Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Something witty and relevant

Days left in office: 2
Days until Pittsburgh: 4
Applications sent out today: 1

Okay, so that's not a terribly impressive number of applications... if only I had posted yesterday, when I sent out four! But I did get a call about an interview for a random retail job. At this point anything getting me closer to being able to pay rent is noteworthy.

As I mentioned on Monday, I've started bringing my laptop into the office so I can pretend to do important things when there's nothing for me to do. Yesterday it was a godsend. Along with applying for every remaining job in Pittsburgh, I also finished most of my Christmas shopping and facebook stalked half of my friend list. Eight hours well spent. Today I didn't use my laptop as much.

This morning I interviewed a walk in; he was my first truly strange interview. This family drove down from NY last night and stayed in town, but they never bothered to let us know they were coming. The dad was a musician, the mom was a graphic designer, and the kid was interested in creative writing. That stereotype you're envisioning right now? The one you're maybe feeling guilty for picturing? Yes, that is them. The kid was clearly ADHD. Like whoa. He fidgeted the entire time, his eyes darting around whenever he tried to talk. And, to make it even better, he had no questions. Nothing to say. He hasn't really thought about college that much. It's mid December, and he hasn't even applied anywhere. His mom is planning to bribe him with cookies to work on his college essay. No joke. On second thought, it's either ADHD or drugs. But he goes to a school that helps "young men who, for whatever reason, are not meeting their full potential." That usually has LD written all over it.

Second interview was way better... this girl was perfect for our school, and she seemed to like us. She goes to a tiny high school, and her philosophy is if you're going to a small school, you'd better stand out. So she's in basically every club ever and still has solid grades and great SAT scores. It's difficult interviewing kids like that and not being able to say, "Don't worry, you're a lock."

And of course during the ten minutes I covered reception, this douchey kid came in. He was scheduled for a tour only, but we didn't know that much about him. His tour guide was this insanely nice guy who everyone loves. The tour guide was sitting for ten minutes waiting for the kid to show up. When he finally did, it was with two current students who I had never seen before.

Girl #1: Are there tours today?
Me: Yes, we schedule them every day during the week.
Prospective Student: Can I have one?
Me: Sure. Did you have an appointment?
PS: Yeah.
Me: Okay, if you could just fill out this sheet for me. There's also a page for you to check off the things you want your tour guide to show you, and a packet of information for you to look over.
PS: Okay.
(He and one of the girls sit on a couch. They're whispering and giggling, but I can't tell what they're saying. Five minutes go by. The tour guide is still sitting, waiting for this kid to be ready.)
PS: Here you go. I don't need a guide, I'm just going to walk around with them.

He left the sheet blank except for the field that asks who's accompanying the student. (Basically, did you bring your parents with you?) He wrote one of the girls' names and under relationship wrote "Wife." I'm sure we'd be lucky to have him.

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