Admissions Feature – Evelyn Waymire and Admitted Student Weekend

Admitted Student Weekend is an exciting time on campus. Last year, IWU hosted its first Spring ASW, with over 400 students in attendance. Spring ASW is divided into two events: new student registration, where accepted students sign up for fall classes; and the Wildcat Bash, where admitted students can connect with future classmates.

Evelyn Waymire
Evelyn Waymire

As a psychology and social work double major, Waymire originally planned on becoming a child life counselor. However, she struggled to plan for graduate school: “I thrive off making four-year plans for students. I love it… But I couldn’t make a two-year plan for myself.”

Waymire deferred grad school for a year and says the time off shifted her career focus away from child life counseling. Instead, she applied for a job as an admissions counselor. “Just discovering the love that I have for this place and my belief in the students and what God’s doing in their lives, it seems like admissions was a good next step,” she explains.

Currently, Waymire recruits high school students in Northeast Indiana, Muncie, and Richmond. She visits up to 50 schools each semester to talk to prospective students about IWU. According to Waymire, admissions counselors communicate with individual students for anywhere from a few months to three years, depending on how soon the student started searching for colleges.

Although she enjoys traveling to meet prospective students, Waymire also loves working with admitted students. She says, “I love seeing [them] finally step on campus and take the next step toward joining the student body. I love being there to help those who are stressed and being excited with those who are excited.”

Working as an admissions counselor has also afforded Waymire with other unique opportunities, such as the chance to be the chaplain of the softball team. “I know nothing about softball,” she laughed. But after meeting her through an admissions event, Coach Steve Babinski approached her about becoming the team chaplain. “Now I get to walk through life with 23 amazing young ladies. It’s not just about growing athletes, but ladies of character,” says Waymire.

That combination of community and character is what Waymire has always loved about IWU, whether she’s talking about her time as a student in the John Wesley Honors College or about her co-workers in the admissions office.

“Being [part of IWU] means getting to be connected to a community and to be rooted to something. No matter where we go, we’re connected to each other’s stories. Or at least a chapter,” Waymire says.

She looks forward to this year’s ASW, which will take place March 14-15 on the residential Marion campus, because it affords her the opportunity to help accepted students connect to the community she loves.

Written by Megan Emily. Megan is a senior English/Writing major and member of the John Wesley Honors College. She operates a blog about finding hope and security.

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