As you probably know, I've been an employee at the BYUI Admissions Office since Fall '09 and it's been a HUGE blessing in my life. Not only am I able to bring in some dough, but I've also met some fantastic people who happen to be some of my best friends, and I have a whole family while I'm at school. I love how well everyone gets along and how the adults in the office (okay, we're all technically adults so I mean the non-students) are so friendly and willing to listen to us and joke with us. Enough about that though. I have whole other blog posts about it. This one is about my new job.
Until this semester I worked at the front desk. This entailed giving tours to prospective students and manning the phones. I answered general questions about application types, deadlines and the like. When people had unusual circumstances or I didn't really understand their question, I would transfer them right over to one of the counselors. Well, you guessed it...I can no longer transfer the calls as I am now one of the ones receiving the hard calls with no good answer.
Now, I deal with all students who are looking for an exception to university policy. Sometimes they have legitimate reasons and sometimes...not so much. I get to listen to the student's side of the story and hear out their situation. If they submit an appeal, I represent them in the appeals committee and present their case. This committee is basically all of the full-time admissions counselors. One of them was talking to us the other day about how cool it is that we get to be a part of that committee. And it really is! I've only gone once so far and I won't lie, it's intimidating. After hearing the case, we get to vote on the appeal and I have just as much of a vote as anyone else in that room. That's big time pressure!!!
Most of my time is spent receiving appeals and talking with students and/ or their parents on the phone trying to figure out the best options for their situation. The hardest part of the job is when you want to help someone, and you just can't. There just aren't good options for them. Or, if you have to tell someone their appeal wasn't approved, or that they were denied to the school, or that they can't come back to school for whatever reason. It kind of sucks, to put it lightly. I don't enjoy being the bearer of bad news.
Sometimes it gets a little chaotic. We are talking to people who walk into the office, taking phone calls, live chatting online, and answering emails. When there's a lot going on it's hard to remember each person's story and give everyone the attention they need. I feel bad when I neglect a live chat because I get a phone call. Some people are really good at doing both but I canNOT focus on two situations at once and try to type one thing while listening and absorbing another on the phone. It just isn't going to happen.
The transition isn't as hard as I was initially expecting it to be. I still double and triple check what I have to do because I don't want to be the one to ruin someone's chances for BYUI, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm sure that in a few...months, I'll be just as good as when I worked front desk! Oh, and I still give tours because they switched the tours from front desk to counseling last semester. I'm glad I don't have to give those up completely, but it is one more thing I have to worry about.
OH WAIT! One more thing. In a few months, when applications are being turned in at a higher rate, I might get to help process those and actually admit students to BYUI. My job just keeps getting cooler.
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| The Kimball building. My home for 15 hours each week. |
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| The inside...my office is down the stairs and on the right. |
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| I love BYUI! (And if you look reeeeally close, you can see Whitney and I at the bottom of the U) |
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