The First Counselor BBQ of the summer

Warm temperatures this past weekend required all of us to get together for a BBQ and bonefire. Here we are enjoying the sunshine (along with Charlie's son). Oh yeah, and I had to include a picture of Jessica's pup Sinder- look at how big she's getting!

Admissions Counselor Racing

Check out the racing skills for our Admissions Counselors!

Hope's Introducation

The Race!

BTW--This is what happens when students leave for the summer.

Congratulations Hope, Joe, Megan, Jennifer, and Nicole!!

Hurray! We had a great turn out for Commencement this year including several Admissions Office staff and students who earned their degrees. We are so proud! Here is a picture of Hope that perfectly depicts our excitement here at the Admissions Office. Hope earned her Masters in Professional Communication. Congratulations!!

The Famous Tradition Stone!!

This past weekend was Commencement and that reminded me of the many "traditions" of UAF. There are four actually, Starvation Gulch, Spring Fest, International Education Week and Winter Carnival. Behind every tradition lies the Tradition Stone. This stone goes way back in UAF history and makes an appearance at Starvation Gulch every year. Through all my years at UAF I had never seen the stone until this year. This stone is quite large and heavy yet every year, it is stolen away. The owner of the stone in years past has been the fire department and the fraternity and it changes hands many times. It is usually heavily guarded to prevent it from being stolen each year, so I was very excited to see the stone and have my picture taken with it. That is Hope in the picture with me. For more information about UAF Traditions, visit: http://www.alaska.edu/woodcenter/activities/traditions/

For more information on the Tradition Stone, visit: http://www.uaf.edu/sunstar/archives/20040928/tradition.htm OR http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=198

UAF engineering students are second to none!

We were so proud of our 2008 steel bridge contest team for taking first place in the Northwest regional competition! The ASCE/AISC Steel Bridge Contest challenges students from top engineering programs across the country to create a design for a steel bridge that can hold 2,500 pounds in any of 36 different arrangements. At competition, each team then must assemble its bridge as quickly as possible. UAF's team this year incorporated a brand new joint mechanism that makes their bridge stronger, allows it to be lighter, and makes it possible to assemble much more quickly than other designs. While most teams use five or six people to assemble their bridge, UAF's team uses only four people. Not only did the team win overall, they also placed first in lightness and economy, as well as second place in aesthetics and efficiency. The team heads to the national competition in Florida later this month. Want to see them assemble it? Check out our newsroom video. Check back here later for an update on the team's results at nationals.

Congratulations to the Graduates of 2008!!!

I'm a graduation junkie, let's just put it out there. I LOVE watching students, friends, and co-workers in their proudest moment. I LOVE seeing the butterflies in students stomachs as they look out into the crowd searching for family and friends. I LOVE listening to Pomp and Circumstance play as graduates filter into the floor, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the balloon drop.

This Sunday (Mother's Day) over 1,000 UAF students became UAF Alumni, including a few of our own! Hope, Joe, Jennifer and Nicole walked across the stage in the Carlson Center to receive their diplomas. It was an exciting and fun time. I couldn't believe how many people I knew graduating. I felt so proud to see so many students I've worked with over the years as Orientation Leaders, Ambassadors, Student Employees, and fellow students.

Congratulations Graduates! Good luck in everything that you choose to do in the future!

Shidara Taiko!

Hello All!

Taiko, Hajimare! Let's Taiko, everyone! On last Wednesday night I went to a workshop/performance of the Shidara Taiko drumming group in Herring Auditorium. The group hails from Okumikawa, Japan and trains for approximately 12 hours day to perfect their drumming (holy cow!). Let me just say that the training showed: their performance was astonishing. The audience was also allowed to participate in the workshop section of the performance. So, there I found myself, banging away on the drums with all my heart. I imagine I looked quite silly, but it was still awesome. This group is just one of many great groups brought up to perform in Fairbanks by the Fairbanks Concert Association. I wasn't able to take any pictures, (flash photography was prohibited) but trust me when I say it was quite spectacular. Thanks for reading, and I'll post soon about Free Comic Book Day! Cheers!

Zero Gravity at UAF

UAF students get a lot of chances to take their learning outside the classroom, designing and building rockets, ice arches, and steel bridges (to name just a few projects)--but some students even get outside the pull of gravity. A group of UAF engineering students designed an experiment that was tested on NASA's Weightless Wonder (aka "The Vomit Comet"), a special jet that climbs to 35,000 feet then plunges down at a 45 degree angle--repeating this process 30 times. In between each rise and fall, the jet's passengers experience 25 seconds of weightlessness as the plane makes an arc over the top of the earth with its engines slowed to an idle. It's one more way students are getting a one-of-a-kind experience at a one-of-a-kind school. Check out http://www.uaf.edu/asgp/microgravity/ to learn more!

Blood Drive at UAF

Hello, all!

Hey everybody, Joe here! I just wanted to let you all know about the blood drive that happened at UAF last Friday. I really should have told you about it when you still had a chance to head down and donate blood, but that's neither here nor there. The bottom line is that giving blood is a good thing to do: you feel great because you're providing a valuable service, and you get free cookies! When I went on Friday, I totally got to chow down on some oreos. It was sweet. Just so you all know, the blood bank does blood drives at UAF every year, so keep your eyes peeled! Thanks for reading, and y'all have a nice day!

Fourteen High Schools in Four Days!!!

Jessica and I just got back from a whirl-wind five-day trip to Anchorage where 4 of them were spent driving around like maniacs trying to meet with as many students as possible from the south side of Anchorage to Houston. It was a great chance to catch up with all the counselors (those who made it to our Counselor Reception and those who are holding out hope for an invite to next spring's event) and get officially introduced, seeing as how I am taking over the Anchorage are of recruiting for UAF.

Here's the list of the high schools we visited last week:

1. Palmer High School
2. Service High School
3. South High School
4. East High School
5. West High School
6. Wasilla High School
7. Matsu Career Technical High School
8. Houston High School
9. Eagle River High School
10. Chugiak High School
11. King Career Center
12. Diamond High School
13. Bartlett High School
14. ....hmmmm, I know I'll think of this last one later...

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip where we got a chance to meet some really amazing students, and not to mention some pretty cool kids (and parents).

Day 5 consisted of an all day table-manning expedition at the IDEA fair for home schooled students.

Check out my sweet table setup where over the course of the day over 18-inches of snow fell while I sat there contemplating HOW AM I EVER GOING TO GET TO THE AIRPORT IN ONE PIECE!?!?! (in a rental car even!)
I got to the airport about 5 hours early, but at least my flight wasn't canceled and I got to sleep in my own bed that night... in one piece!

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to come out and talk to Jessica and I. It made the trip totally worth-while and a-w-e-s-o-m-e. EXTREMELY exhausting... but AWESOME none the less. Thank you.