Mr. Wuf Tracked to Textiles

Melissa Bostrom knew instantly where Mr. Wuf was.

“I do an emerging leaders program in Corporate Research I, so I pick up my coffee and walk right through that corridor all the time,” she says.

Her street smarts, plus a bit of luck, helped Bostrom win our “Where’s the Wolf?” contest, earning her a collectible Mr. Wuf stuffed toy.

Howling at the Hunt

The secret location, which most contest entrants figured out, was the shady area outside Port City Java in the College of Textiles. To make it easier, we arranged the photo shoot so the new Hunt Library was visible in the background.

Still, not everyone found the location as easily as Bostrom.

“I am not familiar with the campus at all, so after searching on Google satellite maps and campus maps I finally went and scoped out the site for myself,” wrote one entrant. She documented her success by staging a photo of herself in the same position as Mr. Wuf.

Missed Cues

There were a few wildly wrong answers, as well.

“Mr. Wuf is outside the Carmichael Recreation Center,” claimed one. “My guess is the wolf is appearing at the McKimmon Center,” wrote another.

Others seemed worried they wouldn’t qualify to win if they didn’t pinpoint Mr. Wuf with GPS precision.

“He is in between two of the buildings of the College of Textiles (one of them is the Convocation Center, don’t know the name of the other one…the Campus Map just labels them all as College of Textiles). He would be resting on the concrete pylon directly in middle of this image,” wrote an entrant. He included a link to a Google Maps street view image of the location, just to be on the safe side.

You’re All Winners (we mean it)

If you didn’t win the contest, you’re still a winner in a larger sense. You gave the Bulletin’s team of cub  reporters a reason to run around campus on a sunny day, and you found out where to grab a cup of Joe in the College of Textiles.

And you also met Melissa Bostrom, now moderately famous thanks to a randomly generated number (she was entrant No. 36).

By the way, Bostrom has a plum job as director of graduate academic and professional development in the Graduate School. In that position, she helps prepare master’s and Ph.D. students for leadership positions in business, academia and the public sector.

The department’s programs are designed to complement the disciplinary course work students do, she explains. Training is offered in areas like communication, leadership, self-awareness, professional adaptability, career development, and teaching and mentoring.

“Our slogan is, ‘How will you stand out?’” she says.

Considering that the job market is so tight, the free training offered by Bostrom and her colleagues is an amazing resource for students. Mr. Wuf is glad she found him.