THiS banana is BANANAS! b.a.n.a.n.a.s.

As I sit here eating my afternoon snack of banana and peanut butter, I'd like to reflect on my recent noticings around campus.

Though it is a mere 40 degrees outside, I feel as though the dark cloud of winter is slowly making its way beyond. The 40 degree weather feels balmy, as though I am enjoying a hot Miami summer's heat shining on my face.... maybe I won't go that far, but it is GREAT to see the sun shine its rays outside!! Melt that snow, baby! I feel as though I have successfully survived my first Maine winter. (Now that I have put that into print, however, I'm sure Father Environment/Mother Nature is going to rear his/her ugly head and give one more good snowfall). I pledge to remain optimistic and pray that it will only be a matter of time before the crocuses are blooming and birds are chirping once again in central Maine.

Last week, I was searching through our electronic admissions folders, trying to find pictures of dorm rooms to send to an international student. He won't be able to make a visit to Thomas, so he requested some pictures to give him a better idea of the school. While perusing these pics, I came across some BEAUTIFULLLLL pictures of campus in the summer. Dewy green grass, crystal-blue skies, and the overall glow of buildings on campus were shown in every single picture. Having been hired in October, I haven't been able to see the Thomas College campus in all of its glory, and these pictures made me quite excited for winter to end and spring to begin.

If you're wondering how YOU can get in on the action in experiencing Thomas firsthand, call our Campus Visit Coordinator, Jessica Rodrigue, at 207-859-1111. She'd be happy to set up a visit for you- tour, interview, financial aid session, meeting with a coach, chat with a professor, lunch in the cafeteria, etc!

We are currently wrapping up February break week and the students will return to campus on Sunday- can't wait to see our work-study kids and hear all about their vacation!

Happy Tuesday!

Hi everyone! Back again for some more fun-filled Thomas talk!

It's February and that means there is a ton of things going on! In addition to Black History month, National Cancer Prevention month, and Sinus Pain Awareness month (not kidding- check it out), February is also the time that Thomas College starts to receive TONS of FAFSA forms. For those of you unaware or unsure of what FAFSA is, I'll fill you in!
Free
Application (for)
Federal
Student
Aid!
If you're interested in applying for federal financial aid to help you finance your Thomas College education, be sure to fill out this form! Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and when I was a student in college, the FAFSA was upwards of seven pages long, very confusing, and highly tricky. It was known to Jedi-Mind-Trick my mother, and cause many people stress. HOWEVER!! New to 2010, the FAFSA is only THREE pages long! It's a lot more condensed and this is something we should all be thankful for :) The priority filing date at Thomas is February 15th, so get your paperwork in! Be sure to send the form to Thomas at the end of the paperwork: our FAFSA code is 002052.

In other Thomas-related news: there's a big cross-town rivalry today! Thomas men's basketball is playing Colby College. Should be a good game...

Tuesday's Top Ten

Today is Tuesday and therefore time to list:
TEN things that happened (to me) today in the admissions office!
1. Greeted the Xerox man who came to the office AGAIN to fix our copier. This is the fourth (fifth?) time in about eight weeks that he has been here, poor soul.
2. Mailed out some more acceptance packets for applicants! Class of 2014, here we come!!
3. Ate a bag of Cape Cod potato chips with Jen Higgins... it's a treat we like to occasionally (ahem... thrice weekly) enjoy.
4. Discussed with Wendy, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admission, the play-by-play of our Thomas College women's Monday night pickup basketball league game (happened last night, you should SEE Jen and Molly Feeney tear it up!)
5. Covered the front desk phones for our campus visit coordinator, Jess Rodrigue, while she met with Wendy. In thirty minutes, three students came by to pick up packages they had waiting (cookies from mom? textbooks? netflix??) and I was able to successfully help: 1 of them... 33%
6. Spoke to multiple guidance offices about some missing pieces that a few of my applicants need to turn in- if you have SAT scores, personal statements, etc. that you need to submit to the office, get them in! The sooner we have your complete application, the sooner we can give you a decision :)
7. Drank 2 Nalgene's worth of water.
8. Emailed back and forth with students regarding our new Forensic Accounting degree! Want to stop white-collar crime? Help with a company's internal auditing? Email your counselor for more info!!
9. Double-checked all of the newly-entered applications from my territories and filed away many loose pieces into their appropriate files. Organization is so wonderful.
10. Asked Jillian Bouley 9,325,406 questions, as usual. There's a special place in heaven for Jill, who has the patience of a saint. She has really helped me adjust to life as an admissions counselor! (Her desk also happens to be the closest to mine, and therefore the closest person I can talk to...)

The admissions office is a very busy place! Tomorrow is a phone call night, and my goal is to speak with all of my applicants from the west coast! If you're reading this and you're an applicant from California, I hope you look forward to my call tomorrow!

B.L.O.G.A.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

Boy, it's brilliant to be back to blogging! (do you love alliteration? I do!)

It's currently snowing here in Waterville- I left the building for an appointment earlier and it was snowing up a little storm. Here in Maine, flurries don't make anyone blink an eye... although come to think of it, storms don't make anyone flinch, either!

Today was a busy day in the admissions office! Most of our FANNNNtastic counselors spent the day reviewing files and making decisions on applications. I spent a large part of my day working on things regarding our international applicants. We've adopted a new policy! International applicants no longer need to submit SAT I test results; they are required, however, to submit TOEFL scores. If a student is from a native-speaking English country (i.e. United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, etc), they are able to request a TOEFL waiver from our Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Wendy Martin. If you have questions about this, let me know!

In other, far more exciting news: last night was Student Appreciation Day! There were tons of things for students yesterday on campus, including free coffee and 10% any items in the bookstore, free popcorn in the lobby of the administration building, and a trivia challenge in our very own home (aka the admissions office)! The best part of S.A.D. (what an un-fun acronym for an otherwise great day) was CASINO NIGHTTTT! In the Atrium from 7-9:30pm were casino games of all sorts, including chips and cards! There were blackjack tables, poker tables, craps tables, etc. My coworker Jen and I each manned our own blackjack table, and it was a BLAST! It was a great way for me to meet some of our undergrad students, and it was a great opportunity for them to give their TVs and homework a rest for a few hours. There were lots of prizes, food, and fun- very glad I did it. I was pretty positive that I was going to be an AMAZING blackjack dealer, seeing as how there are two of the world's largest casinos in my backyard at home in CT....... I'll let you use your imagination as to how [enter adjective here] I was at dealing blackjack! I did love it though, I had a lot of fun.

More on things at Thomas tomorrow!

Clap your hands if you love bloggingggg

Hellooooo!!!

Let me just tell you --> when the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Admissions (we call her Wendy) sent me a link for the new Thomas College Admissions office blog site, I was PSYCHEDDD! I happen to love a few things: 1. Thomas College 2. blogs 3. putting my name out in cyberspace! This blog is going to be a good thing for the admissions office!

I'll give you a quick recap of who I am as a person, and then we'll get down to discussing the greatness that is Thomas College. I'm originially from southeastern Connecticut. I have a B.A. in Public and Community Service Studies and a minor in Spanish. I studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, where I learned that I do NOT like goulash. I moved to Maine about eight months ago (two days after graduation) to work as an AmeriCorps volunteer in the state capital, Augusta. Once my term with AmeriCorps was over, I was hired by Thomas College to be an undergraduate admissions counselor. That's my life's summary to date- here I am!!

I'm officially adjusted to living in Maine! Thomas College has adopted me as an honorary Terrier, and I'm proud to wear red and black to basketball games :) I'm the counselor in the office responsible for applications from the states of CT, RI, and NH. I'm also the counselor reading applications from states outside of New England, as well as the applications from our international students! I'm lucky that I get to talk to kids from all over the world on a daily basis.

THREE fun facts about Thomas College:

1. On most nights, the Alfond Athletic Center stays open until 11pm! This means you get the chance to sweat until late at night, five days per week! (open til 9pm on weekends)

2. JFK owned a terrier, so our mascot, Tommy the Terrier, is practically royalty.

3. The bookstore sells at LEAST four different kinds of Cape Cod potato chips at any given time... this causes HUGE excitement for many of our admissions counselors.

I'm already in love with this blog! I'll probably talk more about admissions-related things in my next post. Til then, GO TERRIERS!!

An exciting start!

It is hard to believe that we are already rounding out the end of January. Second semester classes are well underway, and the campus aesthetics prove that we are in the thick of a Maine winter with piles of snow and icicles surrounding the buildings.

In admissions we are busy reading applications and meeting potential Thomas College students who are making their rounds of college visits. We always welcome visitors to the Thomas community, and hope that their time spent here is valuable. During the application process we want all students and families to know we are available to answer any questions you may have along the way, while it is an exciting time of year it can feel overwhelming at times. Right now it is important for families to begin filing the FASFA form, as we receive financial data our Student Financial Services department is working diligently to put together awards for our applicants.

On another front, today is student appreciation day! So we want to give a shout out to all Thomas College students and thank you for all the hard work you put in! We will be celebrating throughout the day with fun events planned by student affairs. The energy around Thomas remains high and it looks like it is going to prove to be a great spring semester!