is so high when there was no security limiting the creation of the record. How ironic. Or whatever. (If you're applying this year, test the system and give yourself a fake middle name, like "Awesome.")

Apparently a non-Canadian passport is also sufficient, so that's what I'll be using.

[UPDATE 5/27: My passport was sufficient, and now my name is changed. At least, in the system that prints diplomas and transcripts. It might still be wrong in other places.]

This post's theme comic is a statement on irony:

Victoria Day!

I had no idea that today was a holiday. Lo! It is. My calendar told me so. It also told me that I had a meeting with my advisor this morning. We were the only people in the (locked) building. (More international students showed up later.) We were both rather vague on the purpose and scheduling of Victoria Day, facts which I could look up now. But I leave that task to the reader.

The meeting went well. Then I worked, typing up my results of last week and reading about becoming a permanent resident. It will make me eligible for more scholarships and lower tuition.

Later today I walked around downtown and enjoyed the sun and cool weather. And resolved to write here more frequently. I have a few ideas to write up this week.


This post's theme word: zephyr, "a gentle breeze from the west."