(What follows is an unedited transcript of my submission to the 2009 Becker Family Christmas Card, which has been much delayed and anticipated with a hype comparable to the Apple Tablet. Much like the Tablet, I know very little about this Christmas Card. I don’t know who gets it, I don’t know when the actual thing is coming out and I don’t know how much of the below content will be included in it. Anyway, enjoy and stuff)

Everyone tells me how funny my father’s Christmas card is every year, but I’m going to level with everyone: I’ve never read it. I hear excerpts every year, but I have never taken the time to read one beginning to end. Based on what I’ve heard though, I imagine that those who only get information about me from Christmas cards probably have a pretty warped opinion of me, and are probably unsure of my general well being. (It should be noted that people who see me on a daily basis me may have similar concerns, though probably for different reasons.)

That being said, I feel I should probably give some information about myself that should clear up some confusion. I am a senior in good standing at Valparaiso University. Contrary to my what my father may have told you, I am not on the “6 year plan” nor am I on the brink of being kicked out of the University. Barring an unforeseen incident, I will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a focus on “New Media/Journalism.”

In the spirit of this major, I have spent the good portion of my senior year working for our student newspaper, The Torch. I serve as the Features Editor for this prestigious organization (Indiana’s Best College Weekly for several years running), and am responsible for giving assignments and filling two and a half pages of content every week. This involves a couple meetings during the week, and work in the Torch office from the early afternoon until about 4:00 am every Thursday. I enjoy the work, love having my own desk with a new iMac on campus, and also enjoy the company of the people I work with. (This is the part where I would provide the link to where my school’s newspaper can be read online, but unfortunately we apparently live in the dark ages and do not have an online edition of our newspaper. This will hopefully change next semester) In addition to this work, I will be doing an internship with the Northwest Indiana Times this semester through the school, and am almost finished serving my term as Vice President of Communications at Sigma Phi Epsilon. We have a website (though I don’t update it enough) which can be found at valposigep.org

Despite all of this work related to major, my post-graduation plans are still in flux and are likely to have little to do with journalism. Immediately following graduation, I am nearly certain that I will be applying to work for my fourth summer at Camp Arcadia. (Don’t worry Chip, the application will be in soon :-) ). If things go as planned there, I will be in some capacity of Program Staff leadership position. For those keeping track, I think I have taken one of the more unique routes in employment at Arcadia going from Server -> Header Server -> Program Staff -> Program (Director?). This employment could end anytime from August to October depending on what I have lined up next. After Camp, I look to be doing some variety of work which combines writing with some form of graphic design design work, perhaps in marketing.

In less frightening news, I am still in a wonderful relationship with Lydia, whom has been tolerating me for nearly two years now. What is even more remarkable is that she has spent enough time at the Becker house to know how crazy everyone is, and she’s still dating me. Lydia is a Junior at VU and is working towards a major in Advertising.
Outside of the items listed above, in an ideal world, I spend the remainder of my time reading about technology, listening to music, and enjoying the company of friends. Sometimes all of these at the same time. My favorite CD of the last year was “Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion.” My favorite gadget continues to be my iPhone, though I just got the Apple Magic Mouse, and that’s pretty nifty too. Also new in the last year, I have given my entire online identity to Google. Docs, Gmail, Reader and Wave take up nearly all of my time online, and if Google ends up being an evil corporation, I’m in a lot of trouble.

And if this novel of a note was not an adequate amount of information, feel free to keep up through Facebook (facebook.com/mangosquash), Twitter, (Twitter.com/mangosquash) or Tumblr (mangosquash.tumblr.com). (Don’t worry about the username. I’ve had it since 7th grade, and I don’t even remember where it originated, but I’m sticking with it.)

In summery, 2009 has truly been a year of blessings for me, I look forward to what is to come in 2010, even though I for the first time am entering a year not knowing for sure what I’ll be doing at the end of it. I hope that a Merry Christmas was had by all, and will take full responsibility for the family letter not coming out until January.

Jon Becker

p.s. I’m not sure that the editing process for the Becker Christmas publication is as ethical as that of The Torch’s. If my father has added or changed statistics, I can’t be held responsible for this, and the unedited, (for better and worse) version of this letter can be located on my Tumblog at the address listed above.