Got A Problem? Try Using This…

Man's TRUE best friend... the couch. Just don't move it!

After “the dog”, I think I’d consider the couch to be man’s second closest friend. In fact, I’d be willing to bet you actually spend more time on it sitting, laying on, or sprawled across it than you realize (I know at least I do), and other than your bed, it’s probably the most used piece of furniture you own. While the couch appears soft, warm, and inviting, anyone who’s ever moved one knows that underneath that gentle exterior is the soul of a stubborn beast not welcome to change. Simply put… of anything in your house your couch can be the most difficult thing to get out the door and into your new home. Don’t take my word for it, this clip from “Family Guy” best illustrates my point. :)

Last Saturday I went with my dad to help my sister and brother-in-law move into their new home. They had actually already moved most of the big stuff by the time we got there, but my dad and I had the task of disassembling and later re-assembling my nephew’s playground. Everything went smoothly until we encountered a similar situation to the “Family Guy” clip (above) when we couldn’t get it through a small gap between their house and garage. After a lot of head-scratching and some debate about other options of getting it through, such as disassembling it further, I finally figured out how we could maneuver it through to the other side. It wasn’t surprising that my method worked, but the scary thing was that it was my idea. I am not a mathematician, nor am I very good with things involving much physical labor, but I was able to figure it out because I used one of the most important yet seldom used attributes we all possess… common sense.

Earlier that morning, while driving to my sister’s house, my dad told how I would probably be able to come up with some great material from our little road trip and moving experience together. It turns out he was right. When I left later that evening, I had tons of ideas running through my head about what to write in today’s post. Well, it turns out I had way too much information for just one post, so instead I’ll attempt to write one every day this week; each with a related theme running among them. The theme actually came from my dad, when he mentioned how he enjoyed reading my posts, and how my writing reminded him of another author who writes in a “common sense” type of manner. (I’d tell you who this author is, but actually I forgot his name… sorry.) This week all of my posts will be related by the simple idea of “common sense”, and I plan to include unique quotes about common sense that relate to my subject matter. Everyone loves quotes.

By the way, my brother-in-law quipped how I’d never let anyone forget the time everyone doubted me when I came up with the idea that helped move that playground. Well, Thanksgiving is just around the corner… I think I’ll be reminding him of it then. The other funny thing I don’t think I’ll ever forget was my 2 year old nephew who came across his playground in pieces and said, “Oh nos, what happened to my toys!” :)

For those of you looking for more Morningside related material I promise to deliver it in the rest of my posts this week. I also changed the name of our twitter account from @msideadmissions to @MsideAdmGuy. I did this because, honestly, it was quite difficult to come up with tweets with the added pressure of representing our entire Admissions Team… I plan on posting more often now, and they should provide nice updates for you about what’s happening here between my blog posts.

Thanks for reading, have a great week, and stay tuned!

- Jim

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Senior Visit Days and… Check Out The “OTHER” Football at Morningside College This Weekend!

In my last few posts I mentioned our Senior Visit Days taking place this fall, but didn’t have much time to go into detail about them. In today’s post I’ll actually walk you through a typical Senior Visit Day via a Flickr Slideshow I put together from photos I took of our first event last Friday, and tell you WHY, if you’re a prospective student, you should attend one. I will also share recent news about our “other” football team here at Morningside I learned about from conversation I had today with one of our current student-athletes.

Senior Visit Days
Senior Visit Days are designed exclusively for 2010 high school graduates to get their first look at what Morningside College is all about.

WHY should a student visit during a Senior Visit Day?
If you’re a college bound senior, you must – yes you read that right – YOU MUST visit colleges in order to see if they would be a good fit for you. The information you receive in the mail, emails, and telephone calls from students and admissions counselors is not enough to make a decision about a college. In my opinion, take it for what it’s worth, you could attend almost any college out there and receive a good education, BUT there are some colleges that will best suit you; your personality, your character, your extra-curricular involvement, and most importantly, your academic interests and career goals. By attending our Senior Visit Day you’ll be able to see firsthand what Morningside has to offer you, and you’ll get to meet with our faculty, staff, current students, and other 2010 high school graduates who are going through the same thing you are! Ultimately this visit to campus will help you determine if Morningside is a school you should continue to pursue during your college search, or rule out entirely freeing up valuable time to look elsewhere.

Learn more about or register to attend our Senior Visit Days.

For a photo walk-through of our first Senior Visit Day which took place last Friday, October 30th, click the link below. I also described each photo in detail. And be sure to read the instructions on how to run the Flickr Slideshow before viewing it. It will help you better understand what’s happening in each photo. :)

View a photo slideshow of our first Senior Visit Day
INSTRUCTIONS: Make sure to click “Show info” in the top right hand corner of the slideshow to view information about the photos. You may also adjust the speed of the slideshow by selecting options, or manually control it by using the left and right arrow keys of your keyboard. Enjoy!

The “Other” Football Team on campus… SOCCER!
Early this afternoon I had a great “catching-up”conversation with a current sophomore student at Morningside who I hadn’t seen in awhile. Two years ago I had actually been his admissions counselor, and helped him with the admissions process. I asked him how things were going for him here, and he told me really well. In fact, he said, our soccer team is potentially one game away from nationals. I told him I was happy to hear his Morningside experience is going well and congratulated him on his team’s success. With a lot of attention focused on our undefeated football team this year, I also told him I was a little upset that I had almost let the news of one of our men’s soccer teams best years go unnoticed, but I was glad he brought it to my attention. For anyone who will be in the Siouxland area this weekend be sure to catch the game at Olsen Stadium at 3:00 pm as our Morningside Mustangs take on Midland-Lutheran in this critical semi-final match. Pack the field, cheer on our team, and release that inner soccer hooligan!

Below is a video in tribute of our Men’s Soccer team of arguably one of the world’s best soccer players, Cristiano Ronaldo. Even if you’re not a soccer fan this man is an all-around crazy good athlete, and it’s a pretty good pump up video to boot! Good luck this weekend guys, and leave everything you have on the field… or pitch? Whatever you call it! :)

- Jim

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Morningside College Celebrates Halloween

Today we held our first of four scheduled Senior Visit Days of the Fall, and from what I gathered from my conversations with the students and parents I must say our event went extremely well! While our staff, faculty, and student ambassadors were busy meeting, greeting, and escorting our guests around campus, I was tweeting the event for our followers on twitter, and taking photos throughout the day. Next week I’ll further explain our Senior Visit Days, and share some of the photos I took with you, but in today’s post I have plenty of other things to talk about, like Halloween! First, I’m going to share my “creepy” photo-journalism woes with you, then tell you about the Halloween activities at Morningside, and finally show you a couple movie trailers of what I think are two of the most frightening films to hit theaters in some time.

The "Creepy Camera Guy" from the movie "American Beauty".

A Photographer’s Worst Nightmare…
While I “stalked” our visitors from session to session taking pictures to document the event, I think a few of them may have thought of me as the stereotypical, “creepy camera guy”. That’s ok, but please allow me to explain something… Taking pictures during an event is much more difficult than it looks. It’s actually quite simple taking the pictures, but the biggest challenge is doing it without being labeled “the creepy camera guy”… So I may have failed at that this time, but hey, at least I have an excuse… If I’m going to be creepy for one day of the year it’s ok as long as it’s around Halloween, right? Well, either way, I’m just going to keep telling myself that… :)

I’m really glad I kept taking pictures, however, because I did get some really nice shots, and I also happened to come across one of our Morningside Professors who was in the Halloween Spirit. See the picture below of one of our current Biology students, Johan, posing with Biology Professor, Dr. Rachel Robson dressed as a “Zombie Cheerleader”!

Halloween Activities at Morningside College
Each year, at least since I’ve been here (2002), students on almost every floor in our residence halls and apartments take part in decorating their hallways for Halloween. While the students of some halls like to keep it simple, others put a lot of time and energy into making their hallways a Ghoulish Masterpiece. Each year the students of the hall that is judged to be the favorite wins a pizza party. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my eight years at Morningside (as a student and staff member) pizza is always a great motivational tool for students to get involved. :) While the students enjoy the decorating and the chance at winning free pizza, those who benefit most from our students’ efforts are actually the children of Morningside’s staff and faculty, as well as the young children of our local Siouxland residents who are invited each year to trick-or-treat through the halls. I heard from members of our Residence Life Staff that we had a great number of people who took part in our campus trick-or-treating this year, which took place Wednesday evening from 6:00-8:00. Residence halls can be difficult to navigate for those who don’t live in them, so each hall had escorts to help visitors during that time. I’d like to thank all those who took part in the trick-or-treating for visiting our campus, and of course all the students and residence life staff who made this event possible. Oh yeah, and congratulations to the winning hall in Roadman South whose Candy Land theme was deemed the winner this year… it didn’t hurt they got our mascot, “Monte the Mustang”, to help escort the trick-or-treaters. :)

A few other events that took place this week were a pumpkin carving contest, the Morningside Activities Council (MAC) gave away tickets to our students to attend the Haunted House on Historic 4th Street in downtown Sioux City, and I heard there was a special midnight showing of “Paranormal Activity” for our students at the Theater in the Southern Hills Mall.

Tonight is the most hyped event of every Halloween Week at Morningside as our students are having their annual Halloween Dance on campus. It’s always exciting to hear the students talk about what they’ll be going as, and each year it seems our students continue to get more and more creative with their costumes.

Movies guaranteed to freak me out…
As much as I WANT to see the movies below, there’s a good chance you won’t find me in the audience at either of them. I know they’re just movies, but there’s a big difference in these movies than other typical Halloween horror films…  In most horror movies the only time you’re actually scared is during the movie, and once you leave the theater, there’s nothing more to think about. The trailers of the movies below, however, deal with the “unexplained” and create that eerie sensation you may actually end up taking home with you…  These movies are definitely not good for a person that has an “overactive imagination” like me. :) If you go to them I really hope you enjoy them… but don’t be surprised when you start to notice all the little things that go “bump” in the night, and don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Thanks for reading, and, on behalf of everyone here at Morningside, have a happy and safe Halloween!

- Jim

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Morningside Senior Visit Days and… “Turnovers” Not Popular in Nebraska

The most hated food in Nebraska? You guessed it... The Cherry Turnover.

Today I will tell you a little about our upcoming Admissions Events, briefly re-visit the topic of my last blog post, and share the biggest news to come out of Nebraska since the 1970’s with you… including one of the most painful videos I’ve ever seen.

This Friday, our Admissions Office  will be hosting our first of four Senior Visit Days taking place this fall. We currently have over 50 seniors signed up to attend this Friday, with many more signed up to visit on the other Fridays in November. We really look forward to showing these 2010 High School Graduates what Morningside has to offer them. If you’re a high school senior and interested in learning more about our Senior Visit Days please click the link below which will re-direct you to our Admissions website.

On Monday I placed Emily’s collection jar to help save pennies to buy “ice for the polar bears and penguins” out at the front desk of Lewis Hall. Emily, the 6-year old daughter of one of our alumni, Erin (King) Koesters,  is battling cancer and has a rare genetic disease. Despite her struggles Emily continues to help others and raise money and awareness to help endangered animals. Read my last post for more information about Emily. If you’re on facebook I ask that you please join Emily’s group called “Team Emily” to show your support for Emily and her family.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL HUSKER FANS: Quit reading this post now. I’ll be back with another post later this week about Halloween so be sure to check back…  For everyone else, please read on and enjoy!

While I have not chosen a college football team to follow, I must say I’m glad I didn’t end up a Husker fan or I may be battling a severe case of depression right now… In case you missed it, though I doubt it, on Saturday Nebraska suffered their first loss at home to Iowa State since 1977.

I didn’t watch the game, but when I heard the news I immediately called my co-worker Jeremy, who is the biggest Husker fan I know, to make sure he was all right. I was considering putting him on suicide watch, but he made it through the weekend unscathed. On Monday just to be sure he had fully recovered from his ordeal, I asked a licensed professional, our Personal Counselor at Morningside, Brenda Crawford, to go see Jeremy and “talk things out” with him… knowing full well, however, that Brenda just so happens to be a proud ISU Alum. Needless to say, their little talk didn’t go over so well! :)

WARNING: The following video may  cause recurring nightmares for HUSKER FANS…

In case you’re a Husker fan who DID NOT adhere to the notice I mentioned earlier… I apologize if this post offended you and the rest of Husker Nation. I do not speak on behalf of everyone here at Morningside through this blog, just myself, and in case you’re a prospective student I want you to know we welcome you here with open arms… BUT, you’ll have to get used to cheering for a good football team, THE MORNINGSIDE MUSTANGS,  if you choose to come here! :) ZING!

Have a great week.

- Jim

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A Penny for Your Prayers, a Nickel for your Thoughts… Please save both for Emily.

As I sat comfortably in my home last Sunday night watching “Desperate Housewives”, yes, Desperate Housewives, with my wife, surfing the internet, and pondering what I would write for my blog this week, I decided to check my email and discovered the following message waiting for me in my inbox: I was later granted permission to include the message in its entirety.

Jim,

I am an alum of Morningside and enjoy reading your blog, The M’side
Admissions Guy. I am writing because you recently said you would be writing
about what makes Morningside a special place and I have an alumni story for
you to consider. Erin (King) Koesters graduated from Morningside in 1992.
She is the mother of a 6 year old girl, Emily, who has cancer and a rare
genetic disorder. She has been an inspiration to me because despite her
serious medical conditions, she has raised over $1000 to help animals who
are endangered; she first raised close to $300 for cheetahs by selling
ceramics she made in the hospital and more recently she raised over $700 by
asking friends and family to save pennies to buy ice for penguins and polar
bears. I have started a facebook group to help coordinate efforts of
Morningside alumni to help Erin & her family. Currently, I am asking people
to save their pennies for Emily.

I am including several links including Erin’s journal about Emily’s medical
condition and stories that have been written about Emily.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/emilykoesters

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/17341764.html

http://closetomyheartphoto.blogspot.com/2008/05/emily-koesters.html

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090811/NEWS02/708119823

http://news.curves.com/press+releases/balloon+ride+for+little+girl+with+cancer.htm

http://www.littlegiantsfoundation.org/

Thank you for your consideration,

Amy

After reading this, I knew immediately what one of my posts for this week MUST be about, and I shot back a quick message to thank Amy for bringing this to my attention.

Giving Back
To be honest, I’ve never been the most charitable person in the world… I can’t count how many times I’ve walked by and not given anything to the Salvation Army volunteer standing outside the local Wal-Mart during the Christmas season. But after reading that email, I thought a lot more about the reasons why I never did, and how I’m going to change that when Christmas comes around this year. Below is an example of a “road block” I’ve had in the past when it came to giving…

Sometimes I don’t have any money actually on me to give because it’s in another form – credit/debit card. Here’s how I rationalize the situation… “Shoot, can’t help out because they don’t accept credit, and that change in my car… well, I COULD go back to get it, BUT that’s a whole twenty feet away and it’s cold out so I’d better just get inside.” Looking back now, that person trying to raise money had been standing outside for hours! Thanks to the email I received from Amy about Emily, I’m going to think twice about this the coming Christmas season.

We all have our reasons why we pass on opportunities to help others. Sometimes we think if we help “this” charity, then we’ll have to help “that” charity, and eventually we’ll be nickel and dimed to death. Others may want to see the “actual” results that come from our donations or volunteer efforts. More often than not, though, I think most of us see volounteering and donating to be a hassle.

The point to my story is that we all need to take a step back from our daily lives, give back to others who are less fortunate or struggling, and recognize those who are actually doing things that make the world a better place: Emily Koesters and her family are a few of those people. While Emily is faced with challenges in her own life, she is also taking the time to help others, and I think we can all learn something from her. I know I have.

How can you help?
There are a number of different ways you can help, and I would advise you to look at all the links (above) Amy provided in her email to me to learn more about Emily and her fund-raising efforts. Below are a couple simple suggestions I have for you as well.

1. Pass it along
I’ve never been a fan of chain letters or chain emails, especially the ones that promise you things if you pass them along, such as great wealth if you send it to 15 or more friends, and curse you with a terrible love life if you don’t. But I do encourage you to share this post about Emily and her fund-raising efforts with others. An easy way is to just copy and paste the URL into an email and forward it to your friends.

2. Join the group and post a message
An easy way you can help is by joining the Facebook group Amy Poland created. If you’d like, you may also write Emily and her family an encouraging message on the wall. By joining the group you’re not only showing your support, but you’re also “virally” spreading the message to your fellow Facebook friends and raising awareness for Emily’s cause.
Join Emily’s Facebook Group.

3. Donate
If you’re a student, faculty, or staff member at Morningside, I will be placing a collection jar for Emily at the front desk of Lewis Hall. We would gladly accept any spare pennies “to help pay for ice for the penguins and polar bears.” :)

Finally, I’d like to end today’s post with a thought on Morningside College’s Mission statement which reads…
“The Morningside College experience cultivates a passion for life-long learning, and a dedication to ethical leadership and civic responsibility.”

Emily, Erin, and her family are great examples of what our mission statement stands for, and I’d again like to thank Amy Poland for bringing Emily’s story to my attention. On behalf of everyone here at Morningside, we wish Emily and her family the best, and please know you’re in our thoughts and prayers.

By the way, I had our campus pastor, Kathy Martin, read this before I posted it, and her response was “why wait until Christmas to help someone who needs it? The “love your neighbor” thing is a year round opportunity.” In the future I plan to sit down with Kathy and learn more about other ways our campus community embraces our Mission Statement by living out service. Have a great weekend.

- Jim

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