Calm Before The Storm

A sense of calm has returned to our home.  For this, I am very thankful that Haven submitted her application to GW as an Early Decision candidate.  She’s now a fully committed GW Colonial - she sent in the Declaration of Intent the day after she received her admission packet! And today she starts her last semester of high school – wow, I can’t believe it.

Today is also GW’s Early Decision 2 and Regular Decision application deadline. Life as a regional admissions officer has its advantages like working from home, no office drama (except my own), and the ability of setting my own schedule.  The downside is that I miss out on fun stuff like the impromptu after work office get-togethers, getting to know our student staff, or the bake-offs (I am sure my Key Lime Pie would win hands-down). But what I really wish I could be there to see is the daily buckets of mail arriving full of application materials, transcripts and letters of recommendations. Sorta like looking at a pile of gifts waiting to be opened.  I know I’ve spoken about Reading Season before but there is nothing quite like January in college admissions. 

You know I like analogies – I just made one in the previous paragraph. Here is another one: reading season is like a bar of soap with the toy trapped inside it. I’m reading hours upon hours to get at that toy!  It requires focus, patience, dedication and endurance!  Reading Season is 7x7 – seven days a week for seven whole weeks. 

Here is a list (in no particular order) of “must haves” for a successful reading season (not including ones previously mentioned) .

1. A good office chair!  After years of neck and back pain (that I never went to a DR about) I finally bought myself a good ergonomic chair!  Ahhh….
2. Comfortable clothing, really comfortable clothing, not unlike pajamas.  And slippers.  Not everyday – I do face the public from time to time.
3. A good companion who doesn’t talk much but encourages me to stay on task. My dog Ivy happily plays that role! How? She does this funny little bark-yip combo thing encouraging me to return to the office (and where her dog bed is) when my lunch or dinner break has lingered longer than she likes.
4. You already know this one. Good music to help me concentrate. Suggestions still encouraged.
5. Set goals. I’m given weekly goals by my office but I set hourly goals with rewards.  Reading twenty files = hot chocolate.  Read another twenty files = checking email. Read my weekly quota = Saturday night off.
6. Control my stress level so people around me don’t suffer.  This means I have to let stuff go (like keeping a clean house) to avoid total meltdown.  No guarantees here.
7. Exercise – everyday.  Awesome way to reduce my stress. If I can’t make it to the gym then I turn on Just Dance 3. I’m dance challenged but one of my other goals is to no longer be.
8. Snacks, more specifically sweets, even more specifically chocolate chip cookies. I like the convenience of those break and bake versions.  I hear the oven beeping right now!
9. Speaking of food – get other people to make dinner!  Tonight Haven (yes, my kid can cook) made homemade tortellini filled with ricotta, sage & toasted pine nuts – YUM! 
10. I’m a morning person. Once the sun sets so does my productivity. So getting to bed at a decent hour really comes in handy to avoid #6.
11. Let the DVR do what it is intended to do. As in resist watching Parenthood, Modern Family, and Up All Night (I like family themes, so sue me) until I’ve earned it (see #5). I may give in when Walking Dead returns in February.

January 10^th is coming to a close in less than 4 hours. On behalf of all of us in the admissions office at GW, I wish you the best of luck. Reading Season, while exhausting, is exhilarating.  We love getting to know what influences you to choose GW and what you hope to achieve by becoming a Colonial. You touch us in ways you would never imagine.

I expect there might be a few applicants out there furiously crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s on their applications. I’m sorry you may be in panic mode right now but I hope you can heed my advice: don’t wait until 11:59PM to hit that submit button!

Lit(erature)/(Indie-alternative) Rock Part Two

TV on the Radio at Tabernacle last September

Many moons ago one of my blog entries was titled Lit(erature)/(Indie-alternative) Rock Part One. In it I talked about my love for reading and I alluded to music I enjoy.  I also mentioned a Part Two was in the works.  Well, your wait is finally over! (I also hope to somehow bring it back to GW but first I will attempt to tie in my love of reading to music.) 

Music is my companion as I cover many miles traveling for GW.  Many a road trip starts off with me listening to my favorite college radio station Album 88 (until I lose the frequency) and then I turn to whatever CDs I have in the changer. Sadly, my 2005 Honda Pilot does not have a port for my iPod.

Since I opt out of listening to commercial radio but love discovering new bands, Shazam has become my favorite app to figure out what was just played on Album 88! My recent tags include M83, Pallers, Parov Stela, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, and Someone Loves You Boris Yeltsin (yes, those are all band names).  But I promise I'm not a total music snob - LMFAO is a blast!  

Luckily for me, Atlanta is a great city to see live music, especially at smaller venues like the Tabernacle or Variety Playhouse.  This fall I went to see TV on the Radio  - love the band, but they aren’t so great in concert.  I saw Beirut in late October and they were amazing live.  They have a very unique sound (I’m a sucker for instrumental layering). I must have been a marching band geek in a past life (they play the French horn, trombone, trumpets, and sousaphone!)  - watch Beirut’s performance of Sante Fe on Jimmy Fallon*. They play such happy music - take notice of the drummer; he is always smiling! 

Another one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists, were brought to my attention by a former GW student I know from Tennessee.  Matt Lukach is an amazing young man who now teaches social studies at his former high school in Nashville – hi, Matt!  The Decemberists’ music is often described as “lit-rock” due to the story-telling and unique rhyming ability of their main singer-songwriter Colin Meloy.

How many bands can take a Japanese folktale called The Crane Wife and create songs full of beautiful melodies and lyrics?  Who else but Colin Meloy could find a great rhyme for “dirigible” from the song Sons and Daughters:

 “Take up your arms
Sons and daughters
We will arise from the bunkers
By land, by sea, by dirigible
We'll leave our tracks untraceable now”

They are also fairly goofy as you can see in this video Sixteen Military Wives . I’ve seen The Decemberists live many times and every second they are on stage is pure entertainment.  The audience members (me included) are extremely loyal and sing-alongs led by Colin Meloy are commonplace.  

Colin Meloy, by the way, just published a young adult novel with his wife Carson Ellis titled Wildwood. My daughter Haven, and newly minted Colonial, is now reading it and she can’t put it down. 

Listening to music helps me to concentrate. An important fact to know given that #readingseason is just a few days away. The last application deadline looms for our Early Decision II and Regular Decision candidates (January 10), which means I’m reading applications until early March.  I will spend many, many hours sitting at my computer evaluating applications, reading essays and listening to music.  I currently have almost 5,000 songs in my collection (not including Pandora, etc.) so I’m feeling prepared me for the next seven weeks of my life.  

Being a reader, good lyrics are essential for me. I’m always looking for a story as well as poetry so M83’s Raconte - Moi Une Histoire is on continuous rotation for me these days – a little girl tells a melodious story about a frog… 

 “… it’s a very tiny frog but it is also very special. You can only find it in the jungle. So far away from here but if you find it and you touch it, your world will change forever…”

There you go, you know even more about me: reading stories and listening to music are two of my passions. Now, it’s your turn, I’m turning the table over to you. For any applicants out there still composing essays – write me some great stories about who you are or tweet me musical artists you think I might like!

But right now, I need to make a decision – listen to music while I walk the dog or curl up with the cat and read The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes… I also got a Dyson but this blog said nothing about housework!

*If you do decide to watch Beirut's performance you will need to scroll down the band's web site to find the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon video.