Three Years...Done

You know, I think even weirder than being graduated is going to be not working in the Admissions Office.  I started working there Fall 2010.  THREE YEARS AGO.  Holy cow!  I've been there seven semesters plus two summer breaks.  That's about 2000 hours.  I wish I would have kept track of how many tours I've given but I estimate it's around 500...and total people I've given tours to is probably around 2000 on the low end.  That's a lot of people!

I have loved this job so much and can't imagine where I would have been without it.  I have met so many wonderful people and have been blessed to bless the lives of hundreds of students and prospective students.  I've also had my fair share of angry students/ parents and breaking their hearts, but they aren't common.  Although, it is awkward running into a student on campus that ripped you apart over the phone and has no idea who you are but you keenly remember their name and exactly what they said to you.

I've also talked to some characters.  We all have.  This post is to give you all a glimpse of what the admissions office looks like from our end.  We come into contact with a lot of wackos and weirdo's and just plain funny people.  I hope you find these as humorous as I do.  I sure will miss this job.

We got these two postcards four months apart and they are EXACTLY the same except for the last line of the second postcard which is...and interesting addition and the name.  Maybe we didn't send them everything they wanted the first time they sent the postcard...

The following is an excerpt from a letter written to BYU.  They weren't accepting any more for the desired semester so they forwarded the email to us....poor guy.

This one just confuses me...

And this is only a TASTING of what work is like on a daily basis.  I love it.  Aaaaaand I'm going to miss it!

I'm Ranting. Are You Listening?

Wow I am ready to rant.  Sometimes I wish I could just record my rant and play a recording of it because I feel like I lose some of the ranting-ness when I type.  Regardless, I'm giving it a go.

So, what will I rant about today?  I'm expressing my strong feelings about the ungratefulness and/ or stupidity and/ or immaturity of some BYU-Idaho students.  Sometimes I honestly want to smack people upside the head!!!

I don't understand what people could POSSIBLY complain about regarding BYUI.  Okay, I can see how some people wish we had intercollegiate sports...but that's about it.

Here's what's happening at BYUI.  You are coming to an LDS school and paying $1825 for a semester (starting Fall 2013...it's a little cheaper right now).  A SEMESTER.  That's $152 per credit.  ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO dollars per credit.  Wanna know what you should be paying for a BYU-Idaho education?  Closer to $10,000- $12,000 (one of my professors estimates it's even more then that) a semester.  You are getting your education at an 80% discount.

What are you getting for that $1825?  You get classes with an average of 30 students.  You get professors who know your name, care about your life and want you to succeed.  You get professors who have worked in the real world and who are at the top of their game. You get a fitness center built in 2011 with brand new equipment worth about a million dollars...for free.  You get an amazing gym you can use at your discretion.  Racquetball/ Wallball courts, a pool, and even more gyms.  You get a 15,000 seat top-of-the-line, award winning auditorium.  In the auditorium you get spiritual fulfillment every week from some of the greatest leaders of the church today.  You get hands-on experience in every.single.major.  There's a cadaver lab (with four bodies), 16,000 sq feet of greenhouses and hundreds of thousands of feet of outdoor gardens, an automotive body shop, a welding lab, a woodworking shop, a photography lab, art labs, a state-of-the-art industrial kitchen and bakery, sewing labs, a preschool lab where you actually work with children, an off-site livestock center with all sorts of large animals and animal labs, ballrooms upon ballrooms, newsrooms, broadcasting studios, a geology and wildlife museum, chemistry and physics labs....should I go on?!

Student services.  You have free tutoring for practically any class you could want.  Besides one-on-one tutoring there are accounting, physics, chemistry, economics, math, writing, and foreign language open tutoring centers. Free fitness consultants at the gym.  Free fitness workshops every night including Zumba, yoga, pilates, cycling, abs that rock, water aerobics, Latin Jam, step classes and more.  Free nutrition counseling and full-body assessments at the Wellness Center.  Free any-kind-of counseling by licensed professionals at the counseling center.  A free computer help desk to assist with any laptop/ computer problems you may encounter and 24 hour phone service to assist you if you are at home.  $1 Ballroom, Latin, Country and Swing dances every week with and extra hour of instruction included.  Dirt cheap performances by entertainers from around the country.  Bill Cosby, The PianoGuys, The Chinese Acrobats, Diamond Rio, Jim Brickman, Chris Mann to name a few.

And what do students do?  They COMPLAIN.  They complain because they have to be home by midnight.  They complain because they can't wear shorts and flip-flops on campus.  They complain because they have to go to church and fhe.  They complain because they have homework.  They complain because their roommates are goody-two-shoes.  They complain because they have the wrong track.  They complain because they can't come on their off-track.  They complain because they can't get into a class.  They complain because they didn't get a scholarship.  They complain because there's too much group work.  They complain because they have to go to school through July when their friends were done months ago.  They complain because Rexburg is small.  They complain because there's "nothing to do here."  They complain that the university is stealing their agency.  They complain that the library isn't open later.  They complain that the food on campus is too expensive.  They complain it's too cold/ windy.  They complain and complain and complain. 

I'm sick of it.  I'm sooooooo done and over it. 

I talk to people on a weekly basis who are practically begging me to help them get into BYU-Idaho.  Who would give almost ANYTHING to be here and can't for some reason or another (don't meet requirements, miss deadlines etc).  It breaks my heart when I know that there are so many people who don't have the opportunity to come here and then there are hundreds here who take every last bit of it for granted. 

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend who went on a date with a guy who turned out to be a real jerk.  And that's putting it lightly.  He had no respect for her or for women in general and it made me sick hearing what he tried doing to her.  I won't lie.  I want him gone.  I want him to leave and never come back.  I want him to withdraw from his classes two weeks before finals and I don't want a single thing he did to count this semester.  He doesn't deserve to be here.  I am FURIOUS!  And I have no problem saying it.

Great things come from sacrifices.  And if I have to sacrifice wearing shorts to class to go to a university with everything listed above, then it's a no-brainer.  And I'm not going to complain.  I'm going to be grateful that's the only sacrifice I'm making.  Actually, it's not the only sacrifice.  I'm a fall/ spring student.  So I don't go to school January- April.  Weird, I know.  But because of this system, BYU-Idaho can admit approximately 6,000 more students per year.  When people come into the office to complain about their track, sometimes I want to tell them that based on their application, they probably wouldn't have even gotten into BYUI without the track system.  And I'm sorry, you may have to grow up sooner than expected and find a job out here instead of going home every summer to work at Dairy Queen.  Trust me, I know you can find a different job...you just haven't looked yet.  Welcome to the real world where things don't always go as planned and sometimes you have to make decisions you didn't think you would have to make.  Do you want to come to BYUI or do you want to sell pest-control in the summer.  Yes, I understand you make a lot of money doing that.  That's fantastic!  I wish I could make $30,000 in three months without a college degree.  If I could do that, I'd probably drop out of college and just do that full-time!  So what do you want?  Do you want to come to BYU-Idaho?  Because maybe you're going to have to make a sacrifice to do so.

If you don't want to come here then don't.  There are thousands of other universities you can go to that let you wear shorts and flip-flops to campus and let you say out as long as you want every night.  No one is checking up on you.  No one cares if you go to church.  No ones cares if you pass your classes.  No ones cares what your name is or what you want to do with your life.

Maybe that's a slight exaggeration on some points.  I will admit, I'm sure it is.  But not on every point.

Think about it.  Think about why you want to be here and what a privilege it is to be here.  Think about how many people here are rooting for you to succeed in life!  Think about how many people around the world wish they were in your place.  Think about how much extra sleep you get because you're home by midnight everynight ;)

I know I'm preaching to the choir.  I doubt anyone that reads this (if you've actually read this whole thing you are my new favorite person) that hates BYUI and is now going to change their outlook on it.  But I had to get it out.  Thanks for listening to my rant.  More might be coming soon.

Name that Tune

Friday's at the office are great.  Some are greater than others.  Some are hilarious.  Some are just slow and boring.  Today was a mixture.

I went into the committee meeting today where all the counselors make decisions on appeals (like for track changes).  Let me tell you, committee meeting has got to be the funniest thing ever.  Unless you've been in a committee meeting, you wouldn't believe the stuff that is said.  Not about students or anything related to what we're supposed to be talking about...just random stuff.  I could write a non-fiction book and everyone would think it was fiction.  It's that funny.

Well today there were only two appeals and I guess no one wanted to go back to work so we stayed and played "name-that-tune."  I.completely.fail.  Reason #1) They were picking songs from the 80s and 90s.  Reason #2) Even if they picked recent songs, I never listen to music and wouldn't know those either.  Case and point: They played Party Rock Anthem.  Didn't recognize it until quite a ways into the song.

HOWEVER, I did get ONE song (title AND artist) right off the bat before everyone else.  Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne.  You wouldn't believe the looks I got for knowing that song and that song only.  Thank you high school football game band music.

An Object Lesson

As part of my job, I am in charge of monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) trainings for the other student employees.  Usually we just spend time talking about new policies, doing case studies blah, blah, blah.  They probably aren't very fun.

This past training was a little different.  We got a little creative.

We split the group into two smaller groups.  One came in another room with me and the other group stayed in the first room.  The first room group did 20 minutes of the "boring training" while the other group and I had a little fun.  

I assembled funny little sculptures ahead of time and handed one to each person.  They then had 20 minutes to write instructions on how to assemble the sculpture from raw materials.  They couldn't use pictures, only words.  Here's what the two originals looked like...

After 20 minutes we had them switch rooms.  Those who were writing instructions went and did boring training and the others came with me.  They then got a bag full of raw materials and the instructions from the others and had 20 minutes to assemble them.  This is what they came up with...

It was quite humorous.  They were all similar but none were perfect.  We had them all come up with ideas on how this applies to our office and they came up with some things that we hadn't even thought about.  It doesn't do any good to try to describe those here but I think everyone walked away with a very practical view on why how we do what we do is important.  

Also, please look at the above picture again.  We have a whiteboard in the back room with funny things people have written in their entrance essays and the one in the middle says "The whole essay: I can solve a Rubiks cube in under 30 seconds."  That's it.  Their essay to get into college.  They can solve a Rubiks cube in under 30 seconds.  This is why I love my job.  Today someone from Bangladesh emailed us a copy of a certificate showing that they achieved 3rd rank in the shot put.... not sure how that qualifies them for college but I sure am glad they want to come here!

I'm In!!

This is my "YAY!  I got into BYU-Idaho face!!!!"

No, it's not from four years ago...it's actually from yesterday.  I saw on the BYU-Idaho Admissions facebook page that they were having a contest to post a picture of yourself with either your acceptance letter or just of yourself with your reaction to being accepted.  There were only three entries so I had to enter myself.  I mean, I have to support my office!!

Catching Up

Why is it that I never blog when I actually have legitimate things to blog about?  And then a month has gone by and I keep putting it off because there is just wayyyyy too much to write about that I can't pick.  I think I'll have to settle for another list of sorts.  This will not be an interesting post, just informative.  For all those who care what I've been up to.

-I'm back in Idaho living at Kensington Manor, where I lived last spring and summer.  I only knew one of my roommates (from last Spring) and the rest were all random.  It's weird how I went a year and a half living with people I knew and the past year and a half I always get brand new ones.  It takes getting used to.
- I left some luggage on the shuttle coming up to Rexburg :(  Thankfully it was just a plastic bag with only a few things in it but I lost a nice pair of jeans, my favorite new sweatshirt, a dress and all my makeup (not like I wear a ton but STILL I went the first few days of the semester makeupless.
- I am working THREE jobs this semester.  First (as always), the admissions office.  I am still a coordinator there where I am in charge of hiring new students, training the current ones, putting together schedules, organizing trainings and everything else I used to do before.  There are two other coordinators with me so thankfully I don't have to do all of that on my own!
     -Job #2: The Wellness Center.  I'm only working here 7 hours a week so it's not a ton.  I do wellness assessments on the students and employees here that consist of things like blood pressure, muscle strength and endurance, cardiovascular fitness, body composition and blood cholesterol.  At the end of the semester I am also responsible to organizing an employee breakfast for BYU-Idaho.
    -Job #3: Kensington Manager's Assistant.  This is also a new job for the semester.  I do a lot of office work as far as filing, placing charges on people's accounts, helping with clean checks, cleaning the lounge and community laundry room, other office work and random things the manager needs help with.
- I have only one class.  Research Methods and Evaluation.  My professor started the first day of class by telling us she was just barely hired and hasn't written a research paper since she graduated college 20 years ago.  Perfect.  This will either be a super easy class or a super hard one...I'm not really sure yet.  I'm leaning towards easy though.
- I was called as the Relief Society President again.  This is take 2 for me in this calling and I'm determined to do a better job than I did the first time.  There are definitely things I wish I would have done better so here goes nothing!
- I am on the Student Services Council again this semester.  I did it last spring but not fall because I didn't have time.  I am the leader over the bookstore section.  We are in charge of doing surveys for the bookstore, organizing a few promotional events, maybe doing some secret shopping...I don't really know yet, I have a meeting with the bookstore tomorrow to figure out more what the heck I need to be doing.
- My roommates are pretty fantastic yet again.  Everyone at work thinks Annalise and I had some sort of falling out since I moved out of my apartment with her last semester but we most certainly did not.  They were great roommates, but I had promised a roommate from Spring, Cindy, that if I were here winter I would room with her.  So I am!
- I found my bag I lost on the shuttle!  It was at the lost and found on campus.  I love BYU-Idaho.  And I love my BYU-Idaho sweatshirt.
- I have bought and eaten wayyyyyy too many chocolate chips since being here.  They are my weakness.  But when you find your favorite brand on sale for $1.78 a bag it is hard to resist!
- I've spent more time on the phone this semester than in the last year.  Whoops.  It'll be worth it someday.
- I've missed my Peru kids...a lot.  One year ago I was there meeting them and holding them and learning their names.  Gosh, why did that have to be so great?!
- My room has managed to stay relatively clean.

I'm out of things to say.  I'll try to be better at blogging....

Too Good

Sometimes life just gets a little too good for my own good.  Lately I've struggled so much with having to decide between way too many fantastic options.  As soon as I decide something, another great option pops up.  It's never ending!  And yesterday ANOTHER option was presented to me.

After work I decided to stop by the office of one of my professors to thank him for the semester and let him know I really enjoyed his classes (I had two from him...Kineseology and Health Appraisal and Prescription).  Well, right there, on the spot, he offers me a job working for him next semester!  I was slightly stunned because I didn't think things like that would ever happen to me.  A professor that likes me enough to offer me a job???  How do I get so lucky?!  Sadly, I had to turn it down because I already have two jobs on campus for winter semester and the school won't let me work on campus more than 20 hours.  Lame-o rules.  He did tell me to contact him at the end of the semester and see if he's looking for someone for spring because if there's an opening he would love to work with me.

I was thisssss close to taking it and leaving my beloved Admissions Office.  It would be GREAT to have an in with a professor who has lots of connections and resources which would really help me around graduation.  At least my second job for winter is with the Wellness Center on campus (I don't even remember if I've blogged about that or not....) and he does quite a bit with them and with our training so I will still be in contact with him throughout the semester. 

On a side note, I just aced my last final.  I seriously did NOT think it went that well as I was taking it.  There were quite a few questions where I went back and forth between two answers but I guess I got lucky and picked all the right ones this time!

Now on to packing and cleaning.....gotta love the end of the semester.

Bragging and Complaining

Literally all I can think to blog about right now would be school or work.  They are seriously the only things I do with my life these days!  So I'll take a minute to brag and a minute to complain and then be done for a bit.  My apologies for never having anything fun to read anymore.  I've had the fun sucked right out of me this semester.

Brag: I'm kicking butt in my Kinesiology class.  I've got a 97% when the average is a 77%.  I have the 3rd highest score out of 63 students.  BOOYA!

Complain: There is a buttload of memorization for the class that I don't particularly enjoy.  You don't want to see the stack of flashcards I have.  Flashcards with not just a word on the back, but with multiple sentences.  It's disgusting.  But then it's kind of cool when you can answer questions like "what muscle do you use when doing a pull-up that you don't use when doing a wide grip chin-up?" and "how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"  You know...the important things.  Also, the last test took me 2.5 hours.  "Quizes" take a good hour.

Brag: My job is so much better than your job.  We had a soup graze last week.  Heaven.  I looooove winter for the sole reason that it's soup season.  I also have some of the best coworkers ever.  They're hilarious.  My boss is hilarious.  I'm hilarious.

Complain: Yesterday I had a women yell at me on the phone for like ten minutes.  She kept telling me how ridiculous BYUI was and then we were screwing everyone over and no ones likes us.  I was in the middle of telling her she may want to consider a different school if she didn't like how we did things and she hung up on me.  Great first phone call of the day.

Brag: I stepped foot in Peru exactly 10 months ago today.

Complain: I stepped foot back in America exactly 7 months ago today and miss Peru and the people so much.

Brag: I have a bomb-diggity blog.

Complain: Basically I forget I have it and never write anymore and my life is going to shambles because of it.

The White Elephant Bowler

I received this email from work a few days ago:

"Mandatory After Work Bowling Extravaganza

Hey Guys,

Because you work for the best office on campus you’re invited to a bowling party this Friday, July 13^th from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the bowling alley in the MC.  We’ll have bowling, fun, white elephant gifts, and Jason Meldrum promised to perform a musical number for us as well.  I think he said it was Party Rock Anthem or Call Me Maybe or something like that.

Spouses are invited, so bring them along.  (Unfortunately, Hilary you can’t bring your missionary).

Please RSVP to Jordan, Jeana, or Jason before Friday.

For the white elephant gifts, we need everyone to bring one so that we can exchange gifts. Jason wanted to clarify the definition of a white elephant gift.  Here are some examples to help you:

Jason Meldrum Action Figure

Basic rules of thumb:  Don’t spend more than one or two dollars at the most and ask yourself ‘Would any normal human-being want this as a legitimate gift?’  If the answer is ‘no’, then get it.

Thanks"

***

Do you now have a better understanding of the atmosphere in the office?  We really aren't a bunch of stiff, boring office people.  We're hilarious.  PS- Jason Meldrum is the counselor over all the students...aka Boss.

Well the party was a success!  I bowled a 104 WITHOUT bumpers.  Pretty impressive for me.  I had 4 spares in a row :)

Here's some pictures of the fun and of the white elephant gifts given....

Hillary, Kevin, Christina, Kaylani, Heidi

Loren, Jill (Loren's wife), Mari Ann (full-time counselor)

Bowling in a skirt...that's how I roll.

Award for top score (some random award Jason found who-knows-where)

My Little Pony??

Really creepy picture of a cat/dog/person/thing

"Doesn't anybody want to take my picture?"

Anti Monkey Butt

Indian doll?

Fake nails...good thing a girl got those

Workout videos

Of course the child picks the noise makers...his parents loved that.

Giant flyswatter

An award for putting up with Loren at work.  Kind of funny that Jason randomly got this one.

 I should also mention that I got an email on Friday detailing an office arm wrestling competition that had taken place that morning.  Apparently I made it to the semi-finals!!  Woot woot!

Business in the Front...Party in the Back

I know, I know, I KNOW, you're sick and tired of me blogging about my job.  But I just love it and the people so much!  Granted, there are days when I would really rather stay home and take a nap or watch a movie instead of go to work, but once I get there I usually have a good time.

Yesterday we had a work party at the Director of Admissions' house in Rigby.  It was a blast!  We had almost all of the student employees there as well as quite a few full-time employees with their wives and children.  Can I just say, those men did well.  They all had absolutely GORGEOUS wives and cute-as-a-button kids.  It was neat to see them interact with their families and not be dressed in suits.  Most of them aren't more than 10 years older than me so it's fun to talk with them and their wives and hear their stories.  Oh my goodness, I just love them all so much!

Can I also mention how incredibly awesome it was for our director and his family to open his home to us for this shin-dig.  His wife organized a big cooking lesson and taught us how to make everything we were going to eat.  She teaches culinary classes in Idaho Falls and her food is spectacular.  We made mini pulled pork taco things for the main course and then creme brulee for dessert...we even go to torch our own!

Molly, one of the new front desk workers.

Kevin and Annalise.

Okay, time to talk about a few people.  This is my first semester working with Kevin.  He started last semester and is also in my Program Planning class.  Annalise and I have been working together since Spring 2011.  She's amazing.  So amazing, even, that I'm living with her in the fall!!  

 Hilary here is also new for me.  She started last semester while I was away.  Hilary works part-time at the office, is taking 17 credits AND has an internship that she does 20 hours a week.  I have no idea how she does it all.  Oh, and she's preparing for a mission and can't wait for her call :)  In the back we have (from the left) Johnathan, Jason, Jason's wife and Brady and his wife...plus lots of children.

 We played a nice friendly game of kickball in the backyard.  Somehow we managed to split up all the couples but I think that helped the competitiveness of the game.  I didn't play the entire game (as I wanted to help with the cooking a little more) but when I left, my team was winning.

 (From left) Vi, Janeen and Emily.  I honestly don't know Vi too well as she works mostly in the back room.  Janeen and Emily I've known for a while but I've really gotten to know them better this semester.  They both used to be readers (of applications) in the back and have now moved to the front lines.  Oh, and lets not forget Boston being a man.

Kevin wanted a picture looking like a hick...

 A not-quite-in-focus picture of my food.  Soooooooo good.

Here's a few pictures of most of the group just chilling after food.

 Jordan and his cute little family.  He's worked as a counselor starting the winter after I started and has been a HUGE help in me learning the counseling job.  We love when his wife and chunky little boy, Boston, come to visit us in the office.  Sadly (for us), Jordan got an internship in Belgium for the fall so he won't be working.

Torching our creme brulee

Brady and Adam playing with fire.

Christina and Janeen.

 Jeana and her husband Trevor.  Jeana is the only one of the students who's worked longer than I have.  She has a plethora of knowledge and has also helped me immensely in learning my new job.  She and Trevor just got married in December and they're expecting their first baby at the end of the year!

 Adam and Brennan.  Adam started in the office just after I did and has been my boss for part of the time.  He's listened to my rants about life and boys way more times than he probably would have liked, but I always appreciate his advice and insights.  He and his wife are the managers of my apartment complex and we're next door neighbors which is fun.  I like being able to look out my window and watch his son play out in the grass :)  (and I say that in a totally non-creeperish way)

 Kaylani here is half Samoan and she's gorgeous.  This is also my first semester working with her.  She's a sweetheart with some spunk and always has funny stories from work.  It took me a few weeks to realize she lives in my apartment complex too haha

Adding sugar to my creme brulee before torching it.

  And here's our wonderful director and his wife who so graciously allowed 30-40 people in their home for an afternoon.  They're amazing examples to me and I hope one day I'll be able to have people over to cook in my home :)

Overall, I'd say it was a pretty successful party!