the possibilities really ARE endless @ Simpson!

I OFTEN get asked about these programs & activities, so here's a list of those Simpson does not offer:

Video Game Design

Interior Design

Architecture

Nursing

Fashion Design

Lacrosse

Gymnastics

Men's Swimming

Cosmetology

Auto Mechanics

Fire Science

Equine Science

ROTC

REMEMBER: Don't rule Simpson out too early, because the majority of students enroll as undecided majors or end up changing their major after they discover something completely new & interesting!

Here are the academic programs SIMPSON does offer:

• Accounting - Simpson students pass the CPA exam on the 1st attempt at a higher % than the national average!


• Art (Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Design, Photography & K-12 Art Education) - Some art majors decide to study abroad for a semester @ the Lorenzo di Medici Escuola di Arts in Florence, Italy! We recently had a student intern @ the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.! ...and this was my major, yay! :)


• Athletic Training (Accredited) - One student recently interned with the Green Bay Packers!


• Biochemistry - My college friend, Meghan, who was from Colorado just completed her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Miami University, Ohio after receiving her B.A. in it @ Simpson! Congrats :)


• Biology - Unlike many small colleges, Simpson has a human cadaver lab right ON campus! When I was a student, my friend Alaina job-shadowed an anesthesiologist during her 1st 3-week May Term - she was up close in the operating room as a freshman!


• Chemistry - Professor Ron Warnet, who has taught @ Simpson for almost 40 years is currently on sabatical in Australia to view an actual atom for the first time! He & Professor Pat Singer will be leading a May Term trip this year called Global Health: Confronting AIDS in Namibia.


• Corporate Communication


• Journalism & Mass Communication - Students have recently interned with CBS News, Fox News & Interscope Records during a semester in New York City!


• Rhetoric & Speech Communication


• Computer Information Systems


• Computer Science - One student recently interned with Google!


• Criminal Justice - Simpson alumni are working for the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, FBI, ATF, U.S. Department of State & CIA.
• Economics


• Early Childhood Education - Every other May Term, students travel to New Zealand to study the literacy & multiculatural education of their primary schools!
• Elementary Education - Students can receive numerous subject endorsements, including Special Education & can gain classroom experience in both small, rural schools, as well as large, urban schools.


• Secondary Education - Students major in the subject area they want to teach, for instance I was an Art major with a secondary education endorsement.
• English - Many students submit writing to The Sequel, Simpson's art & literary magazine that is published each year


• Environmental Science - A group of Environmental Science majors recently created a new Environmental Awareness Club & recent May Term trips have included the Galapagos Islands, Madagascar, Nepal, Peru, Morocco, Mongolia & Australia's Great Barrier Reef!


• Forensic Science - One of only 45 colleges in the nation to offer this major!
• French - Most French majors study abroad for a semester or year in France - this year there is a May Term trip called French Polynesian Culture


• German - German majors are required to study abroad for a semester in a country where German is the primarily-spoken language


• Spanish - Spanish majors have recently studied abroad in Nicaragua, Mexico & Spain
• History - Students have recently interned @ the White House, Living History Farms, The Smithsonian & the National Democratic Party
• International Management
• International Relations - Students have an option to participate in the Drew University Semester of the United Nations for a semester!


• Management - Simpson's most popular major!


• Marketing - Many marketing majors are members of Simpson's PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America)


• Mathematics - Math majors are very active in the Math Club, the Midwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium, undergraduate research, and regional, national & international mathematical competitions


• Music Education - Music Education majors participate in 2 workshops offered on campus each year with nationally known clinicians who are outstanding music educators & experts in their field



• Music Performance (B.A. & B.M., Vocal & Instrumental) - Simpson is home to the nationally known Des Moines Metro Opera each summer, which attracts professional vocalists from all of the world! A couple recent alums have performed with the New York City Metropolitan Opera!
• Philosophy - A couple 2007 graduates are currently pursuing their graduate degrees @ Drew University, NJ & University of Missouri. A philosophy & a history professor, Allison Wolf & CoryAnne Harrigan will be leading a May Term trip this year called Globalization & Development in Costa Rica!


• Physical Education - P.E. majors are endorsed to teach K-12
• Coaching Endorsements
• Physics - Many physics major consider Simpson's 3-2 or 4-1 dual degree pre-engineering program with Washington University of St. Louis, Iowa State University or University of Minnesota


• Political Science - Simpson has very active College Democrats & College Republicans organizations. Campus has recently hosted Barack Obama,'s John Edwards' & Al Gore's presidential campaigns! Many poli sci majors take advantage of the CHIP (Capitol Hill Internship Program) in Washington D.C.


• Psychology - Simpson has started a partnership with Iowa's Great Ape Trust in Des Moines for internships & research


• Religion - Recent alums are attending Seminary at Duke, Yale, Iliff & Moody


• Sociology - Carolyn Dallinger, a Professor of Social Sciences will be leading a May Term trip called Ghana, the Heart of Western African Culture!


• Sports Administration - many students and alums have interned or work with professional athletic teams


• Theatre Arts - Members of Theatre Simpson attend & perform at the Kennedy Center Student Theatre Festival in Washington D.C. each year!


• Latin American Studies - offered as a minor


• Human Resources Management - offered as a minor
• Social Work - offered as a minor


• Women's Studies - offered as a minor
  
• Medical Technology - offered as a minor


• Pre-Dentistry


• Pre-Engineering - see Physics above


• Pre-Law


• Pre-Medicine - Alumni have recently been accepted to & have attended medical school at the University of Iowa, Des Moines University, Palmer Chiropractic, Northwestern University, University of Kansas & Stanford University


• Pre-Optometry
• Pre-Physical Therapy
• Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministry - see Religion above
• Pre-Veterinary Medicine - Most alumni attend Iowa State University for their graduate degree

SIMPSON also offers the following successful NCAA Division III athletic teams (+ SEVERAL intramurals sports):

• Baseball - 6 Conference Championships, 6 NCAA Tournament Appearances, 1 Regional Championship


• Men's Basketball - coached by the winningest coach in Simpson's history, Bruce Wilson '76 & has 6 conference championships, 4 NCAA Tournament Appearances


• Women's Basketball - 6 conference championships, 7 NCAA Tournament Appearances, including an Elite 8 game in 2007 vs. NYU in New York City!


• Cheerleading - students may tryout in the spring of their senior year of high school to be on the team as a freshman


• Men's Cross Country - 1 conference championship, placed 9th in the NCAA in 1986, 3 All-Americans, 10 All-Region, 33 All-Conference

• Women's Cross Country - 4 conference championships, placed 4th in thet NCAA in 1990, 3 All-Americans, 4 All-Region, 37 All-Conference


• Dance Team - students may tryout in the spring of their senior year of high school to be on the team as a freshman


• Football - 13 conference championships, 6 NCAA Playoff Appearances, 1 Regional Championship


• Men's Golf - 3 conference championships, 5 conference medalists, 18 All-Conference

• Women's Golf - 9 conference championships, 10 conference medalists, 6 All-Americans, 15 NCAA Tournament Appearances, 6 NCAA Tournament Top 5 Placings

• Men's Soccer - 1 conference championship, 1 NCAA Tournament Appearance, 6 All-Region, 43 All-Conference

• Women's Soccer - 1 conference championships, 1 NCAA Tournament Appearance, 2 All-Region, 45 All-Conference

• Softball - 6 conference championships, 4 regional championships, 12 NCAA Tournament Appearances, 2 NCAA National Championships, 1 named to All-NCAA 25th Anniversary Team (Kelly Shade-Fry '99)


• Men's & Women's Tennis - 5 All-Conference, 1 Conference MVP
• Men's Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor) - 1 U.S. Olympian, 10 conference championships, 78 All-Americans, 7 NCAA National Champions

• Women's Track & Field (Indoor & Outdoor) - 4 conference championships, 3 NCAA National Champions, 72 All-Americans

• Women's Volleyball - 7 conference championships, 5 NCAA Tournament Appearances

• Wrestling - 22 Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances, 3 NCAA National Champions, 3 Consecutive NCAA Top 3 Finishes, 36 All-Americans

blog o'pics

if you saw my last post, you see why I must have a little fun in between all the cHaOs. the camera is my friend on the road :) ...

milwaukee art museum architecture

sculpture outside the milwaukee art museum

milwaukee shoreline of lake michigan

milwaukee

a tree in estes park, colorado

estes park, colorado

some elk hangin' out in the estes park high school outfield!

red rock state park, colorado

red rock amphitheatre, colorado


aspen, colorado in the fall

this made me laugh...I didn't know rest areas had names & the one I see that does is called "no name!" lol.

driving into a tunnel through the rocky mountains

"Planes, Trains, & Automobiles:" Simpson Style

Monday: Fly to Chicago, drive 45 minutes to check in @ hotel, change clothes, drive 45 minutes to Homewood-Flossmoor High school for 2 hour college fair, drive 45 minutes back to hotel…
Tuesday: Drive an hour & 15 minutes in rush hour traffic to Aurora, work 2 college fairs from 8-11:30am, drive hour back to hotel…
Wednesday: Drive hour & a 1/2 in rush hour traffic to Chicago airport, fly to Omaha, pick up my car in Treynor, drive 5 & a 1/ 2 hours to Minneapolis…
Thursday: Pick up rental van @ Minneapolis Airport, drive ½ hour to pick up student @ home, drive to hotel to pick up 6 other prospective students, drive to next meeting place to pick up 5 more students, drive 4 hours to Simpson campus for Minnesota Van Trip, have pizza dinner with students & overnight hosts, drive 1/2 hour to my parents' house to stay…
Friday: Work in office 8-2:30pm, drive 4 hours back to Minneapolis with my 12 Van Trip students, drive to Minneapolis airport, drop off rental van, head to airport gate to catch a 9:00pm flight to Chicago, arrive in Chicago around 10:10pm, take shuttle to Avis rental car, stand in line of 50 customers for hour & a 1/2 to pick up car, drive 1/2 hour to hotel, arriving at 12:45AM…
Saturday: Drive hour & 1/2 in construction traffic to downtown Chicago for college fair from 10-2:00, drive hour & 1/2 after getting on the wrong interestate back to hotel…
Sunday: Drive hour & 1/2 to Milwaukee for college fair from 12-3:30, drive hour & a 1/2 back down to Chicago area hotel…
Monday: Drive 45 minutes to Chicago airport to catch 11:00 flight only to find that I booked it on the wrong Monday (the 29th instead of 22nd!), sit in airport till 2:30 for next flight to Minneapolis, leave Minneapolis around 4:30 to drive 5 ½ hours HOME, with a brief break eating with the ‘rents in Des Moines…

Good enough excuse why I haven’t blogged much in the past couple weeks?! Ha. In between all of that, I managed to write notes to students, call students, do other busy work, oh yeah… & eat, sleep & shower! :)

If you wondered if it was possible to be in Chicago, Omaha, Des Moines & Minneapolis all within 12 hours, it is…I did it twice in the last week! I had college fairs in Chicago, then had to fly to Omaha, wash a load of clothes & pick up my car, drive through Des Moines to get up to Minneapolis for my Minnesota Van Trip the following day. My back seat was a makeshift dryer, as I didn’t have time to completely dry my load of clothes, laying a few of them along the back seat & window – LOL! Thankfully my trip was broken up by a nice Godfather’s dinner with my brother & sister-in-law who I met in Hampton on the way up & a Fazoli's dinner with my parents on the way back down. It was good to see some familiar faces!

My Minnesota Van Trip was a huge success in my eyes & I’m grateful for all the help I got by the other “driver”/admissions counselor, Cassie, the 12 outstanding current Simpson students who hosted my prospective students & our hardworking campus visit coordinator, Debra! I’m so blessed to have the world’s best student ambassadors working for us, as well as awesome Admission staff who all help me tremendously while I’m gone so much! They all helped make it possible for the students to have such good visits to campus. Some students got a feel for dorm life & others spent the night discovering Greek Life. On Friday, they all attended various classes of their interest, met with professors & coaches and ate lunch with athletes or student ambassadors. It worked out so well this year (at most I've had 6 students on the Van Trips), because I decided to schedule it during Minnesota’s MEA Days in which they don’t have school all week due to teacher in-services. It’s a great opportunity for them to get to know campus on a closer level, meet other students considering Simpson & visit campus without their parents; all transportation & costs covered. Often times it is hard for parents to take off work or spend the money to have their child visit, so it’s very convenient! All the parents & students were very appreciative. I am hosting my first Nebraska Van Trip in February, as well as a Spring Minnesota Van Trip in April. I have a lot of fun getting to know the students…after all, we are together in a van for 8 hours total! :)

The Chicago & Milwaukee National Fairs were pretty good – I saw a lot of minority students & many of them were strong students; most likely qualifying for our George Washington Carver Fellowship or Scholarship! It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day yesterday, so I walked around the Milwaukee shoreline of Lake Michigan for awhile. It was nice & much needed to step “away” from it all…

For lunch today, I did something pretty darn embarrassing…spilled my pop all over the bartender!! No, I was not “drinking”…I often sit at the bar since I’m by myself & I don’t have to stand in line. I felt terrible!

I wished I could have been @ the Storm football game vs. Cornell this past Saturday since we won big, 38-6 under the lights. I love night football games & in college, they rarely play them. Anyway, I’m so glad they won!

You know what’s even cooler than their success on the field?!
The Storm Football Team is teaming up with folks from the area in an effort to help raise awareness about hunger in Warren County. All football teams in Warren County are holding their own individual drives and our Storm collected food from October 1-6th. It was called “Helmets for Hunger.”

Also, during my travels...other than crossword puzzles & browsing the crazy SkyMall products I've been reading an incredibly powerful & eye-opening book called, "The Freedom Writers Diary." This is the true story that sparked one of my favorite movies, The Freedom Writers. I have learned so much about this 'American war' from the simple words of students who grew up in the middle of it & constantly belittled by their family & many teachers. Their high school English teacher, Ms. Gruwell changed their lives with her compassionate, creative teaching strategies. She is an inspiration to me, as I have always been a big advocate for public education reform, tolerance & acceptance, and aproaching each individual student with the understanding that each learns differently, as well as has the potential which must be nurtured & guided rather than simply told to them... To read more about this wonderful story, visit The Freedom Writers Foundation.

And, I leave you today with this...

Ms. Gruwell asked this question after her students read the following poem by one of her college classmates, "If you could live an eternity and not change a thing or exist for the blink of an eye and alter everything, what would you choose?:

Moment

Let him wish his life

For the sorrows of a stone

Never knowing the first thread

Of these

Never knowing the pain of ice

As its crystals slowly grow

Needles pressing in on the heart

To live forever

And never feel a thing

To wait a million lifetimes

Only to erode and become sand

Wish not for the stone

But for the fire

Last only moments

But change everything

Oh to be lightning

To exist for less than a moment

Yet in that moment

To expose the world to every open eye

Oh to be thunder

To clap and ring

To rumble into memories

Minds and spines

To chill the soul and shake the very ground

Pounding even the sand

Into smaller pieces

Or the mountain

Brooding, extinct

Yet gathering for one fatal moment

The power to blow the top clean off the world

Oh to last the blink of an eye and leave nothing

But nothing unmoved behind you

- Vincent Guilliano

January 9, 1991