There are some annual events that are so regular you can set your calendar by them:

Early February: Steve Avery attempts comeback.
Early March: Despite missing most of the past 3 years with injuries, ESPN pronounces Ken Griffey Jr. "on the verge of a monster season".
Late March: Steve Avery retires again, realizing that he still has no arm strength.
Early April: Griffey tweaks his hamstring, sidelining him for months.
Late April: WashU fraternity gets busted for hazing/illegal activities/recruiting violations/tossing a dead squirrel onto the tennis courts.

And that's just Spring.

One of the other annual events, at least in my life, is Engineering Scholarship Weekend, when the best of the new applicants to the School of Engineering get flown to STL and put through a rigorous few days of tests, group projects, interviews, and free food. Because I was once, a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, one of these students, I get to take part in the festivities and help decide which of these high schoolers are good enough to get a free ride.

This year, like last, I have been granted the power of "Student Interviewer". I get to assault 8 of the 16 students with a barrage of esoteric questions to test their mettle, then rank them in my order of preference. My rankings are then fed into a giant computer along with the other interviewers' rankings and crunches the numbers using the newest, state-of-the-art algorithms to determine which students get full scholarships.

Actually a committee of faculty and admissions staff do the job of the computer in this case, although my rankings are still considered when making the BIg Decision. In exchange for providing this service to my school, I not only get a sneak peek at the folks who will be trying to take my job someday down the line but also am treated to numerous free meals.

But bestowing powers like these upon mere students with puckish tendencies is not always wise. I sometimes go overboard in "selling the school" to the competitors. Last night I even convinced Andrea Heugatter, my former Technical Writer professor and current Official Head Honcho of the weekend festivities, that the WashU taps sparkle with Evian brand Spring Water (which would explain the tuition hikes). And I often jokingly tell the scholarship candidates that each day one will be voted out of the group Survivor-style until only one is left standing.

But a fun time is always had by all, and the prospective freshmen are usually much smarter than any of the current students anyway so the judging is often quite subjective. The students are lucky that my team won our softball game last night in such convincing fashion, since my good mood will probably extend to interview time. Now instead of asking them to write a multithreaded C application, I'll be content to ask them about their personality and accomplishments.