The first Saturday in March has, for several years now, been the university’s open house event (now called “Explore UT” — this is the third moniker they’ve used in my time here). I’ve grown over many years to loathe this event with a hatred that is normally reserved for people who can’t use apostrophes correctly, Céline Dion, and neo-conservatives who can’t seem to remember that Israel is a foreign country, regardless of how friendly we are with them.
I loathe this event on many levels.
First, I loathe this event because of the ridiculous amount of stress that goes into it. We started cutting out little foam shapes for the craft activity on Monday and I still spent a few nights this week in front of the TV, cutting away. By Friday, my arm ached at a level I hadn’t experienced since I was twelve and first figured out … well, you know.
Second, I loathe it because despite the fact that people who work the event are called “Volunteers,” my participation isn’t actually voluntary. It hasn’t been for the past several years.
Third, I loathe it because, despite the fact that we start meeting to plan this event in August, there is always phenomenal chaos and disorganization leading up to the event, as those who are supposedly in charge forget to tell us things such as where the free parking for volunteers will be, and “Oh, yeah, this year we’re not providing food for anyone, so you might want to bring your own.”
They did, however, have a nice young woman who wouldn’t let me take a flat of water bottles out to our area to give my rapidly dehydrating work force something to drink. I had to go back and forth carrying as many bottles as I could carry at a time. Funny how that’s the part where they got efficient and organized.
And so, for your edification, here’s a nice pictorial rundown of my Saturday:
9:56 AM:
Natalie looks thrilled to be there, doesn’t she?
10:25 AM:
I’m all set up. Despite the fact that we don’t start until 11, I will have no less than thirty people come by before 10:45.
Rachel and Natalie share a moment of collegiality before the madness starts.
11:54 AM:
… and we’re off! The crowds start thin … and stay that way.
12:59 PM:
Our littlest visitor of the day. SHE’S SO KYOOT! I hate it when people use phrases like, “Don’t you just want to eat her up?” but this makes me understand why they do. Let’s see her again:
1:01 PM:
Trey and Leo stop by to visit Paola, who’s helping out Natalie at the next table. Leo has glitter all over him!
3:08 PM:
Over at the name-writing table, this guy was flirting with Hope, one of our graduate students. Give it up, dude, and move along …
Lisa, my co-worker, and Anne, one of our grad students. They’re both here to help … and go for drinks after 
So … many …. people ….
3:13 PM:
We recently adopted Nigeria as part of the Middle East (long story, don’t ask), so we’re also helping out with the Yoruba class’s activities. Bunmi, our foreign language teaching assistant from Nigeria, arrived in full regalia for the day.
4:04 PM
36 minutes to go, and we’re not slowing down … except for the part where we’re all tired…
The only part of this event that I really like is meeting all the people who are interested in what we do and have fun. As usual, it’s all the back-end behind-the-scenes stuff that ruins the event for those of us who work it. If we could just show up without the drama, it would be great. I like showing off where I work … it’s just the BS that goes with it that drives me batty. The fact that I’d had a really stressful week leading up didn’t help.
Anyway. We wrapped up at 4:40 and adjourned to a local bar where I didn’t quite drink enough to forget the entire day, but it was pretty darned close.
And so, we close on Explore UT 2008 and have some time to relax. I’ll be a better blogger this week, since I’m now past the hurdle. Ray and I keep reminding ourselves that in a month we’ll be in Hawai’i. Man, I can’t wait! 
Tags: me, Photos, texas, university, work
