Posts tagged Admissions

#192 – My 2nd Travel Season!

May 25, 2011 · Filed under Admissions, Simply Sweet Briar · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s that time of the year again – time for me to start thinking about where I’ll be going in the fall and when. Last year it was a bit of a scary process — I had oodles of fair invitations that had been piling up all summer, I didn’t know my students very well (actually, I hardly knew them at all), I had never visited the majority of my destinations – it was a bit of a mess. Working closely with the Director of Admissions, I eventually put together a travel schedule.

In case you don’t remember, I kicked off my season with a trip to Tennessee, then I toured Virginia, jetted off to Alabama, pit stopped at home for Homecoming, then immediately left for Tennessee (again). From there it was Florida, Kentucky, and finally West Virginia. I left the office on September 1 and didn’t officially conclude travel until November 7. It was crazy, stressful, fun, and exciting. I experienced only 1 missed flight, 1 missed interview (which I wouldn’t 100% classify as missed, more like we mixed up our dates), and no major malfunctions 🙂

This year, I’ll head out again! As far as I know, my territory will remain the same, which is exciting. It means that all the amazing juniors I met with last fall/spring will continue to work with me, and all the contacts I made while on the road will be a huge help this season.

I’m approaching the planning part of my travel differently this year. One great thing about my job is that every counselor in the office has the opportunity to plan his or her travel whichever way works best for them, and this year I’m doing my best to plan things out early! I have a loose framework laid out, doing my best to be in town on nights when I’ll have class (I’m starting my MBA this summer!). I’m gathering information about fairs, checking to see when they were last year, and paying close attention to where my most active students are. There are some exciting trips in the works as well, hopefully to Arkansas, Indiana, and Louisiana where I didn’t get to go last year!

So my desk is a little bit of a mess, I’m looking at Excel spreadsheet after Excel spreadsheet trying to see where my students are, and still paying attention to Open House dates, PSAT dates, and holidays. So happy planning to me – as soon as I have things finalized, all of you will be notified, so get excited! 🙂

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#186 – Graduation

May 16, 2011 · Filed under Academics, Memories, Simply Sweet Briar, Social Life · Tagged , , ,

Source: http://www.sbc.edu

Graduation was last weekend and it was hard to say goodbye to all of the friends I’ve known for the last four years. It seems Graduation Day has a special place in the hearts of Admissions Counselors – for me, the girls here now were my friends when I was just a lowly student, and soon they will be the girls that I got to know so well as high schoolers and have had the honor of watching blossom into full-fledged Sweet Briar Women.

As always, the day was bitter-sweet. The weather was gloomy, but it stayed dry. I was excited to see my friends cross that stage, finding myself feeling as proud as I was when my own sister graduated the weekend before. I was even more excited to see those sticking around for our MAT program and to hear of those attending graduate school in the areas where I recruit. As a notorious crier I was proud to hold off my tears and swallow the lump in my throat when it came to hugging my teammates and CM babies goodbye.

I stumbled upon the following story while surfing the internet this weekend and thought it had a wonderful message:

“The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone that we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple kids…”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” She told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized  listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up…

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying you, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I’m eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

Source: http://www.thylacineslair.com/MindRetreat/Growing.htm

So, Class of 2011, grow up but don’t grow old!

For wisdom spoken at our own graduation, visit this website right here!

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