By Emilie Foss
Students watch intensely as the balloon man twists and turns an orange balloon into a lion for a smiling student waiting in a long line at the Student Employment Office Friday afternoon.
Tim Cox, 23, an English education major from Gilbert Ariz., is a balloon artist who was hired by the Student Employment Office to make standing in line tolerable for students.
?Students come in and when they see the line they are frustrated, but once they see Tim they get a big smile,? said Nancy Hatch, manager of student employment. ?It?s to help make standing in line a little nicer.?
The Student Employment Office has provided a movie, candy and balloon man Cox to keep people entertained while waiting in line.
?You would never imagine waiting in line to apply for a job and have a circus act going on,? said Spencer Larson, a geographic information systems major from Vacaville, Calif. ?They are free so it?s an added bonus to waiting in line.?
Larson said he might even come back to the Student Employment Office to show some of his friends the balloon man.
Cox does his best to try to meet students? requests, but sometimes it can be difficult.
?The most popular request is the flower and the monkey,? Cox said. ?A police car is the most random request I have ever gotten.?
Cox learned his balloon tying skills 5 years ago while living in Arizona. He has worked at various restaurants and parties.
?I was standing here thinking ?Does this happen at any university or just BYU??? said Melinda Hardman, an anthropology major from Falls Church, Va. ?It?s fun to watch, but I don?t know if I would want to carry a balloon around with me on campus.?
The expected wait can be between two and 25 minutes. Lunch hour is the time with the longest wait. The best time for students to come in is in either the morning or a couple days before students come back to school from the break.
?I passed by and I saw that valiant BYU worker going balloon crazy with everybody and I was almost inspired to get a below poverty wage earning job on-campus,? said Dale Hibler, a communications major from Fresno, Calif. ?The thought of getting a nickel raise after six months was almost too much.?
Although the Student Employment Office is making it entertaining to stand in line. It is not always easy to find a job on-campus.
?If you don?t find a job now, there is often a turnover around the add/drop deadline,? Hatch said.
There is approximately eight thousand students currently employed on-campus and the turnover rate varies every semester.