A window into our January…

Have you ever wondered about a day in the life of an admission person during reading season? If I wrote about a whole day you’d be reading for an hour. I’ll stick to one morning.

• 5:45 a.m.- I wake to my alarm clock- which is to say my three year old lab puppy Penelope (affectionately known as P-pod). Stretch, yawn, eye rub… (I really should have gone to bed earlier last night.) I reach for the five application files I was unable to finish reviewing the previous evening when my clock read 11:48 p.m. and was screaming at me to use some common sense and close my eyes. My goal- to get through two or three apps before the babies wake up and our family’s day is off to the races.
• 6:12 a.m.- Totally immersed in a fantastic essay about Coney Island hot dogs and a student’s abhorance of cynicism I realize my window for early morning file reading is closing. I’ll have to finish taking a look at this young lady’s program of study once I’m at the office. (She’s neat though- I think she could really add to campus with the depth of her world view and her quirky style.) Time for a three minute shower and the start of our familiy’s crazy morning routine. (Thank goodness for great smelling soap, hot tea and cold bedpillows- without all of them, I’d feel even more sleep deprived than I already do.)
• 6:18 a.m.- Put on a bathrobe, wake a baby, change a baby, dress a baby, nurse a baby and repeat (my husband and I have five month old twins). Then there is their sister. Wake a two year old, dress a two year old (well- the parts she can’t do herself), encourage tooth brushing and potty going (stickers seem to work), rescue a baby who has learned the art of rolling over in his crib (but unfortunately not the art of rolling back) and make the family trek downstairs for breakfast (we are quite a site). Thank goodness for husbands who like to cook and doggies who are patient.
• 7:25 a.m.- Breakfast time! (Oh dear, we’re already running late.) One baby gets to swing, another gets a bouncy (anyone ever wondered why they don’t make those for adults?), a two year old hops into her booster and a hubby serves up oatmeal, bananas and juice. I wolf down one of the three while my husband takes P-pod to have her morning constitutional and once he returns I head upstairs to get myself together (thank goodness I ironed my work clothes last night).
• 7:40 a.m.- Time to pack the car! Computer, applications that have already been read, mid morning meeting agenda, lunch, check-check and check. Headband, cell phone, chapstick, check. Baby bottles, baby stuff, BABIES, check.
• 7:55 a.m.- The morning routine comes to a screeching halt. Unexpected diaper emergency. I won’t go into details. Suffice to say, my freshly ironed work clothes never got to see the office. Thank goodness for wrinkle free fabrics and lint brushes to make a new outfit work in a pinch. Back to the car we all go.  (Staff meeting is at nine so I should have time to drop off the kids at daycare, park, breath at my desk and prep before we start.) Yet again, thank goodness for husbands who are great helpers in the morning and have the flexibility to work from home.
• 8:10 a.m. Our CRV drives out of the driveway. I get my 10 minute POTUS (President of the United States) fix (I love that XM station) en route to the daycare center, interrupted only three times by a nose that needs blowing and questions about the bull dozers at our local play ground.  They are digging up the ground around the swings. (Of GREAT concern to one Miss “I’m-a-two-year-old-who-would-live-at-the-playground-if-allowed”.)
• 8:20 a.m. Daycare dropoff success! Three happy babies in two cheerful rooms, all with full bellies and clean clothes. A minor miracle has taken place. I walk to my office just up the hill. In addition to taking part in a meeting I have scheduled about admitted student programming, completing an internship application I have for an experience I’m offering this spring, leading our staff meeting and answering my phone, I’m hoping to read five files before lunch.

ONE- TWO- THREE- GO!

• 8:30 a.m.  Breathe, snack (oatmeal isn’t nearly as good cold and sticky an hour after it was made), check my email, check my voicemail, respond to all critical communications.
• 9:00 a.m. Staff meeting begins. Our one chance to noodle together about the various issues and challenges that come up throughout any given week, it’s a full conversation. It’s also a nice chance for us to have a weekly reintroduction since we are hunkered down with our heads in a file for the majority of several months in a row.
• 10:07 a.m. Staff meeting concludes. I can finally begin reviewing some files. Black pen in hand I delve in.
• 10:22 a.m. I delight in a young lady’s description of her cake decorating prowess (fondant and butter cream frostings have never sounded so yummy). She is an excellent writer. Clear voice, lots of personality. I like her use of the word “delectable”. And she started her own company selling her “delicacies”! Talk about taking initiative.
• 10:44 a.m. Uggh, another athletic injury McOptional. If we’ve read one, we’ve read 101. A sprained ankle leads to a lost season and a new appreciation of teammates and the lessons learned from being a part of a competitive group. Done. What about the smell of the grass on the field? What’s it like to be hit with a ball while in goal? Those would have been better. She’s also the only girl on an all male ice hockey team at her school- that’s a unique experience to be sure. No shortage of questions I’d love to ask her about what it’s like to be checked by a 200 pound male forward on skates.
• 11:08 a.m. He calls himself an every day “Joe”, but I sit in awe of the young man’s experiences with neurobiology research. If he cures cancer with the antioxidant theory he describes, I’m going to say I knew him when. What an opportunity!
• 11:26 a.m. I wonder why she didn’t continue with math during senior year? Hmmm, looks like she got her first ever “B” in pre-calculus as a junior (unnecessarily traumatic for some) and then decided to drop out of her math progression in 12^th. I sure wish she had stuck it out. B’s aren’t so bad- and then we would have really seen her stretch herself.
• 11:48 a.m. File number five. Triumph over adversity. A young man describes his struggles with identity having grown up in the foster system. Wow, this is a tough one. Is he academically prepared to be successful here? Is he competitive within our pool? (I ask myself the questions I ask about every applicant.) I am so appreciative of a young person’s willingness to be vulnerable and share information about challenging life experiences. He’s succeeding in spite of the hurdles and completing a Full IB Diploma program to boot- now that is impressive. I prepare to advocate for him in committee.

I wonder what this afternoon’s candidates will be like? I still have to go back and finish up reviewing my Coney-Island-hot-dog-essay person. I hope she is as strong academically as she is in the personality department.

I’m so priviledged to do meaningful work.

My stomach growls like there is a little man with a fork in there trying to pry his way out. Definitely time for lunch.

– Jennifer Scott