I didn't know it was Administrative Assistants Day last week until I walked into our daily morning meeting at work and was presented with flowers, candy, and a card on which every single one of the faculty had written a note of appreciation ("You complete us," wrote Tanner, who has an understated and dry sense of humor that makes me belly-laugh). What floored me was that it wasn't an afterthought, and the fact that they planned ahead and coordinated this little presentation was what made me very nearly tear up right in front of them--I didn't cry or anything, but I think they could tell I was truly touched.
Speaking of work, I normally feel like a fish who is trying to climb a tree--in other words, stupid and ignorant--when it comes to having conversations with the faculty about pedagogy or deep gospel topics. These guys are whip smart and highly educated in their field, and I cannot add anything new or very insightful to their discussions. I mostly just listen. They are also the cream of the crop of gospel teachers, as they have to beat out some intense competition in order to become seminary teachers; you'd be surprised how many wanna-be seminary teachers there are compared to how few actually make it through the program and get hired. While I love the guys on the faculty like brothers, I usually feel pretty ignorant around them--not that they ever treat me with anything less than respect and true camaraderie.
Recently, however, I finally got to speak to a subject about which I actually know something.
One of the teachers, Neil, is moving to the East Coast after this school year is over to teach Institute (religion classes for young adults, ages 18-30) at a university, and he and his wife recently visited their new city and bought a 1960s mid-century modern home with a very large yard. They're having it remodeled (it needed some repair and updating) and putting an addition onto the back.
I immediately expressed interest in his new house, so Neil happily showed me pictures. He said he and his wife want to go quite modern in their decor, so I brought in a stack of my more current Architectural Digest and Better Homes & Gardens magazines so Neil and his wife could get some inspiration for their house and their massive yard, for which he was very grateful. What surprised me, however, is that, instead of just taking the magazines home for his wife to look at, he sat down during some of his free moments and went through the magazines very thoroughly and then sought me out to discuss his ideas about decor using images from the magazines as inspiration. I am not an interior designer or decorator except in the most amateur of senses, but I have done a lot of study on the subject and some experimentation in my own house. I was able to give him a little lesson on the goals of mid-century modern design; what parts of his new home he should leave alone and where he might want to make changes; and some ideas about the best types of materials he could use for his various projects. He is also excited about color and has even come up with a color palette he likes, so we've talked about how to bring those colors into his house. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed these conversations--not because I get to school him a little (or, rather, not only because of that) but because I love watching Neil's superbly analytical mind take on such a different type of project. I love having this connection with him. He's like an onion: for every layer you peel away, there are a dozen more underneath.
Today, during one of our in-depth dives into color, I mentioned a very basic truism about decor: go neutral with your expensive purchases, like couches and other big furniture, and pull color in through paint, throw pillows, draperies, and rugs--items that are far cheaper to buy and which can be easily switched out as your color tastes change. It was a true revelation to him, and he gushed for a full minute about how brilliant that idea is. It was nice to be in the position of blowing his mind for once. We also hashed out color options for the exterior of the house and how to have exterior colors speak to interior colors. I helped him think outside the Utahn houses-painted-mushroom-colors-of-brown box, and I saw his eyes start to sparkle with new ideas.
Most satisfying.
My other win today was that I learned how to create a flyer in Word and then came up with a flyer design for graduation ceremonies that even Husband complimented (Husband's bachelors degree was in Film Studies and Graphic Arts, which included a lot of graphic design). Thanks, YouTube teachers who are willing to share their knowledge for free! From YouTube channels, I have also learned all about creating informative Excel spreadsheets, which I had absolutely no idea how to do when I first started this job. Now I'm doing formulas and graphs and everything!
If it sounds like I'm bragging, I am a little, but not because I'm thinking I'm all that. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not the world's biggest loser. It was a rough week last week, emotionally speaking. 'Nuff said.
No comments:
Post a Comment