I feel cheated. Please help me grow up.

@ambitionsquared Well, I understand what you are saying. At the very least you should write a very strongly worded letter to the school, and make it clear that the incompetence of their proctor may well have cost you the NMSF and a huge amount of money. You should ask them to notify you in writing exactly what steps they are taking to prevent this from happening in the future. A copy of this letter should also go to the local school board.

You should also write directly to the proctor, by certified mail, return receipt, and inform her of the consequences of her irresponsible actions. Just let her know that you are reminded of consequences of her wrongful actions every single day and that you hope she will lose at least one percent of the sleep that you have lost over it.

Will all of this said, you do have to live with life as it is. You are clearly a brilliant student with lots of opportunities ahead of you. If you really can’t get this thing out of your head you probably ought to get a couple of counseling sessions to help you get your head on straight.