stay on admin's good side

what happened

when you're a builder, you're going to need things from bureaucracies — extensions, exceptions, access, signatures, approvals. schools, colleges, program administrators, government offices. the mistake is treating these interactions transactionally: only being nice when you need something, then disappearing.

why it's a gotcha

admin and bureaucracy run on relationships, not rules. the rules are always bendable for people they like. if you only show up when you need something, you have no goodwill banked. it's the same lesson as networking as extraction — people can feel the transaction.

the fix

be as cooperative, pleasant, and kiss-up as possible in ALL your routine interactions with admin — not just when you're asking for a favor. answer their emails promptly. show up to mandatory things without complaining. say thank you. be the easy student. then when you actually need something, they remember the students who made their life easy. this applies to: school admin, college counselors, program coordinators, competition organizers, government offices, anyone who controls access to something you want. it also applies to digital platforms — the Discord bot ban is what happens when you ignore platform admin rules.