Phonathon

It’s been a pleasure having Bethany blog about her experience this spring. She, along with all of the other callers, will be missed this summer! I must say that I am still very excited for all that the summer has to offer. I will keep you updated about my summer adventures however in the mean time take a couple of minutes to check this ecard out:

I know I’ve blogged about one of the songs on this CD before but I think that this CD is worth mentioning again. Go ahead, check it out for yourself. Click on the above banner and enjoy listening.

P.S. - #14 is amazing! “Let now our hearts burn with a flame…”

Packing feels terribly surreal. Actually, I’m still in denial and my section of the room remains untouched. My roommate, however, decided to pack a majority of her things last night. I informed her that I have no intention of leaving, so she’s welcome to put everything back.
At the moment, I’m a little bit exhausted. Between preparing for finals and finding any spare moment to hang out with friends before leaving, I ended up with two hours of sleep the other night. Let it be known that I certainly don’t recommend it.
I’m definitely excited for summer, despite the loss of my beloved room. I plan to work as a camp counselor for the majority of the time, and I’m really looking forward to it. Ten weeks of hiking, swimming, running, climbing, jumping, singing, spending time with hundreds of new people, and of course, bonfire-ing sounds like a fantastic way to ease the pain of leaving campus for three months!

I am a passionate supporter of diversity among answering machines. Stating the obvious fact that it adds a little extra spice to my job, I always find joy in listening to the efforts of the particularly creative prospects. One favorite includes the Fake-Out message.
The call goes something like this:

“Hello?”
“Hi! My name is Bethany and I’m…”
“I’m sorry that we’re not available to take your call, please leave a message.”

These answering machines leave me feeling foolish, if not rather amused. During the course of the evening, I talk to numerous prospects, though the majority of the calls result in answering machine messages.I was surprised to learn this last fall as a new caller, listening repeatedly to friendly messages that begin with anything from “Hi”, to “Greetings!”, “Hullo”, and “Yes! You’ve reached [insert name of enthusiastic supporter of the Student Impact Fund].” Several times each shift, I encounter the Way Too Fast messages. These, typically involving a computerized voice or that of an especially straightforward prospect, force me to scramble frantically for the hang up button to escape leaving an accidental non-message.I now have every intention of inspecting my own answering machine message when I return home in two weeks. With such enormous possibilities for a fun experience, I would hate to deny anyone the pleasure of leaving a message at my house.

As fellow students began to register for housing, I picked up on the rather disconcerting discussion of whether or not to make the adjustment. Moving from Witmer to Grantham, or from Naugle to Mountain View for that matter, entails a dramatic shift in life perspective of which I found myself previously unaware.

Exploring the concept further, it appears as though the general consensus views the transition as quite monumental. I made the mistake of pointing out the modest size of Messiah’s campus during lunch one day. After facing the wide-eyed stares of several friends, I made a quick change of subject, and then dove into my beloved macaroni and cheese for refuge. (As a side note, yesterday they set up a cookie table in Lottie. Dinner finished on a particularly blissful note as the extension of Dessert Ave. provided fresh, warm chocolate cookies with chocolate chips on one end of the table, several large bowls of candy and icing in the middle, and delightfully warm sugar cookies to balance out the other end.

We now move back to my housing situation. With all of this in mind, I sat down at my computer to register for housing, not without a little concern. Slightly panicked, I made a quick review of the housing options and signed up for Mountain View. I instantly questioned my decision, however, realizing the improbability of rooming near a large group of my friends. It was at that moment I made the decision. Quickly texting my roommate, we agreed to find a room in Grantham. So I did.

And here I sit: mildly concerned, mildly hopeful, mildly mild. Hopefully I don’t regret this.