Connie Clements

Wow! Time really does fly when you are having fun! Where did all of the time go? I have loved reading up on what everyone has bee up to. Like 90% of the class, I too went to Ricks College. (I don’t care that it is now BYU-Idaho, it will always be Ricks to me.) I spent my two years there trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I settled on the social sciences and decided to see if politics and law were for me. I headed off to Washington DC to intern for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) the summer of 2000 on the day I graduated from Ricks. I started my internship the day the Justice Department authorized the removal of Elian Gonzales from his uncle’s home and sent him back to Cuba. That was a fun introduction to government and life in the legislative branch! (People from Idaho were REALLY upset about that.) While I feel in love with the East Coast, I quickly ruled out a career in politics as well as the legal profession. In the fall of 2000, I headed off to school at Utah State University. After year at USU, I decided I needed to go on a mission (something that was NOT in my plans, but, hey, plans change, right?)

I served my mission in Cleveland, OH, a place that previous to my mission I considered to be on the list of Top 50 places you NEVER want to visit. I still consider it to be on the list of places you don’t EVER want to live, but visiting is okay. While on my mission, my family moved to Washington State, so after my mission I returned “home” to Richland, WA. I then headed back to school for my last semester at USU that fall. (2003 if you are trying to keep track.) I graduated with my BS in Political Science (what I affectionately call my BS in BS) and I moved “home” at Christmas to start the dreaded job search. (If you ever feel like you self-esteem is just too good, try looking for a new job, it will cure it in a hurry). In July of 2004 I finally found a job in Salt Lake working in the corporate offices of a market research firm (think telephone and online surveys).

On my first day in the office I was introduced to the staff and who should I run into? None other than our very own Wendy (Olson) Beesley. It was the beginning of great things. (Wendy is quite possibly the best boss I have ever had!) I have spent the last 4 years working in various capacities at “the Dirge”…managing projects, acquiring new accounts, developing and implementing marketing campaigns, redesigning the marketing collateral, etc. I have the best coworkers, a super flexible schedule (I got to work from home the ENTIRE summer), and for the most part I like what I do. But like they say, all good things must come to an end.

I decided back in December that it was finally time to go back to school and that I wanted an MBA. So I spent most of January, February, and March studying for and taking the GMAT (twice). Thankfully my scores were good enough to get me accepted into BYU’s program and I start the 20th of August. I wish I could make it to the reunion, but I will be moving that weekend to start my next adventure. I hope you all have a blast. For those interested my blog can be found at http://conniesrandomrants.blogspot.com/.