Meet Jim

My wife and I outside the Omaha Zoo.

On Monday I went to the Omaha Zoo with my wife, my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and my little niece and nephew. I was excited for the trip because I don’t get to see my niece and nephew as much as I would like, and I was also really looking forward to seeing the new animals and attractions the Zoo had added over the years.

When I was I younger I remember looking at the animals with so much excitement like my niece and nephew did, but with the exception of the penguins, my favorite animals at the zoo, I actually found it kind of boring. The animals didn’t do anything! In fact, if I had a tail we could have just stayed home and had the same experience watching me lay on the couch because I do the same thing the animals were doing all day; sleeping and scratching themselves.

Most of the animals just stared back at you from across their cage or slept half hidden behind the giant rock or tree in their enclosure; many times we were only able to see a paw or tail. By the time I reached the Cat Complex I was hoping they would raise a defenseless little goat out of the ground like they did in Jurassic Park for the T-Rex… but of course this didn’t happen, and instead we just watched the big cats lick themselves, purr, and sleep the afternoon away. All things considered It was still a lot of fun, and it was great spending time with my family. I would definitely do it again sometime.

Below are a few photos of my family from the trip, and following the pictures you can learn more about me and what I do at Morningside College.

My parents and my niece and nephew... sacked out in the stroller!

My sister and brother-in-law and their kids.

Tried on my nephew's child "leash"... bad idea once the wife got a hold of it!

Meet Jim Braunschweig
Sophomore/Junior Admissions Counselor and Electronic Communications Manager

I grew up in Alta, Iowa, a small town about an hour from Sioux City, and came to Morningside as a student in 2002. I played 4 years of baseball for the Mustangs and graduated in 2006 with a major in graphic design and a minor in mass communications. I married my high school sweet heart, who is and will remain forever my best friend. (I’ll go ahead and say what you’re thinking… aww, and yes, I’m always looking for new ways to score brownie points.) My wife also graduated from Morningside and now works as a nurse at Mercy Hospital. We currently reside in the Morningside area of Sioux City with our dog, Teddy.

I’d also like to take a moment and tell you about the people that helped me become the person I am today, my parents and my sister.

My parents are my biggest inspiration and are responsible for my major interests of baseball and art.
Baseball – My dad coached me off and on throughout little league and high school. My favorite player is Ken Griffey Jr. and my favorite team is none other than the Seattle Mariners.
Art – My parents started an art business together over 30 years ago that my mom continues to work at full-time, while my dad is now a high school art teacher. Check out my mom’s website, she does some amazing stuff! www.braunschweigpottery.com

My sister is the brains of our family, and even though we don’t agree on everything (she’s usually right, and I really don’t like admitting I’m wrong) it’s good to know she’ll always have my back, literally… she’s a lawyer! :)

Finally, you may be wondering what I actually do at Morningside. As the Sophomore/Junior Admissions Counselor and Electronic Communications Manager my job is to assist Sophomore and Junior High School students begin their college search, as well as assist our Admissions Office with all means of electronic communications. I update and manage the admissions pages on our website, and also research and implement new ways of communicating with our prospective students and their families. This blog is a great example of a new method I’m trying out, and I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. :) We are also actively using facebook and twitter in our Admissions Office, and we continue to experiment with other social networking sites and internet programs as they become available. Our overall goal is to make communicating electronically with our prospective students and their families as simple and convenient as possible.

If you ever have any questions for me, or some suggestions or comments about The Mside Admissions Guy blog please email me at braunschweig@morningside.edu, or click here for my other contact information.

I’ll be back with a few more posts next week. As of right now I honestly have no idea what they’ll be about, but there’s always something happening here so I shouldn’t have any trouble finding a topic. Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading!

- Jim

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Filed under: Office of Admissions

Meet Steph

Every campus has its share of buildings named after famous alumni or people that played important roles in the history of the college. Morningside has Dimmitt Hall, Lewis Hall, and Roadman Hall just to name a few. The person I will introduce you to today may not have a building on our campus named after her (yet), but she does have something that bears her name…

While Morningside’s official address is 1501 Morningside Ave, there’s a particular street you have to turn on if you want to reach the heart of campus. The street is not “actually” named after her, but sometimes I think it should be…

Meet Steph Peters
Co-Director of Admissions / Admissions Counselor

Steph has been working at Morningside for 9 years now in the Admissions Office and has established herself as one of our best Admissions Counselors along with Amy Williams, our other Co-Director. Steph is a ’99 graduate of Morningside and as a student Steph studied business and economics (by the way, business is one of our top majors here, along with education and nursing). She was also a member of our softball team.

Steph has been an Admissions Counselor since she’s been here, and the way she works with her students and their families is a great example for everyone in office. Steph doesn’t just tell her students about Morningside, she really takes the time to get to know them more personally. In fact, I was up in Steph’s office last week, and the mother of one our incoming freshmen called. I decided to sit down and wait until the conversation was over… 25 minutes, and half a bag of chips later (… Steph always has snacks around), the conversation finally ended. As Steph hung up the phone she told me that was ____’s mom… “she had some questions about ____’s roommate, and then we just started talking about ____’s upcoming softball game.” Steph paused, gave a big smile, “I love them.”

As an admissions counselor It really makes us feel good when we know we helped bring a student to Morningside that is going to absolutely love it here – the phone call I mentioned above was with the mother of one these students.

Steph has a typical office… a desk full of papers and to-do lists as well as numerous pictures of her family and friends… but there are two things that really stand out about it… For starters, she has a maroon couch (which is really comfortable I might add). She also has a few display boards FILLED with senior pictures of the students she’s working with and thank you cards she’s received from them. These things are great evidence of the kind of relationships Steph has with her students, as well as the level of customer service she provides them.

A few other things about Steph…
She’s addicted to working out over the noon hours, loves listening to a variety of different music, and aside from being an amazing Admissions Counselor and Co-Director, she’s a great friend, AND a NEW mom!
Steph has been known in the office as “Ma” for quite some time (It’s kind of an inside joke), but as of a three months ago she’s now the real deal to her baby boy, Koen.

Koen Michael Peters

If you want to see more pics of Koen just become friends of Steph on facebook… she’s been pretty busy putting up lots of photos of the little guy. (In fact she got a new camera for it!)
Steph’s Facebook Profile: http://facebook.com/msidesteph

Finally, I’d like to dedicate the videos below to “Ma” and Koen.
If Koen’s anything like his mother… look out world! :)

Want to know even MORE about Steph?
Click here for Steph’s contact information and view her counselor profile on the Morningside College Website.

Thanks for reading!

“Ma”

“Koen”

Filed under: Office of Admissions

Meet Char

While I was watching The Simpsons last week I heard a phrase that reminded me of someone in our admissions office. In the episode (“Midnight Towboy”) Marge hires a counselor to help her with Maggie who has become a bit too clingy. When the counselor talks to Marge she tells her “hugs are drugs and Maggie’s addicted!” I thought this was pretty hilarious and it made me think if hugs really are drugs I know a person at work who isn’t only a “hug addict” but also a “hug dealer”…

Meet Char Jorgensen
M.I.S. Manager (Management Information Systems)

Char has been working at Morningside for over 20 years. She does many different things for our office, but her main responsibilities are processing student applications, entering important information like students’ ACT scores and transcripts into our data management system, and with Colleen’s help, she manages various projects for our student ambassadors.

While Char’s role in our office doesn’t grant her the opportunity to meet many NEW incoming students like our admissions counselors who work with them year round, she is able to develop extremely close relationships with current Morningside students who become student ambassadors. (Student ambassadors are current students who work for our Admissions Office during the school year. Their main role is giving tours to our visitors, but they also perform other tasks around the office.) Many of these students tend to think of her as their second mother, and often go to her for advice on just about anything ranging from homework to relationships. Char may not be our school counselor, but she is a very close friend to them, and a lot of times that’s all they really need. I’ve personally witnessed a few of her talks with these students, and I’ve had my own share of talks with her. Most chats with Char begin and end with a big hug which helps brighten your day.

Char is one of the kindest people I have ever known, and she also happens to be one of the most selfless. She truly enjoys giving back to her family and friends, her church, and her community at any time, and in any way she can.

I need your help…
In honor of Char and her charitable deeds I have put a SocialVibe widget on my blog which you can find on the far right side; it’s in bright orange, you can’t miss it. I don’t completely understand how SocialVibe works, but apparently the organization you choose to sponsor (in this case I chose Upper Deck) will donate money for your cause based on how long it is displayed on your blog and how many people click to help your cause. I chose to support the fight against Cancer. Please take a moment to click the “Help Now” button and help in the fight against cancer. (It’s Free!) Thanks so much for doing this!

AWKWARD man to man hug.

Finally, with all the talk of hugs in my post today, I’d like to end this post with an educational video lesson on something that in theory should be easy to do, but in reality is one of the most difficult and awkward things a man may ever perform… The man-to-man hug. While I have had my share of “awkward” man-to-man hugs in my life, I’m proud to say I’ve never given a “floppy half hearted attempt.” Don’t ask… just watch the video below to see what I’m talking about. :)

YOUTUBE VIDEO: How to give the perfect man-to-man hug.

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Filed under: Office of Admissions

Meet Mary and Terri

Have you ever seen the movie “What Women Want“?

I was never electrocuted and granted the ability to read women’s minds like Mel Gibson in the movie, but when you’re surrounded by women all day long like Jeremy, Mack, and I in the Office of Admissions, you tend to know what they’re thinking from time to time. (I’m not just talking about knowing you’re in trouble when they give you “the look” either… that one’s a gimme.) Today I’m going to prove my mind reading abilities to you while I introduce you to two very important ladies in our office, Terri Curry and Mary Krejci.

Meet Terri Curry
Vice President of Student Life and Enrollment

Terri has been working at Morningside for over 20 years now. She actually began her career here working in Residence Life, and I believe worked in a few other departments before becoming a Vice President about 10 years ago. Terri is not only in charge of the Admissions Office, but many other departments also report directly to her; Financial Planning, Residence Life, Student Services, Student Health, and Athletics.

I really enjoy visiting with Terri and learning all I can about Admissions and Higher Education, but due to her busy schedule it can be very difficult finding the time to meet with her. When we do get a chance to talk I always feel a little guilty for taking up her valuable time, but I think deep down she enjoys our conversations just as much as I do.

WATCH THE VIDEO: What Terri really thinks when I leave her office.

Meet Mary Krejci
Administrative Assistant for the Vice President of Student Life and Enrollment (Terri Curry)

Mary is Terri’s go to gal. Mary has been working at Morningside for 15 years, the last 8 as Terri’s Administrative Assistant, and she performs many different tasks and duties in her role. Aside from scheduling meetings, data collection and data entry, I’ve recently created a brand new role for Mary; the editor and chief of this blog. :)
I try hard to get every post edited by Mary before I publish them, but if you’ve ever come across one that looks as if it were written by a 5th grader… there’s probably a pretty good chance Mary wasn’t at work that day.

Mary has been one of my best buds in the office since I started here 3 years ago. We enjoy having regular conversations on just about any topic, and we can always count on one another for a good laugh. While we’re almost completely opposite in lifestyle, we get along pretty well; she’s extremely healthy, eating right and exercising daily, while i just… exist.

Every time I finish writing a post for this blog I go hunting for Mary to edit it. When I find her I’m always greeted with a smile, and she usually tells me, “oh Jim, I’d love to!” To bad I can read her mind though… I know what she’s really thinking.

WATCH THE VIDEO: What Mary’s really thinking when I approach her with a new blog post to edit.

These poor women put up with a lot from me each and every day. Both of them are very important to this institution, in assisting me with writing this blog… and in Terri’s case, allowing me to publish it. :)

Thanks for reading.

Filed under: Office of Admissions

Meet Sue

Saturday in the Park... a tamer version of Woodstock

On my way to work this morning I happened to pass an older couple out for a walk. They caught my attention because the old man was wearing what appeared to be a t-shirt with the letters T.G.I.F. on the front. It made me smile, and also wonder… if you have a shirt that says T.G.I.F. can you wear it on a Thursday? I’m going to assume he is retired, and in that case everyday’s a Friday for him. I also got to thinking he must have a loving wife, willing to be seen with him wearing that shirt in public. (Let’s just say he’s lucky the fashion police weren’t around this morning.)

Anyway, I’m really glad I saw his shirt this morning because it reminded me that the college is closed tomorrow because of the 4th of July weekend… so technically it’s Friday here also!

On Saturday we have a popular event in Sioux City called Saturday in the Park. It’s an all day event with live music that usually draws a crowd of roughly 30,000 people each year. This year’s headline band is the Counting Crows, and it takes place at Grandview Park. If you’re interested you can learn more about Saturday in the Park by visiting this website - http://www.saturdayinthepark.com. It’s a lot of fun and I hope you can make it if you’re from around the area!

Today I’d like to introduce you to a good friend of mine who actually lives less than a block from where Saturday in the Park will take place, and whose house I will no doubt be parking at to attend the event this weekend… :)

Meet Sue Pyburn
Associate Director of Admissions

Sue has been working in the Admissions Office at Morningside for 10 years now. She is an excellent critical thinker, and also one of the most organized people I know. Sue is our event coordinator; she schedules and plans our various group visit days throughout the year, as well as our scholarship weekends which take place each spring, and she also does a lot with marketing and advertising, working closely with our public relations office at the college.

3 years ago I was lucky enough to take a trip with Sue to discuss the importance of electronic communications at another college. Not only did the trip help me professionally, by opening my eyes to what my future role at Morningside might be (which it is today as our electronic communications manager), but it also marked the start of my friendship with Sue.

I have many, many great stories I could share with you about her, but she’s become one of my closest friends so I’m not going to share any of them with you… but I can be bought.

Today, I consider Sue one of my closest friends… tomorrow, who knows what I’ll think of her. :) Just kidding, but seriously we’re always getting after each other about something almost everyday, but it’s always in good fun.

Speaking of good fun…
Yesterday I told you a little about Sioux City. Sue has been living in Sioux City for many years now, and if you’re ever on campus for a visit and want to know more about Sioux City, such as the local restaurants, or the most recent news, just ask her. That’s why I sometimes call her “Sioux City Sue”, and here’s a little song I found just for her… (Sue’s actually dancing in the video!)

Thanks for reading, and on behalf of everyone here at Morningside College we wish you a happy and safe 4th of July weekend. Take care!

Filed under: Events, Office of Admissions