Office Space

Yesterday Brother Gale, one half of our new CES missionary couple, had some questions for me about a musical program he is trying to put together for the institute. He asked if I would be in the building for awhile, and then told me that he would stop by my office when he had a minute free.

I thought it was funny that he called it my office.

I’ve been using the Institute as my home base for awhile now. I have a hard time getting schoolwork done at home, though I can work on things related to my teaching jobs just fine there, and I have no space in the school of education building right now since my GSI appointment is in the math department (and they don’t provide a space for me either, since I’m an education student). The Institute building is close to campus and quiet, and has the added advantages of free parking and occasional social interaction with other people who frequent the building.

The second floor has several small rooms, and earlier in the school year I began studying in one of these rooms. I really like this particular room. For one, it has a desk facing the window, so I can look outside while I work. It also has a window in the door, which allows me to close the door for privacy and quiet without feeling like I’m cutting myself off completely from anyone who might wander the hallways. And finally, it has a little private side room attached that I will sometimes go into if I have to do something like talk through a presentation, or if I just need a place where I can cut myself off from all distractions, take off my shoes, sit on the floor, and focus intensely on what I’m reading or working on.

I don’t spend all my time in this office – maybe a few hours every day – but when Brother Gale called it my office, it’s because I’ve sort of laid claim to it. That kind of happens in the institute building, just like after you’ve attended a class for a few weeks, everyone already knows where everyone else is going to sit. There are a few people who study in the Institute building regularly, and if their car is in the parking lot, I can generally tell you where each of them can be found.

But my space is more office-y than most, and I’ve moved in. Sometimes I’ll leave books or papers here so that I don’t have to cart them back and forth, and I’ve begun to store things in the desk drawers as well. Right now the drawers contain the remnants of a king-size Special Dark bar that I won in the Friday Forum raffle a few weeks ago, a can of grape soda from another raffle win that I haven’t opened because I don’t really care for grape soda, some ribbon I used to tie up a gift last week, a pack of Orbitz Maui Melon Mint gum, a water bottle, a triple combination, a stack of old handouts from the math class I teach, a 10-ounce bottle of Welch’s grape juice, an 8-pack of AAA batteries with 7 batteries left, a box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares in case I get hungry, and a protractor.

 I had a fellow grad student meet me over here once when she wanted to talk about a draft of part of her dissertation. It was convenient for me because I was already there, and convenient for her because she was driving in and could park for free while we met. As she left she saw another education doctoral student (who is in one of the family wards) studying in one of the other rooms. 

“I’m noticing a trend here,” she said. 

“Yeah,” I replied, “this is kind of the place for working on dissertations.” 

“No,” she said. “I'm seeing two very nice people.” I was kind of touched by that, and happy to have been able to leave her with a positive impression. When I study in the Institute building, it’s not just because it’s quiet and convenient and has free parking, but because there’s a very good feeling here—a good feeling because of the efforts towards teaching and missionary work and service and outreach that takes place in this building, because of the shared gospel perspective and purposes that are at the heart of those efforts, because of the wonderful people I interact with in this building. In the midst of all the frustration and uncertainty I’ve experienced in my doctoral program, coming over here has provided me with the comfortable and peaceful space away from it all that I have needed to find the motivation and focus to move forward in this task I set out to accomplish almost four years ago.

Of course I am grateful for the gospel because it is central to my life and because I have had experiences over and over again that have reaffirmed that God is in this work and that He cares about me. But I am also grateful for all the little side-benefits that the gospel has brought me, like my little upstairs Institute office :).