I am special

Here at UTSA they're often confused on how to handle my situation. Having already completed a bachelors degree, I don't quite fit the undergraduate mold. On the other hand, I'm not quite a grad student either since I am only enrolled in undergrad courses and pay undergrad tuition. This can lead to lots of confusion. For example, when I first applied to UTSA I was told I would have to reapply every semester. The following semester after placing me on hold for 15 or 20 minutes, the employee at the admissions office informed me that no application was necessary since I was already admitted as a "non-degree seeking student."

This leads me to another problem inherent in my situation. I never know how to refer to myself. For the admissions office I was a "non-degree seeking student" but this title doesn't necessarily hold true for all the administrative offices. My first semester I needed an advisor's signature in order to add a class. After being sent to 3 different offices I was finally told that I needed to go to "special advising". They share their offices with the freshman advisement center. After signing in and waiting a few moments my advisor called out my name and asked, "Are you a special student?" I wanted to say, "Aren't we all special?" but instead swallowed my pride and simply replied "yes" leaving the freshmen in the waiting area to wonder what exactly made me so special. Eventually I embraced this title. On subsequent visits to the advisement center I would walk past all the freshmen, declare my specialness, and be whisked away while they waited their turn in a long line.

Today I was once again left with the dilemma of what to call myself during a visit to the registrar's office.

Employee: "Are you an undergrad?"
Me: "Yes. Well...kind of. I'm not sure what you call me. I'm a special student."

The awkward look she gave me made me realize that the term "special student" might be exclusive to the advisement center. Unfortunately, I showed up right before closing so the office was just silent enough for the rest of the employees to get a kick out of this too. I explained my situation and the rest of the transaction went fairly smoothly. As I got up to leave I asked how much I owed for the transcript.

Employee: "Transcripts are free here."
Me: "Oh I love this school. All my other schools made me pay for my transcripts."

Right then an employee who had been eavesdropping on the entire transaction smiled and said, "It's just because you're special here."