so.. regarding phone calls

Since I've worked a couple days now in the front desk answering phone calls, I'd like to make a general plea for people calling the office.

1) Most of what you'd like to know is available online, make sure you've checked the website before you call!
2) We cannot release decisions over the phone, so please don't ask. Nope, asking me five times in a different format won't work either.
3) No life stories please. I've gotten quite a few calls in which people start pouring their lives down my ears and I see the 'Call Waiting' button flashing. Not a good situation to be in.
4) No preaching please. The person who did this to me should be glad we were of the same faith, otherwise I would have been horribly offended.
5) Make sure you're calling the right office! No we are not the medical school... or the Semester at Sea office.. true stories, all of them.
6) If you'd like someone's undivided attention, it's best to email them. Our deans are often busy with meetings and appointments, so even if you did get through to them they might be somewhat preoccupied. Email definitely is the way to go.

my apartment is a... marsh!

Please pardon the lack of an update yesterday, I was hit by a rather weird disaster.

I came home from work on Monday evening to find that wherever I stepped, my footprints would fill in with water. Well obviously this isn't normal. I called maintenance and the first guy came at 8:30 am to tell me that my furnace was leaking. My.. furnace? If.. you say so then. The second guy was supposed to come to dry off my carpet and didn't come until 6 pm. Geez. He only put in a floor fan to help the water dry off quicker.

Get used to stuff like this guys, if you live off Grounds at any point in college, or move on into the 'real world' after you graduate, you'll have to be doing stuff like this all the time.

two months of tours!

This week marks the beginning of the third month that I'm giving tours. Wow. Time does pass by when you're having fun. On my tour today I realized I had it down to an art. I know what stock phrases to say so that I don't come off as a blathering idiot when my mind freezes, I know where to go if an orientation group's in the way. It's almost second nature. This was when I took a step back and thought. Wow. Second nature. College is second nature to me now. It's perfectly normal if I have class at 8 am but don't come home until midnight due to other committments. I'm used to running to the bank, Corner, and route 29 for errands. I'm in control of my own life, and am going where I want to go. I'm truly happy here.

It's crazy to think that a two short years ago I was still a highschooler, living with my parents and having curfew, dinner time, bed time, and homework time. My parents were extremely conservative, traditional people so school parties were about the only time I could go out. Of course, a lot of you reading this probably have a lot more freedom than I do. It's just amazing to think about how much I've changed.

Call a leasing office to ask about apartment rentals? Yep no problem. Chatting to employers at career fairs? Sure, where's a copy of my resume? Cooking dinner for myself? Alright, Indian or Korean style? Going to work and interacting with people much older than me? Sure thing.

Are you guys psyched about college and possibly coming to UVA? Savor it, it really is the best four years of your life.

happy birthday america!

I just finished watching 4th of July fireworks on PBS, all 20 glorious minutes of it. My 4th of July celebrations were quite chill. Slept in late, woke up and went to lunch with some friends. Hung out, had a cookout for our dinner. Quite a few friends actually made their way up to DC to be at the concert live, but all the crowds, heat and bugs wasn't for me. What did your 4th of July celebration consist of?

*gasp* you're a real person?

You know how in elementary school you would always be partially traumatized if you saw your teachers outside of the classroom? It was the whole "she's a real person who goes out to buy eggs??" feeling. In middle school you kind of get over that and in high school you might even meet up with a favorite teacher outside of the classroom. Well. Working at my other job yesterday night, I bumped into one of my bosses who was out doing some shopping. I struck up a conversation with her and we chatted for a little bit.

That encounter made me think back to my interactions with other people on our administration and professors. I frequently invite professors to my performances, and in fact had lunch with a dean in the Office of Student Life a couple weeks ago. Here I feel very blessed to be surrounded by an administration who cares and is not some aloof, ultimate authority out to 'get' you. The professors pretty much rock, although some like to throw out random questions on midterms way too often. Feel like you want close relationships with your teachers and administration? Definitely consider UVA, we're quite unique in this regard.