Room 12 or Area 51?

Room 12, the center of all ASP activities has a mysterious reputation, similar to that of area 51. Sadly, no one will see aliens there. The office for the Assistant Directors of ASP is Room 12. Most offices are used for answering phone calls, but that is not the whole story for Room 12. 

People wonder how the AD’s developed such a strangely tight bond. ASP has three AD’s in total; however, Room 12 only graces itself with the presence of two of them during a shift. The shifts are around ten hours and there are AD’s on duty from 8:00 A.M. until 11:00 P.M. Ten hours may sound like a long time to work with another person, but Ned Heckman said that, "working with Grace and Matt is awesome.”  Matt Caputo seconded that response and also added that working with the two AD’s “is something else.”  All three of the AD’s-- Ned Heckman, Matt Caputo and Grace Van Noy-- worked together as interns last year, so they had a close bond before arriving this summer.     

Upon scanning their selection of DVD’s it becomes clear that AD’s watch a lot of movies that were made for a younger audience. So far they've seen Despicable Me 2, 10 Things I Hate About You, Bridesmaids and Mean Girls, which Matt and Ned said was, “totally fetch!” 

This week when they have time to relax, the movie of choice is The Lego Movie, which according to them is three thumbs up. When asked about whose collection of DVD’s they are, Ned said that they were his--props to him for having a great collection. “Watching movies is great for five hours out of the ten but then it gets boring,” said Matt.

  

Peculiarly the AD’s entertain themselves by exercising their brains with math questions. Matt, being a high school math teacher, understands the importance of keeping the mind sharp and challenging his coworkers with complex mathematical formulas. The AD’s have also mastered solving Rubik’s cubes.  

Spontaneously an AD will get up and begin playing golf, start a doodle, or finish a daily math question. Their makeshift putter, which was made by taping a white circle to the floor of the room, captures the attention of many visitors. If golf does not appeal to their mood, they can express themselves by adding to the “infinite doodles [on the white board],” as Ned explained.

One interesting aspect of the room that people generally do not notice is the  postal service box that contains recreation items like frisbees. It just looks like a box of mail, so it deceives people who might think that a large delivery just came in or the postal service may have just simply forgotten to pick up the box.

The craziest thing that goes on in Room 12 for the AD’s is picking up the “sleepers” as they called them, or the ASPers who slept in and are late to class.  

Even students have some confusion about what goes on in Room 12.  One student, Meaghan Doherty, when asked what she thought went on in Room 12 said “Everything, I guess, I don’t really know though.”

With all the entertainment in the room it is a mystery how they get any work done. The AD’s are responsible for answering phone calls from parents, planning events such as the Square Dance, and they orientate our interns.

The AD’s may get a little goofy and mysterious in Room 12 but they really enjoy being a part of this program and would do anything they could to be a part of it.  Matt said “I love the program and being a part of it in any way I could so when I was asked to be an AD I couldn’t say no.”  When asked the same question Ned said “I love this program and I wanted to do something that would let me come back for a third year and I could not intern for a third year.”  Matt added that interning for a third year would be being a “super senior, and you just don’t do that.” 

Room 12 might seem like a mysterious place but in reality it is just a fun office that’s inhabitants spend their time split between work and play.