Admissions and Financial Aid Blog

Anyone who reading this blog can easily tell that I am not a native Vermonter.  I moved from Central Florida 6 years ago to work for the law school.  Having never lived further north than South Carolina, this was a huge life change.  Both husband and I love our life here and have no plans to leave.

However, this is the most difficult time of year to “experience” and I heartily empathize with 1st year students who are struggling.  It’s cold, icy and dreary.  Today, we have a delayed opening until 2nd period classes (9:45) because the roads are so icy.  I didn’t realize how bad it was this morning (or that we even had the delayed opening) until I let my large, sturdy dog out and watched him gingerly step across the driveway to get to the snow.  He did his thing and came right back in the house - with a coating of ice on the top of his coat.  Usually, he tears around, protecting the homestead from the squirrels and chipmunks - but not today.

Grades for the fall semester have been posted.  For many students, it’s a harsh awakening.  They have always done well academically and now they are competing among peers who are equally strong.  I have been giving lots of hugs and words of support.  They will succeed.

One of the very positive problems we have on the VLS campus is that there are many more speakers, activities, events, etc. each week than one can possibly attend.  With over 30 active student organizations, something is always happening.

One event on this week’s schedule caught my attention, the annual Student Leadership Dinner and Speeches.  In addition to a nice dinner (advertised as including fine wines and four-star cuisine) members of the Student Leadership Collective will discuss the following topics:

“Reverence for Life: Why the Philosophy of Albert Schweitzer is Paramount to the Legal Profession”

“Why Being Bad Feels So Good  _ A short-ish Rant on Thoughts About Counterculture As the New Mainstream”

“Inspiration”

“Land Use Law and Policy Implications of the 2005 Hurricane Season”

“Synthesis of the Social Justice and Environmental Movements”

I am looking forward to a delightful evening!

The last week has been very quiet on campus.  Students were still on winter break and the faculty were hidden away grading exams.  It was a nice, peaceful time to catch up on everything in the office.  Just as we couldn’t stand the quiet any longer, the campus came back to life.  Spring semester classes started today.  The financial aid office is directly upstairs from Admissions, so all the students are coming through our office to head upstairs and pick up their refund checks.  It is nice to see them.

The weather has been weird this past week.  In my last posting, I talked about how much snow we got in December - over 4 feet!  Well, this week we are in the midst of the traditional January thaw.  Temperatures are in the 40’s and 50’s for several days - and today, we have had several bouts of heavy rain and wind.  Randolph and other surrounding towns have had no power for a couple of hours.  Snow is melting fast, but we still have well over a foot on the ground.  The primary concern is flooding from ice jams on the rivers.  However, all will be back to normal by the weekend with temps in the teens and snow predicted again.

Such is winter in Vermont !!

Today is New Year’s Day.  I have reached a stage in life where I tend to think of the new year as a time for being grateful for blessings - and tend to not take new (or repeat) resolutions quite so seriously.  Yes, I have goals to improve healthly habits.  However, more importantly, I am grateful for my family, both in other parts of the country and here in my home in Vermont.  I am grateful to have a warm, comfortable home during this very, very snowy season.  I am grateful to live in Vermont, a magnificently beautiful and most progressive state and to be affiliated with Vermont Law School, with it’s amazing and passionate student, staff and faculty community.

Speaking of snow - WOW, This has been a whopper of a winter so far !!  Typically, we receive about 15 inches of snow during December.  By the end of the month yesterday, we received over 50 inches.  Today, we begin January with another 6 - 10 inches predicted.  Because much of the state economy is based upon the snow industries, all of this snow is quite a boon to all aspects of the economy.  At the same time, all are grateful to the snow plowing industries that keep the roads and driveways clear - except when it would be really nice to have a snow day!   Having never lived further north than the Mason-Dixon line until the move to Vermont, I never understood how life just keeps on going through all this snow.  You keep good snow tires on the car and depend on the plow guys to keep the driveways, parking lots and roads plowed.  It’s a very efficient and effective system.

The law school has been closed since Dec. 21st for the holiday break.   We are scheduled to open again tomorrow morning, but might be running a bit late if overnight snow predictions come to fruition.   Oh Darn !

Best wishes to you, your hopes and dreams in this new year of 2008.