Oh, the weather outside is...
pretty nice, actually. It is the middle of December, and on the historic Horsheshoe of the University of South Carolina it is seventy-one degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky. We did have a short run of flurries and freezing rain right around Thanksgiving, but South Carolina weather has been beautiful since.
But, rather than enjoying the outdoors today, I am here, in my office on a Saturday afternoon, with two important tasks to complete. First, I must grade the final exams for my UNIV 101 class, which is a class for freshmen that focuses on being successful in college. My other task is to review admissions applications for next year and make decisions as soon as possible.
Apparently the word is out about The University of South Carolina, because we are on track for a record number of applications for the next freshman class. Directors of Admissions like myself hope for an increase in applications--it is better than the alternative--but it does make our jobs more challenging. I'm charged with making decisions that can greatly impact the futures of thousands of people. It's a tremendous responsibility that I don't take lightly.
Our charge in the admissions office creates a interesting paradox, because we are concerned with "numbers", of course, but we are also concerned with individual persons, and the two are intertwined more than most people realize. In that light, we evaluate each student individually on his or her own merits, yet the decision we make on one student ultimately affects other students, not only whether or not if we have space to admit another student, but the people we admit will be with each other for four years or more in some cases during their college careers. So, I am picking freshmen that will be roomates, classmates, friends, future boyfriends and girlfriends, future spouses, etc...Okay, getting a little deep here, but like I said it is a big responsibility.
It is also a big responsibility for me to grade my students' final exams, and I better get to it. I have twenty exams to grade, and they have to be turned in on Monday...