How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Johns Hopkins University

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Editor’s Note: Today’s guest author is Shelly Placek. Shelly joined the Admissions staff about two years ago and plays one of the most vital roles in our office – writer/editor. The Admissions counseling staff could not recruit without Shelly, and all forms of correspondence from our office would suffer without her expertise. She is talented, she is professional, she is hysterical at times, and she jumped at the chance to write a guest blog entry. Enjoy.

When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a novel about a kid whose parents abandoned him at a grocery store. All six pages of it were awful—and not autobiographical, I promise—but it started an appreciation of language, writing, and the magic of telling a story that has carried throughout my undergraduate years and my career. Happily, that career has led me to Johns Hopkins University, where my job is to write and edit all of the publications, invitations, web site content, and other communications. If you’ve gotten our spiral-bound Viewbook or invitations to one of our many fantastic events, then you’ve seen some of the pieces our office produces.

I had a big task ahead of me when I started here nearly two years ago. As the new writer/editor for the Undergraduate Admissions Office, I needed to quickly learn about the school and its history, the students, the surrounding area, and a whole host of other things that would help me tell prospective students about this place. In a way, I was kind of like a prospective student—or  maybe more like a freshman—trying to find my way around the campus, looking for lunch spots, and hoping to make some new friends.

It wasn’t hard to be charmed from the first day. The campus is beautiful, the people are friendly, and there are more than enough lunch options within walking distance (never underestimate the power of lunch.) I attended information sessions and hopped on a tour to get oriented and by the end of my first week, I was convinced: I was ready to apply Early Decision to Hopkins! Oh, wait. I mean, I was ready to start sharing Johns Hopkins with our prospective students through our publications, Web site, and invitations. Soon enough, I was marveling at the recently renovated Gilman Hall, bundling up for an early season lacrosse game, and joining colleagues for Taco Tuesdays at PJ’s Pub. 

All of those experiences helped me to better understand what Johns Hopkins was, and helped me communicate that to our prospective students. One of our publications, our annual Viewbook, is a big project in the winter/spring. It requires communicating with departments all across campus, as well as with my colleagues in the Admissions Office, and working closely with our amazing designers and photographers. It also allows me to meet more of our fabulous and ever-inspiring students. There are few things I enjoy as much as hearing what brought a student to Johns Hopkins and what kinds of activities he or she is getting into on campus.

I know that once you start getting mail from colleges, it seems like a never-ending stream of brochures plastered with smiling faces and tree-lined campuses. But take the time to look through each one and really get a feel for the place that is sending it. Here at Johns Hopkins, we don’t just look for smiling faces, although we find plenty of them; we’re hoping to bring you a sense of what living and learning at Johns Hopkins is really like, and give you stories told through our students, our professors, our campus, and our community.

2 Comments

• By Mandy S., September 27, 2010 @ 9:01 PM

  I found Shelly in the picture! This is such a great blog, thank you for writing it and of course for all of your help with the rest of our blogs and projects!

• By Admissions_Shelly, October 4, 2010 @ 2:52 PM

  Thanks, Mandy! Always a pleasure to work with you guys. Thank YOU for telling me about cool new things that I’d otherwise be too old and out of it to know about. Ha!

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