Working in an office environment is great. There is fresh brewed coffee in the break room, your calls get transferred directly to your desk, your mail gets sent out promptly by simply dropping it in the Outgoing box, and you always have fresh pens and notepads at your disposal. It’s like magic. These little cohesive consistencies are what can keep each day from completely going up in flames, when chaos has engulfed everything else.

But it’s not magic. Well, it’s not wand-waving, spell enchanting magic, but it’s definitely something special. And it doesn’t just materialize on it’s own. There are a lot of hardworking individuals who are behind these seemingly simple tasks. But there is nothing simple, or easy, about being an administrative assistant. They, for lack of a better expression, are the glue, well for fun, let’s call them the super glue, that keeps an office and an office environment efficient.

This year, Aprils 18th to April 24th marks the National Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week, with Administrative Professionals Day landing on April 21st. Though you should always appreciate the hard work of your colleagues, especially your admins, this week is especially set aside for you to outwardly express your admiration and gratitude towards them for what they do.

Formally known as Professional Secretaries Week, before America got all politically correct in 2000 and updated the name/title, this evolving holiday was first created back in 1952 through the work of Harry F. Klemfuss, a New York publicist. He wanted to encourage more people, especially women, to consider careers in the secretarial field.

Fast-forward half a century, through civil rights and the bra burning years, the role of secretary as well as the gender has changed drastically. Administrative professionals are no longer Aquanet wearing, note-taking women, but serious business professionals. In fact, some prominent executive administrators are some of the highest paid people in corporate America. And they aren’t all women. Can we say Mark from Ugly Betty?

But whatever role they play in your particular office environment, they are the smile that greets you at the door and the ‘Have a nice day!’, as you leave. They are your organizational outlook and your personal reminder. They make your job easier.

So show your appreciation this week for one of largest workplace observances in any way you can. Flowers, candies, gift cards, etc. … and who doesn’t like to be taken out to lunch?? I’m just saying …

How do you plan to thank your administrative professionals? Leave your thoughts below.

Contributed by: Keri Lynch

Today marks the one blemish in April’s usually blooming record: Tax Return Day. Eh, well, April is also the beginning of tornado season, but I digress. A post office’s nightmare and a CPA’s dream, tax season gives a whole new light to mathematics and itemization. People find themselves scrambling through old shoeboxes for missing receipts and trying to mentally calculate volunteer work and “charitable” donations they can claim in hopes of squeezing every penny out of their return.

But why April 15th? Who chose this day to make people sweat an audit and pile themselves in papers? So I decided to dig around a little bit, and by a little bit, I went straight to Wikipedia. C’mon, everyone uses it, but no one wants to admit to.

According to the highly distinguished website, Congress was the one to put “tax day” on the calendar. When we, “America”, ratified the 16th Amendment in 1913, which allowed Congress to institute an income tax, they chose March 1st of the following year as the deadline for filing returns. However, with the Revenue Act of 1918, which I probably need to pick up a text book to see what that was about, they up and moved the date to March 15th. It wasn’t until 1955 though, that Congress finally settled on the April 15th deadline. I think it was because April is prettier, but apparently it was to spread out the workload for the IRS. It’s also rumored that the growing middle class was filing more and more returns and the government wanted a little more time to hold on to the money. Sneaky.

Although fulfilled with this great public encyclopedia knowledge about something that I still get my dad to do for me every year (yes, I’m 25), I also don’t want to spread lies. Therefore, I decided I needed to verify this information. After some intense Google searching, I stumbled across an article on CNN from April 15, 2002, which basically laid out the same information verbatim. And everyone trusts CNN.

So there you have it. That’s why April 15th is, well the day it is. So put the remote down, turn your laptop on and get to filling.

Contributed by: Keri Lynch

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What would Halloween be without candy corn?  It has been enjoyed for over 100 years.  According to Brach’s, the top branded maker of candy corn, each year Americans buy enough Brach’s candy corn that if the kernels were laid end to end, they would circle around the Earth 4.5 times.  Brach’s candy pumpkin, known by the trademark name “Mellow Cream” is the most popular candy pumpkin.  They are popular both for their unique texture and for being fat free.  Candy pumpkins are made using the same process used to make candy corn.  The ingredients include corn syrup, real honey, and sugar. 

Amusingly, candy pumpkins played a role in the U.S. Implementation of Daylight Saving Time.  Since the 1960s, candy makers had wanted to get the trick-or-treat period covered by Daylight Saving.  They believed if children had an extra hour of daylight, they would have more time to collect candy, which would boost candy sales.  During the 1985 U.S. Congressional hearings on Daylight Saving, the candy industry went so far as to put candy pumpkins on the seat of every senator, hoping to win a little favor.  Soon, Daylight Saving Time was extended through the first Sunday in November.

By: Ashley Popham

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 It’s that time of year again…waiting to see if that little groundhog is going to see his shadow! In case you were not aware of the details of this special day here’s the gist of it. Every year on February 2nd , dating back to the 1800s, many gather in the traditional location of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to witness the local celebrity, Phil, peak out of hibernation. The groundhog seeing its shadow means six more weeks of winter, and no shadow means spring is around the corner.

Interested in how a rodent managed to achieve the power of deciding our destiny year after year, find
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