During my time in Sydney, one of the most meaningful moments didn’t happen at a tourist spot or in a classroom. It happened in a government office that felt like an Australian version of the DMV, and it all started with one missing middle name.

To properly participate in my internship at Our Big Kitchen, I needed a Working With Children Check. On one of the first days, a group of us exchange students went with the CEA CAPA internship supervisor to this big government building where people apply for licenses and official documents. I went in assuming it would be a simple process.

When it was my turn, I handed over my documents, expecting a quick approval. Instead, the staff member told me there was a problem: my Australian visa didn’t include my middle name, but my passport did. Because the names didn’t match exactly, they couldn’t process my application. It felt like such a small detail, but it stopped everything.

I found out I wasn’t the only one. A few other students had also left their middle name off their visa application. We went back the next day, hoping for a different outcome. For them, that’s exactly what happened. The staff glanced at their documents and processed their Working With Children Checks without any issues. When I stepped up again, they scrutinized the names on my documents, noticed the mismatch, and turned me away for a second time.

I remember sitting in the lobby afterward, calling the government helpline from my phone. I was put on hold for more than 15 minutes just to speak to a real person, listening to the same hold audio over and over while people moved in and out of the building around me. When someone finally answered, they told me I could submit a form to update the name on my visa. I printed it, filled it out, and headed over to the post office to have it mailed. The next day, I called again from the same lobby, went through the same long hold, and a different person told me I actually needed a completely different form. Even then, there was no guarantee it would be approved in time for the end of my program.

The whole time, I was worried about one thing: my 240 required hours. I didn’t want a technicality like a middle name to be the reason I couldn’t finish my internship credits.

Thankfully, my internship supervisor was flexible. Even though the Working With Children Check didn’t come through, they adjusted my role so I could primarily work remotely and come into the kitchen about once a week. I still got meaningful assignments I can put on my resume, just not in the exact way I originally imagined.

This experience ended up teaching me something important: if things don’t go the way you planned, it’s not automatically the end of the world. Plans can change, systems can be rigid, and you can still find another path. I’ve grown more tolerant of bureaucracy, more flexible when things don’t go my way, and more focused on what I can control instead of getting stuck on what I can’t. In the end, it worked out, just not in the way I first expected.