La Sevillana Morena

Life while Working from Home

2010-12-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of the job is that I get to have a few days here and there to review applications and work from home instead of in the office. Due to my joyful hour commute each way (sarcasm), I am lucky to have the option to work from the comfort of my desk chair in my sweats. Yesterday at a work lunch, one of our Assistant Directors asked me how I've liked the job so far and all I could say is, "Honestly, I love it." From the connection with students, collaboration with counselors, travel, reviewing applications, it gives me what I've been really looking for. I just still find it amazing that out of ALL the places I applied and interviewed, UM wanted me and they gave me everything I've been looking for. I'll never say I like waking up at 6 every day for this job, but it makes it so much easier knowing what a great place I get to go to. And I get paid for it! God has been good this year!

My sister asked me recently why I hadn't sent out a Christmas letter of my own this year. Maybe I'm looking at it all wrong, but doesn't a Christmas letter imply that you have a husband/wife at least or a family to write about? I guess I feel a little sheepish writing a Christmas letter that talks mainly about my job, a little about my friends/family, and then ends with "Oh yeah, I broke up with Jordan. Haven't fully bounced back, romantic life still being sorted out. Sorry he won't be around to entertain everyone anymore..." Although that sounds crass, I don't feel like I have enough at this point to write a well-rounded (oh wow, application review terms!) letter. Maybe next year? Maybe just one for her?

One of the best playful assignments I've gotten in the last few weeks has been from my newest coworker, Jose. Since we joke frequently about applications we receive at work and the elaborate process in reviewing the applications, and since he knows a little about my dates recently, he told me I should start reviewing new potential guys similar to how we review potential freshman for U of M. Qualities like GPA and test score could be comparable to "sense of humor" and "kindness", course curriculum could be comparable to "has a job" and "doesn't live at home", and extracurriculuars could probably stay the same. We could then give them a numerical rating as we give our applicants and go from there. I was almost rolling on the floor laughing as we were discussing this. I still have to develop a rubric for this, which is my assignment. Thank you, Jose, for making me feel better about all of this!

Ok back to work. :)

Random Thought Thursday

2010-08-26T13:15:00.001-07:00

Holy crap, it's been forever since I posted here! I have a feeling my Grandma won't be happy that I haven't been posting at all. I hope that she forgives me. I should really post here more often. I'm not sure why I don't, aside from classes getting in the way in the past. Nothing can get in the way now! (Well, maybe work, running, knitting, hanging out with friends/family, sleeping, etc). Anyway, onward with my newly created "Random Thought Thursday".

- This new job really is a gift from God. I feel like I really am a full adult now with a purpose. I make my own money, I make my own decisions, and I am making my mark on the world. Soon I turn my sights on a partner and a family, but until then, I'm enjoying this new relationship with my job.

- It took a trip out to the Michigan Fiber Festival with Kate to re-energize my love for knitting. I have a new hat project, and although I usually give my knitting away, I'm going to really keep this one for myself. I've gotten too attached to it already. Each stitch feels soothing and lovely.

- On the same note, I kinda want to take up spinning wool. I need to buy some wool and spend an afternoon at my mom's with Gran's spinning wheel. If you haven't gathered this yet, handcrafts are the lost art of stress relief.

- I love looking out my office window (and the out of the window in the office across the hall) and see the city of Ann Arbor. It is really growing on me. Also, having Noodles and Company, Chipotle, and Blimpy Burger all in walking distance is a great aspect to my workplace.

- I went to Dad and Marti's to practice piano after work. The response that piano has is amazing, and playing out of their piano books is incredibly fun. Mrs. Franklin would love how my sight reading has improved, and I'm sure the neighbors loved my fortissimo on the piano :).

- The quality people possess of being obtuse needs to be re-evaluated constantly. Ceasing communication and wasting others' time because of your own insecurities and your cowardly need to avoid conflict is just plain ridiculous. Things can't be your way all the time, and that is something we all have to deal with.

- I should've trained more for this 10-mile race I have on Saturday. At least I'll entertain the spectators with my huffing and puffing.

- "Sunrise" by Norah Jones will always put a smile on my face, as it's doing right now.

Enjoy the rest of the day, dear void.

Spring break

2009-02-24T04:41:00.001-08:00

It's EMU's "spring" break right now and I actually took the week off of work! I have never done this since I've been at Eastern. Anne gave me the option, though, and I took it. Probably not my smartest move, though, since Jordan is in Italy for the week. So, in the spirit of Mommy, I made a list of things I can do (and some I already have) to pass the time and enjoy my week of no work:

1) Job hunt!!
2) Organize the shelves/bookcases around the apartment
3) Vacuum. Everything. (done. I need a new vacuum cleaner.)
4) Organize and straighten closets
5) Give old clothes to Salvation Army (done!)
6) Make lots of homemade, good dinners
7) See more friends (Yay Kate!)
8) See "Slumdog Millionaire" and "He's Just Not That Into You" and bring my popcorn bucket :)
9) Do homework. :(
10) Try not to shop too much. (Too late)
11) Do anything to take my mind off of "Why haven't they called me back yet about my application?"
12) More job hunting...

Not sure what else I should do, but I'll figure it out. Suggestions are helpful :)

Finals and the Economy

2008-12-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

If any of you wonder where I have possibly gone, it's best to check Bruce T. Halle Library. It's quite a nice library, and anyone close to me will say that I'm probably hiding out here with my homework, my lifeline (my flashdrive), my large coffee, and my iPod (just to block out the noise of the dying printer). Funny how finals in grad school are scarier than those in undergrad. It's not just "Get a C or better and you'll be fine" anymore. Each class has final presentations, final papers, one final exam, and lots of final thoughts on life! Every day this week has started off at 8:00 in the library and staying here until work. On Wednesday I was in the library 8-4 with one hour for lunch with Jordan, who brought me out to the daylight. Today I'm working on a paper I got an extension for. After doing 6 years of solid term/thesis-based papers, I had to do a 20-page review of research (not all is lost, I got to do it on Study Abroad!), but I didn't know why or how I was missing the boat on what my professor really wanted me to write. After one of our final assignments, it finally clicked and I went and talked to her about it. I showed her my printed out, professor-reviewed paper with my new scribbles on it about what I would've changed and added with my new knowledge of what she actually wanted. She was pretty impressed and gave me a 2nd chance! So, I'm fighting for my grade today and then working at 12:30. I also had to write a paper about and debate how Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) should not receive federal funding. Topics were assigned! Trust me! I wouldn't voluntarily debate this! EVER! I made it through ok, but I swear I blacked out for most of the debate as a survival technique. Just one more group presentation/paper on Tuesday, and then I'm free. Poor Jordan must think I'm spending more time with Bruce T. Halle than with him. I promise it's justified! :)

I also listened to the radio to Debbie Stabenow's speech on the Auto Bailout (You'll have to liten to Sen Shelby before you get to Stabenow, which is about 3/4 of the way through) on the radio today. You can just hear the pleading in her voice through her fantastic professionalism for her suffering state. Her speech is powerful and rich, and it may be one of the best voices heard in this whole mess. Sen. Shelby's arguments are cheap and false, saying that it's the autoworkers, our blue-collar workers, that are at the heart of the problem. How is that a valid argument? They have no decision making power in the companies, and they are the ones attacked? It's just a sign of our bad politics, senators voting with their special interests instead of the interests of the regular citizens, and that our economy is doomed. Only when our economy follows that of 1929 will people wake up! I admit a loan is not ideal and that we should've had better planning, but Debbie Stabenow is right: the backbone of our economy through out the years is breaking. She makes great arguments and she is speaking from her heart as well. I've said it for so long that we need more Levins and Stabenows in our government if it is going to go anywhere. I think it would be striking to see what my generation does later in life because of this. How will we look at employment? Savings? Credit? Retirement? I guarantee you this has already changed my outlook. I have little trust in the stocks, and I doubt my retirement money will go there! I'll choose for it to be in money market accounts, CDs, various savings accounts, etc. If I can't see my money and access it easily, it's not going there. I know this has been a rant, but this something no citizen can take lightly now. I just don't think we've hit rock bottom yet.

"Spring" Cleaning

2008-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Ah, this time of year comes when you shake off that Wintery feeling and prepare yourself for the glory of spring! Wait. It's August? hmm It seems this post has gotten off on the wrong foot. Allow me to explain my logic. In my professional life, my new year doesn't start in January with the change of the calendar or in July with the change of fiscal year. It starts in early September with the change of school year! Even our codes change in Banner (our computer system at EMU): Summer is 200840 and Fall is 200910. New Year, right? We even had a toast in our last staff traning meeting with sparking grape juice for our new year, and heard words of thanks and inspiration from President Martin. Henceforth, this feels like my time for Spring cleaning. I am cleaning and organizing my apartment like a mad woman. I will have far fewer chances in the coming months being a graduate student and part-time admissions guru. So, my apologies to anyone who steps in my apartment in the middle of November and can't find my couch. If you're unsure about the gravity of my cleaning, I am just now organizing gifts from my graduation party. Ouch. (this makes up for still being in my loungy clothes at 11:20 a.m. right?)

I'm also gearing up to go back to school, but actually start some serious classes. I'm resisiting (still!) the urges to go to Meijer and buy my weight's worth of crayons, markers, glue, binders, fruit snacks, etc. Funny how grad classes probably won't require those. I'm taking three classes this semester, but they're each in different formats. I have one class that's 100% in person, I have one that's 100% online, and one that's a hybrid; 50% inperson (once every other week) and 50% online. The classes are Intro to Higher Education, Community College Leadership, and Principles of Edcuational Research. My advisor suggested that in my first year I take two required classes and one elective each semester and then switch in my second year. And, go figure, she's one of my professors this semester! I have very high hopes for this program and this semester. I didn't think I'd be this excited to go back to school after graduating, but this is just truly the field I want to be in. Jordan says that's the biggest motivation to keep going, and I certainly agree. Now, where do we stand with the crayons?

Speaking of the boy, we even got to take a vacation this year! We went up to Traverse City two weekends ago. Now, Kate feels we shouldn't call it a Traverse City trip because we spent little time in the actual city, but that's ok. We were in the general area. We did the typical things of going to Sleeping Bear, Traverse City, bought assorted cherry stuff, went to Old Mission Point, but we even got some good time just being spontaneous. The beach we went to near Sleeping Bear was WAY too cold, so our last day we drove by a little beach on Torch Lake, and got more awesome beachy swimming time. That's true vacation, pure and simple. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Bellaire, MI aptly named Bellaire Bed and Breakfast. It was probably the cutest bed and breakfast I had ever seen, and our two hosts were just an adorable couple. They were hospitable, friendly, very funny, and just true hosts. We walked around Bellaire, the nearby town of Alden and just enjoyed Up-North Michigan. We got lots of sunshine, relaxation, pictures, and time together. We even got to borrow Kathryn's GPS so we didn't get lost! We decided that we would need to make this a yearly trek.

Well, that's a lot of news! I guess that's what happens when I don't post as often as I should... Now back to my cleaning frenzy! Love you all :)

New Responsibilities

2008-07-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

It seems as though all these posts seem to be about work. Is that terrible, though? It seems to be the one area where I see the most change and the most productivity in my life. I like that the other ares of my life seem to be calming constants J So with this new GA position, I’m learning more tasks and taking on new responsibilities. I will now get to meet with appointments and make admissions decisions. I’ve already made a few! It’s quite fun and I like that none of them have been denials yet. Whew! I also will make tours presentations when I’m needed to (which may not be too often, but that’s ok). One of the bigger areas of new tasks has been my work with international admissions. When we receive documents for international students, we need to go through an initial check-in process to see if these documents fulfill the requirements for the school as well as for the indiviual applicant. We need to determine if foreign transcripts are official (sometimes hard when they’re not in English!), if their bank statements are what we need (we have to report to INS, can you believe it?), and other sorts of fun tasks. It’s an incredibly important process and now I’m responsible for it! Eek! Today I even had to reserch a bank in Korea and determine whether these accounts an applicant was showing were business or personal accounts and whether they were liquid (checking/savings) or not. Turns out they were either stock funds or business accounts. I have to say, this is remarkably fun! I even have seen some ..um… fabricated transcripts. Writing “College Transcripts Unfulfilled” is also pretty cool ;)

This weekend marks a year from what I think was the best first date in history. It was relaxing, there was no awkward pressure, and there was no silence that day. We just talked and talked and talked… all day long! So, this marks Jordan’s and my one year anniversary. What are we doing to celebrate? Going back to the scene of the crime, and going back to the Celtic Festival in Saline. It’ll be the highlight of my weekend. When you find someone that makes you happy and lights up your day just by sitting on the couch watching pathetic TV with you, hold on to them with an iron grip!

Adventures in Admissions

2008-05-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm finally back at work in good ol' Admissions (and for more than just 5 hours a week), I get to have all sorts of fun experiences again. That means I meet more interesting people, both good and bad, get to know my co-workers even better, and experience working with more supervisors than I can probably count! Don't get me wrong, this is all a great deal of fun! It just makes my head spin from time to time wondering where I'll be tomorrow and what all I'll be doing.

My main area still is tours, but that will change in July. The biggest things going on in the tours office are Fast Track, and the changing of the guard for Front Desk Coordinator. I left that post and am handing it off to our new one. He has lots and lots of questions regarding training, operations, our procedures manual, payroll, etc. I love all his questions, but I think he's just finding how sure of himself he is (which right now isn't much). He seems to be constantly looking for approval, and I think I can help there for another month or so. I love being a resource for him, even though a lot of the things I did are getting changed. Ouch!

As far as Fast Track, I get to meet all kinds of newly-admitted students, and I get to have two roles: part-time coordinator, and part-time group leader. It just depends on the day! On Tuesday I was a group leader with my co-worker, Jon, and I decided to sit next to this random girl during lunch. She was talking about how she takes French in high school and it's fairly easy for her since she's fluent in Spanish. I tell her that I majored in Spanish, and off she goes! She starts carrying on the conversation in Spanish! I ask where she's originally from, which is Mexico, and how much of her family still lives there. She looks a little more shy now and a little shifty-eyed and says, "um... my uncle is the President. Of Mexico." I was shocked! I thought that was so cool! She is quite proud of her family, which has other famous people in there, but she's a little timid about sharing that huge connection. I was just floored that I met the President of Mexico's niece. And what a nice, friendly girl she was. Just another example of you never know who you'll meet or what you'll do at Admissions.

I've also become quite a floater at the main office. When one area doesn't need me, another area calls me in. For the next couple of days, I'm spending more time in the administrative area. Linda (my supervisor there) does all sorts of administrative work dealing with payroll, department accounting, leave reports, college fair notifications, and an abundance of other things. It's just amazing how much she handles and how calm and happy she is during all of it. I get my own desk over here complete with supplies, computer, phone, and type writer (oh, the requisition typing). I feel like I'm getting more of my bearings down in this area, which is more helpful since I've worked in the general office for years! I also am situated in a frequently traveled hallway, so I get to see the comings and goings of all the staff (and I get lots of "hello!"s and "how are things?")

And, to let you all know, I'm now a grad student at EMU :) I got admitted on Tuesday!!

Thoughts...

2008-05-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

Some things have crossed my mind the last couple of days...

- I walked into the Student Center today since I was working at the tours office, and I look and see there's a banner above the staircase. I didn't take a too serious look at it until I thought I saw someone familiar on it. Lo, and behold, it's me! It was a picture that was taken with three work friends last Spring, and now it's on this huge banner in the Student Center! Granted, not the most flattering pic of me, but it's still pretty cool. So, if you're ever in the EMU Student Center, take a look!

- Being back to work is just plain fantastic. I know it's work and it shouldn't be the most fun thing, but I love these people and I love this job. It's great to feel productive again and good to feel important.

- A long talk with Kate opened my eyes this weekend. She is very insightful and wise, and I value her more and more each time we talk. She's made me see family, friends, and relationships in a different light and has helped me sort through some issues I had been having. I simply love talking to her.

- The Spanish service at church is just weird. Good weird, but still very rocky in its processes. Love the Spanish though :)

- I found out that one of my good friends has vertigo, and it crept up again today. I didn't really know what that was, but it was an interesting read on Wikipedia (yeah, I'm a little bored at work). I hope we can still keep our Tigers-game-watching date tonight!

- I think I have two of the best friends I could possibly have. We are those kind of friends where everything clicks between us, and 1,000 words are said in just one look. We have gone months without seeing eachother at times and once we do, it's like nothing ever changed. We all made it a priority to go to eachother's graduations and senior moments this year, and it was just a nice way to solidify the support and we have for eachother. These are truly two sisters of mine.

EMU Exit Survey

2008-04-21T05:07:00.000-07:00

I figure that as I get closer to graduation (6 days!), I should probably do that actual student exit survey that Eastern is requesting I do, but I feel it much more poignant (and fun!) to do more of evaluation here.

- I came to EMU a bit like a scared, shorn sheep and I was quite unsure of where I needed to go. Partly to EMU's credit, I had more opportunities of things to do and I felt like I could dive in there more than I could at Calvin. Also, I finally learned how to get out of my comfort zone.

- Spanish was a rocky start. I truly enjoyed the Spanish profs at Calvin and found them to be very energetic. I started EMU with a Spanish prof that I really couldn't stand and I ended up having him for two semesters. The joke's on me, though: Not only did he get much better with higher levels, he ended up being one of my all-time favorite profs, and my pseudo-advisor when Dr. Vought made me cry.

- Diversity. It's always a question, whether vocalized or not, that prospective students have, and they end up looking for how the diversity at the school fits their needs. I wanted a place where I would meet more than just the same person over and over. After befriending many international students, having a wide range of backgrounds of students in almost every class, both conservative and liberal classmates (and professors!), and a professor that proudly votes for the Green party every election, I feel EMU made the cut.

- Campus life. "So, what is there to do on this campus?" This seems to be more important than academics with some students, but it was more of a second priority for me. I did not go Greek, I didn't join 5 student organizations, I did not participate in the maybe 2 protests on campus, I didn't see any student bands, nor did I try and find parties every weekend (unless you want to call knitting and Law and Order a party). Still, I found there to be a great energy about campus every day and never felt there was nothing to do.

- "Get Involved!" The sole thing pretty much every tour guide emphasizes on their tours and preaches to the extreme. If you don't get involved, you're likely to just stay couped up in your dorm room having the bare minimum of social contact and life as we know it will end. I admit that's true to an extent (sound like Calvin at all?), but I wasn't the typical student. My involvement was every and any area of Admissions I could work in. Tours, Front Desk, phones, International... every area gave me a new place to get involved and new people to meet. Suddenly I felt that I had all these new skills and I could start being someone others depend on. If this was getting involved, I feel I did pretty darn well!

- The administration. Hmm... let's see. University house, Sam Kirkpatrick, John Fallon, Laura Dickenson, cover-ups, 3 presidents in 5 years, two faculty strikes, scandal with our baseball coach, DPS chief and Jim Vick being asked to resign, etc.... Can I skip this question?

- Major choices. Well, I really only had to change my major once. According to statistics, I actually am a rarity. Not only that it just went from Spanish Education to just Spanish. It really wasn't that big of a change. We just won't go into the fact that it was during the semester that I was going to graduate at the end of.

- "Finally, how did EMU help me graduate and find the job I wanted?" Wait, let me wipe the tears away since I couldn't stop laughing when I read that question.

Truly, overall, EMU was a place that really helped make me who I am. There were so many great memories made which have always made up for the less-than-great ones. EMU helped me make peace with Calvin, and I will always be grateful that EMU gave me a place for me to fit perfectly. I gained a world of experience, knowledge, and friends which I will never forget. All in all, Eastern Michigan University was a great place for my undergraduate work!

Now, onto the graduate work! ;)

Newest Job Opportunity

2008-04-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

I think I'm making strides in my job hunt: I'm realizing that I need to find a job deserving of someone with a bachelors! There comes a time in everyone's search for a job where they get so upset with the pickin's that they start slowly (and subconsciously) lowering their expectations and apply for jobs that will certainly hire you. This leads to weirdo jobs and even crazier interviews. Jobs like this take the the form of commission sales for a scam company (go ahead and look up Rockand, Inc. in Troy and you tell me if you think it's reputable!), jobs where you must get supervisor permission to use the restroom, and just plain car sales. Bleh. So, my revelation was that I can still sub while looking for a real job that fits me. Now that we're up to speed, this is where my latest phone interview comes in.

I applied to be an admissions counselor (what I actually, truly want to do!) with Manchester College in North Manchester, IN and had quite a good first interview. I have my doubts but it seems to be a good place that would give me that lucrative first year of experience. I would be able to go out and recruit students, meet with them and their parents, develop good relationships with them, and really get kids excited to go to college. I have a lot of general admissions experience with some good experience in coordinating and developing projects. This job really would give me a lot of what I want. The issue becomes that it's a small, Christian school (I don't want this to be another Calvin experience) and it is 3 hours away. I don't want to leave friends and family nor do I want to leave certain things I have established here. Another kink in this is that I really, really don't want to leave Jordan. I have a relationship that is working beautifully! Why would I want to throw a monkey wrench like this into it?! When asked of his opinion, he said that, sure, he doesn't want me to go, but this seems like a good opportunity. Still, I've got mixed feelings.

The fun things about Manchester is that it's within the town of North Manchester which seems to have just walked off the set of any movie that has the quintessential small American hometown. The area seems to be gorgeous and it's only 20 minutes away from Ft Wayne. I promised myself that if I was going to relocate, I would only go where I have family or a very close friend. I still have family in Ft Wayne, and I have an aunt and uncle who live a little south.

The timeline from here is that if they want me to come down and have a second interview on campus, they'll let me know next Wednesday. From there they hope to have a decision a week or two after that, and they would want their person to start somewhere at the end of April. Not necessarily the best timing with graduation and all, but I'll make things work. I really just wish colleges in Michigan were looking for admissions counselors so I wouldn't have to do this. Plus I still can't get being a pastry chef/cake artist out of my head...

Thoughts? Please?

Inaugural Posting

2008-03-26T18:26:00.001-07:00

Alright, I know what you all are thinking: Laura has yet another blog?! Yes. Here's how it happened. There was some demand (you know you you are! :)) for my blogging and I couldn't use the one from Seville, because clearly I'm not there anymore, and I can't really use the EMU one anymore, since no one's posting there anymore, so here we are! Blog number.... nevermind. Before I continue, I should probably explain the naming of the blog. It's Spanish (go figure): Sevillana means a girl from Seville, and Morena means brunette, and La is the definite article, "the". Yes, it's clear I was a grammar nerd with Spanish.

I'm still currently enjoying the TV and the couch when I should be going to bed soon. I have to sub tomorrow for a woman I've subbed for before, and I should be getting my sleep right now. I'm not really excited about subbing because of just the associations with teaching, but it's all I can do right now that brings in some money. Thankfully this setting is in a non-typical support classroom for special needs learners and it's more than just one teacher in the classroom. I liked this setting when I subbed there last week, but again it's not exactly what I want to do. I've sent out resume after resume for Admissions jobs and I still don't know why there is so little response. hmm... Why did the genes not give me any real patience?

With this free time, I've been doing more and more running. After my semi-disasterous experience with a 5K race last June, I decided it's time to really try and get back into running. It's going slowly and somewhat painfully, but I know it's building up to something kind of good. What has been really helpful has been reading and posting on the forums of Runners World. It's a good place to get support and advise being a pseudo-new runner that I am. It's also nice to enjoy the burgeoning good weather and explore the areas of Belleville. Definitely worth the pain and feeling of heavy legs.

I hate hate hate to admit this now, but I might actually miss this unemployment time!