Okay, followers, this post here is a biggie.

Recently in convocation, we had a presenter come speak to us about ways to excel in interviews. It helped. Kind of. Most of the things he mentioned a lot of us knew already and it didn’t quite “fit our fancy” on what we thought we would like to hear about. So with my marvelous interview experience (an experience of less than 10 interviews), here are my 10 tips for you.

1. Make sure you pee beforehand! This is clearly number one, because you do not want to go through your entire interview needing to take a whizz and not being able to concentrate on the task at hand. (If you do need to pee, don’t be embarrassed, just use the bathroom so there are no accidents.)

2. Brush your teeth REALLY well. No one likes stinky breath.

3. LAYER on the deodorant. You will be sweating like a pig.

4. Wear comfortable shoes. Nothing is worse than aching feet all day (but of course make them comfortable “professional” shoes).

5. Brag about yourself. What you are there for is for them to better understand who you are and how successful you are. This is not a time to be modest.

6. Lunch time: Eat everything on your plate. You did not pay for it, so why not? (Also, it shows the money spent on you was well worth it.) Note: Do not eat so much you need to puke.

7. Tell jokes. Be humorous. No one likes a Debbie Downer. Showing you have a personality is key.

8. Be personable. Tell them interesting things about your life that show you HAVE a life outside of the workplace. Allow them to see the real you (as long as the real you isn’t awful).

9. Do not only ask questions about the company. Ask questions about them, too. Where they are from, how many kids do they have, etc. This shows you’re interested in them as a person, not just an interviewer.

10. Send a thank-you note in the mail. This shows that you actually care. An e-mail is impersonal, and shows zero effort.

I hope this helped. Good luck to all of you seniors (and others) trying to make it in the real world.

Brooke

Seminar. A seven-letter word that brings desperation and dismay to seniors’ lives. Here are some things not to ask these struggling souls:

• “Are you done with your seminar?”
• “Have you finished your paper?”
• “Have you set a date to present?”
• “You do know that URICA is in two weeks, right?”
• “Why didn’t you do this in the fall?”
• “Well, why aren’t you working on it now?”

If you do ask these questions be sure to brace yourself for ugly, rude, smart-aleck comments to be shot back such as:

• “Are you done talking?”
• “Of course I am! That’s why I’m slamming my head into this desk — for nothing.”
• “Set a date? Ha!”
• “Yes, I do know, but did you know that you’re annoying?”
• “I clearly had more important things to do like eating and sleeping.”
• “Obviously I like to induce stress upon myself and live a miserable life.”

For all of you who now know not to pester these dangerous creatures, do not take it personally. We do not mean to be rude. We just have too much stress for us to handle. (Which is why we clearly should have listened to the seniors before us when they told us to finish it in the fall.)

For all you underclassmen — get prepared and GET YOUR SEMINAR DONE IN THE FALL.

For all you seniors out there stress eating, having random mental breakdowns and of course binge watching Netflix, I understand the pain. However, we can power through. One word will help — GRADUATION.

– A Senior Who Wishes She Got Her Seminar Done a Long Time Ago

As I said before, I took Social Development and Social Justice this Interterm. This class involved many interesting field trips. In Wichita we visited this awesome place called “Dress For Success.” It was by far my favorite place.  I thought it was almost perfect!  I have to admit, before I walked in, I thought it was going to be a shabby little place with a lot of old, sub-par clothing piled up for people to take.  Instead it was super organized and clean, full of beautiful dress clothes, and made to feel like a classy boutique.  There were dress suits, dress skirts, purses, shoes, earrings, scarves, necklaces, and probably much more.  This place does not just give women some clothes to interview in; it gives women a whole outfit and hopefully a huge boost in self confidence.  Not that clothes should define you, but I imagine for many women it is hard not being able to look their best and it is easy to feel not good enough because of the clothing worn.

The women first get one outfit if they have a job interview, and then there are many more opportunities to get another set.  It is not just a one and done kind of deal.  These women are welcomed back to many meetings and events, and most of them include more outfits.  All in all I was very impressed with this social service.  Hopefully there is somewhere equally nice for men to go and get some clothing and hope.

Another place we went to was the “Breakthrough Club.” This is a non profit social and vocational program for people with severe mental illness. They focus on wellness and abilities rather than illness and disabilities. This place was really cool; they try very hard to make every one feel they are on the same level. They do not differentiate between “professionals” and “patients.” This program encompasses many areas for empowerment. They have work out equipment in the building, because they want to focus on the well being of the whole person, not just their mental health.

One other really cool place we went was a market-mall type thing. It was very easy to see the Mexican influences in this store. They had a lot of stores that were catered toward the Mexican culture. In one store they had an adorable little bunny! It was the highlight of my trip!

I got to hold him!

This interterm I took a social work class called “Social Development and Social Justice.” We had a great time in class and out of class; for out of class we took five field trips to Wichita. Throughout this class we were challenged to go and experience something that we were not familiar with. A small group of us decided to go to The Muslim Community Center and Masjid (mosque). I am a Mennonite and this was a very different and enlightening trip for me. Here is an except from the journal I wrote for class:

“We did not go in the right door of the mosque, but luckily there was a nice man who showed us to the main office.  We were then picked up there by a different man.  He was extremely warm and welcoming.  He sent the guys over to their part and then took us girls to a stairway.  It was kind of confusing, because he could not actually take us up to the women’s area of worship.  He found a female student to take us up.  We all took off our shoes and then walked up stairs.  We did not really know where to go then, so we sat in some chairs on the side of the room.  I was surprised by how much I liked the space.  I thought I would dislike being away from the main worship area.  But, this room was very peaceful to me.  The openness of it and all of the space were oddly comforting.  The sunlight was shining through the windows and it made me feel very relaxed.  A few young girls came over and asked us if we had any questions they could answer.  They were very sweet.  I asked them the best way to tie our scarves, but they said theirs had two different parts, unlike our scarves.

It was very different to just hear the speaker and see him through a TV screen.  They even had sheets over the railing so the women could not see the men at all and vice versa.  The atmosphere on our upper level was very interesting.  It was very casual; people came in and left whenever they wanted to.  Many of the women checked their cell phones, and some texted.  A young boy was running around the whole service.  I think it is harder for the women to get into the service because they are more physically removed from it.

Their prayers were very interesting.  I liked how they were all together, like they were praying as one.  Later they told us that they don’t like any space to get in between them and they are very physically close during this time”

This past weekend was graduation/commencement! Boy, it flew by so quickly. Here’s a recap of the weekend’s events:

Friday- All freshmen, sophomores, and juniors had to be out of the dorms by 6 PM, unless they were in concert choir or helping at commencement. Once they left, campus felt much quieter and empty, as 2/3 of the student body had left.

Saturday- Throughout the day, many class reunions took place at the Goerz House, which is where Bethel’s president, Dr. Perry White and his wife, Dalene live. In the evening was the annaul Alumni Banquet, held in Memorial Hall. The banquet is a formal event where alumni who are passionate about Bethel College come to reminise about the past year and recognize those who have won awards. All graduating seniors were invited to attend. There was a fancy dinner, award ceremony where they recognized Outstanding Alumni of the college, and then a short business meeting. The female a capella group, Woven, sang as well.

Sunday- A Baccalaureate service was held at Bethel College Mennonite Church. It was absolutely packed full of people. Musical seniors shared their gifts and verses were read in 5 different languages. Hymns were sang triumphly. Reflections were shared by seniors and candles were lit, with prayers and hopes being said. The concert choir sang my three favorite pieces from this year, “O Nata Lux,” “Filled With His Voice” (a song that we commissioned a songwriter to write in honor of Bethel’s 125th year), and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” Although I didn’t sing in Concert Choir this semester because of student teaching, I was allowed to rejoin them for these three songs and that was extremely special for me. I heard from numerous people that the Baccalaureate service was a very powerful, meaningful service for them.

Commencement was supposed to be held at 4 PM in Thresher Stadium. However, due to the high possibility of severe weather, it was announced that it would be held in Memorial Hall, just like it used to be. The graduates gathered in the Fine Arts Center, like the original plan stated. However, we were quickly moved to the basement of Memorial, due to the fact that we were in a tornado warning. We did not get to process around the green as tradition states. They did move the threshing stone up the steps, so that we could still touch it on our way into the ceremony. Douglas Penner, former professor and president of Bethel College, was the speaker. Even though commencement didn’t go exactly as planned, we still had an incredible day and still recieved our diplomas.

After that, came the parties. I had a party with the 6 other girls from my mod who were graduating in the basement of Bethel College Mennonite Church. We worked together to get food and we ended up having a little over 250 people in attendance. There were many parties happening, both on and off campus.

Monday- We had to be moved out of the dorms by noon. The morning went quickly, full of taking countless loads of belongings to the car, cramming everything in and hoping you’ll have enough room, saying goodbyes to all the friends that you made along the way- some that you will see again and some that you will not, turning in your keys, and leaving the place that you’ve called home for the past 4 years.

It was a very bittersweet weekend, full of much excitement and some sadness too. The weekend is over now though, and I can offically say that I am an alumnus of Bethel College and that I have my Bachelor of Arts degree and diploma! Woohoo! 🙂