You might know her as a fellow senior or Communications major, but there’s more to Rebecca Wegener than meets the eye.

When asked about the formal title for her part-time job, Wegener smiled.

“I think the proper term for it is ‘balloon artist,” she said.

Wegener, who transferred to Biola University in fall 2006 from Orange Coast College in her hometown of Costa Mesa, has been working as a balloon artist for the last three-and-a-half years. She was first exposed to balloon art in high school, when her youth pastor at Huntington Beach Seaside Community Church had a balloon company and trained several of her friends. Initially, Wegener declined the offer to be trained.

“I never thought I would get into the balloon business,” said Wegener.

However, later during her high school years, Wegener bought a balloon kit and started to experiment with it. One of her friends started to train her. After she returned from a YWAM (“Youth with a Mission”) trip in summer 2004, following her high school graduation, Wegener started working more seriously with balloons. Part of her training process included learning to create more complex balloon shapes, such as Spiderman, monkeys, bananas and surfers. Wegener’s first official “experience” with balloons was in 2005, when she and a group of students from her high school traveled to Ecuador, where they worked in Quito with youth for two weeks.

Traveling has always been a fun part of her job, according to Wegener.

“I like to travel, and making balloons provides the means to travel,” she said. “I’ve gone to Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica to make balloons for kids. In fact, I go to Panama every spring break with a group of students from my high school, and we make balloons for the kids there – just for fun and to entertain them.”

Wegener is currently subcontracted under two of her friends from her church and camp ministry who own a balloon artist network company. As part of her job, she makes balloons in restaurants, such as the Rainforest Café in the Ontario Mills Mall, where her income is comprised solely of tips, and her bosses receive 10% of the tips. However, Wegener also works independently: she makes balloons for birthdays, parties, schools and church events. She usually works 10-20 hours on weekends, Thursday through Sunday, and charges $125 per hour.

“I never really considered it an occupation; it’s a great weekend job,” said Wegener. “It’s really good because I get to make my own hours.”

While Wegener works frequently with balloons now, they may not be a central part of her future. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree from Biola, Wegener hopes to travel and get involved with work in Public Relations.

“I don’t see balloon art as my sole occupation in the future, but it’s a good means of income for now,” Wegener said. “I would do it for another one or two years, but not for my entire life.”

Wegener’s job as a balloon artist has usually been separate from her “Biola world,” up until recently. Her recent experiences suggest that her talent at making various balloon creations might become integrated into Biola University campus life.

“AS wants me to do balloon art for the Mock Rock event coming up this spring,” Wegener said. “I did balloon art for other functions, like ‘Midnight Madness’ and the Biola vs. APU Basketball game.”

Wegener is part of a small group at Biola comprised of four girls, mainly juniors, who are all subcontracted under the same two bosses who own the balloon company. While they stick with relatively “simpler” shapes, the girls still create complex works of art (ranging from turtles to eagles).

Balloon-making may seem like an enjoyable task, which Wegener acknowledged; however, her job is not all fun and games.

“This has definitely been a learning experience,” she said. “Sometimes it can be easy to have an attitude towards customers – especially those who are rude and don’t give tips. It’s almost like you have to put on a façade: you might be frustrated, but you cannot show it.”

In spite of the challenges she encounters, Wegener continues to focus on the purpose of her job.

“I have to remember to enjoy my job for what it is and maintain a positive attitude,” said Wegener. “It’s all about keeping focused on the purpose of the job: making people happy; making kids smile and entertaining them. My job is to bless others.”