Jessica @ Lehigh Admissions

All Good Things Must End

2011-12-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a while again - not a way to create any kind of following. Here's a quick recap and then some news!

Over the summer, a few staff members opted to pursue opportunities that took them out of our office. I wish them all of the best! This did create some last minute shuffling of travel territories, though. Colorado returned to my plate, so September involved some big adjustments to my original travel plan. All work out quite well, so I'm glad it was worth the effort! On top of this, I opted to take two, not one, grad classes. Sounds a bit crazy, and to be honest, it has been. But completely worth it. I am that much closer to finishing my degree in Environmental Policy Design. I'm not sure what I will do with it, but it's been fun to combine what I do at work with different elements of what I'm working on in class.

In October, I headed out to St. Louis, Denver, Aspen, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Tucson, Sedona, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and beyond. However, I just couldn't get away from snow and cold temperatures. I had snow in Aspen - which was beautiful, but I wasn't really ready for it yet. In New Mexico, it snowed within hours of my arrival. Luckily, it did not impact my driving - also a beautiful scene up in the north part of the state. A sharp drop in temperatures occured just as I arrived in Wyoming - not the time to forget my winter coat, but of course I did! I survived, though - and a great mock application commitee program with the schools in Jackson. Really enjoyed educating the parents and students! And then, in Ariziona, believe it or not, low temperatures went into the 40s! That was a bit of a shock for me as I had packed drastically different clothing to where there. Still, such beautiful sights and wonderful people.

Fortunately my return home was warmer....well, after that whole freak snow storm thing...Yes. I flew back to Philadelphia as the snow was accumulating up here - where it was just cold enough to stick. Power outages ensued - except for at my house. I was very lucky! Campus did not survive as well - lots of trees either fell or had large branches break off. While at first it was easy to see what was missing, not it's not so obvious. Still such a beautiful place! The university staff that assisted students during the outages did a great job - I followed along on Twitter and was amazed at the positivity considering the conditions! But since then, it has in fact warmed. We had an overall amazing November weather-wise - AND with FOOTBALL! Our team won the Patriot League Championship by beating Georgetown and Holy Cross, and then won our fourth straight game in a BIG win over Lafayette! Last weekend they played in the FCS playoffs, beating Colonial League Champions (always such a tough league) Towson. How exciting!!!

November also brought a great deal of work for my classes and EARLY DECISION! We have been carefully going over these applications for a few weeks now and should be able to wrap things up in the next few days. A tough process, but always exciting since these students are so willing to commit to Lehigh.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing my own blog, but we decided in September that it would be more effective if all counselors contributed to a single staff blog. So, to continue to follow my adventures, hop on over to http://lehighadmissions1.blogspot.com!

Thanks for following along my journey here!

Jessica

Transition Time in Admissions

2011-06-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last was able to write, but I was lucky enough to take some vacation time to visit friends and do some traveling in Spain, so I think it's a valid reason for blog neglect. I hope you can understand. :)

So of course, I'll start there. First, you have to understand that I studied abroad in Seville, Spain when I was a Lehigh student and loved every second. In fact, my trip there was 10 years ago, almost to the day. Overall, it was an amazing trip to Barcelona, Formentera, Toledo, and Madrid; of course, I'm already planning another trip back for some time in the future to return to southern Spain. Of course that will probably take place on the 20 year anniversary of my first trip there, but why not start planning now? I'm clearer a dreamer and planner....

While I was gone, here in the office it was decided that we would not use the waitlist for this fall. We are once again just slightly over our target, which is certainly better than being below, but it is sad that we won't be able to extend any other offers.

We have continued to improve the condition of our office - some fresh coats of paint, improved lighting, and/or desk changes for a few of us. As dorky as it is, I'm super excited to have a return on my desk now - the L shaped desk gives me so much more room to do work. I have wanted this for years, and now it's reality! Woohoo!

The past 2+ months also brough vacation season. It is tough to find time in this job to take time off, so late May, June, and July typically brings light staffing and quiet work time. There are many projects to do - all of those things we can't get to while we're traveling in the fall or reading applications in the winter. So the quiet office time is actually very nice.

It's August now, so it appears that vacation time is coming to an end. While that is sad, it does mean that the students will be coming back soon! This campus is really alive when they are here during the year, so it's always nice to have them back on campus.

I'll leave it at that for now - and will be back soon with more tales from the summer.

New Facebook Page!

2011-05-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hey sophomores and juniors - looking to learn lots about Lehigh in a convenient place? Then like our Facebook page - Lehigh University Undergraduate Admissions. There, you'll find tons of cool stories, fast facts, reminders, and tips!

See you there!

Jessica

Understanding Wait List Activity

2011-05-09T05:10:00.001-07:00

We have not yet made a final decision on the use of the wait list, though it still appears unlikely. I'm sure many out there reading this are a bit confused on how it's May 9 and we still aren't positive about it. I thought I would take a quick minute to explain.

Colleges and universities all affect each other throughout the wait list period. Our class can come in (offered students accepting their spot in the class) right on target, but if one school is short and needs to extend more offers by using the wait list, the other schools likely will then lose a few students to that other school. There is a domino effect. If student A really wanted to go to school A, but paid a deposit to school B because they were wait listed at school A, when school A falls short of their goals and uses their wait list, inviting student A to join their class, school B could then be down a student.

Take several colleges and universities who overlap in applications doing this, and you have a lot more movement between colleges.

So, while it may appear like we have a final class at this point, because of wait list activity at other schools, we just aren't sure how many will be going and coming. While it might appear like that could be a never ending process, there is a limit to the number of students able to just pick up and switch schools in May. Not all have the financial flexibility. Not all are offered aid from the school from which they just got off the wait list. Not all are willing to change their mind - once they pay their deposit they have made a final decision. And there are more stories, I'm sure.

I hope this helps - if you have any questions, feel free to post a comment and I'll respond as soon as I can, or contact the regional admissions counselor in our office. I know it can be confusing, so reaching out to us is perfectly fine.

The Class of 2015

2011-05-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

It appears that our class has come in slightly larger than the target - which is perfectly fine, here at Lehigh. For those who have paid their deposit to Lehigh, I want to extend a heartfelt welcome. Being part of the Lehigh family is something very special - I can't wait to meet you this fall.

In the meantime, while I cannot say that we absolutely won't be using the wait list, I can say that it is unlikely at this point that we would be going to it. This is always tough in our office - we are happy that we have a class, happy that it is on target, etc. etc. However, it's never easy to not extend more offers of admission particularly to those who want it so badly. We'll continue to monitor the mail to see where things ultimately fall - but in the mean time, be sure to save yourself in a class somewhere else.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Jessica

Tornado Hits St. Louis Airport

2011-04-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

Still cannot believe that an F4 tornado hit St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Keep watching footage and scrolling through photos. St. Louis has become like another home to me, so I've come to know the airport quite well. I was there just two weeks ago and was really impressed by the improvements taking place. Hopefully this just makes it even better.

Hoping you are all well, and have sustained as little damage as possible or none at all. Your Lehigh family is thinking about you!

In Like a Lion...

2011-04-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Out like a lamb? Not quite. March was not our typical winter turns to spring. It was cold. Same with most of April. April shower bring May flowers. Ok that should be true this year.

Of course, I headed out of town as soon as another blast of warm air arrived in Bethlehem. But I did catch a bit on Saturday, April 9 during our biggest visit day of the year (which was great - everything seemed to go so smoothly, particularly since the rain passed through overnight, volunteers helped direct traffic to the correct garages, and the student, faculty, and staff participation was so strong!).

Once I got to St. Louis that Saturday night, I realized what Bethlehem was going to experience. It was such a great feeling to step outside of Lambert Intl and soak in the warmth at 9pm!!! Sunday morning felt great, too - perfect blue skies, chirping birds, and LEAVES ON THE TREES! I've almost forgotten what blossoms and leaves look like, so I'm thankful for the reminder.

That Sunday in St. Louis, I went to brunch with two of my college counselor friends. It's really comforting to have such a welcoming, friendly network of colleagues here. I left there to head to the house of parents of a current first-year student. Chris and Vicky yet again hosted a great admitted student event, which brought together the Lehigh family here in St. Louis (a model for other areas - really, they are remarkable! Kind people who are passionate about Lehigh and want others to know it.) It wasn't just warm at that point though - it was flat out HOT. But I'll take that over cold any day. After, I headed to dinner with two of the mothers, Mary Ann (class of '76) and Teresa, that I've come to know quite well. Again, I had great company. Two new restaurants in one day, too. I really couldn't have asked for a better day! (Thumbs up to both: Schneithorsts and Bar Italia)

On Monday, I attended the Missouri Association of College Admissions Counselors (MOACAC) conference - got to see so many great people! - where I helped with one of the sessions, did some professional development, etc. LOVED the view from the conference room area in the Four Season's hotel - overlooked the Mississippi River.

Later that day I enjoyed a quick outdoor dinner with colleagues from Vanderbilt and SMU, and then I headed off to the Four School College Fair at the Center of Clayton - which is an amazing place. Clayton in general fascinates me, especially since I am studying suburbs, successful cities, etc. in my current grad school class. It is interesting to see how the community has great fitness, pool, gym, etc. facilities at the high school that the students can use but that the community can take advantage of, too. It's then surrounded by shops, restaurants, single family homes, beautiful apartment/condo buildings, etc. Love to see such a walkable area...

Another great Four School Fair meant I was exhausted - I had so many great conversations that when I finally had a moment to rest, I couldn't believe there just 25 minutes left of the 2 hour fair! Hoping to see continued growth for Lehigh in St. Louis as a result.

After breakfast with a mother of a current student Tuesday morning, I headed off to Phoenix - talk about beautiful weather! As much as I enjoyed some exercise outside, my busy scheduled continued - dinner with parents of a current sophomore Tuesday night (Red Devil, just for Dallas '13), lunch with an independent college counselor Wednesday (Chloe's Corner in Kierland), dinner with a current student and his mother Wednesday night (Nick's Italian Restaurant), lunch with counselors on Thursday (Chelsea's Kitchen), and then the Phoenix Admitted Student Event (such a great mix of students, parents, and alums!) Thursday night. Phew! I was exhausted! But my time there was spent with so many great people it was worth it. And the food was delicious - love learning new places to visit while in town. AND YES. I did go to Paradise Bakery several times. My addiction continues....

I also got to see some family - my oldest sister now lives in AZ while my other sister was in town for a conference. While we were all unsure that we could all make it out alive after a few days together, it worked out just fine. Even spent a nice dinner together at Z Tejas (EXCELLENT guacamole!) in Fashion Square, and split 2 Sprinkles cupcakes. Also spent quality time with my (as we call him) nephew - aka my eldest sister's dog. He's quite hyperactive, so there was a lot of laughter as I watched him chase his own tail, sprint around the apartment for no reason, affectionately attack me, etc.

So that's about it for now. Busy times back in the office as we saw nearly three times the number of visitors on Monday as we did at the same time last year. Who knows what Good Friday will bring! Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

No word on the wait list yet, either - will keep you posted.

Til then,

Jessica

Decisions posted online

2011-03-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Anytime now my co-worker will be "flipping the switches" and making it possible for students to learn our decision regarding their application. The anxiety and excitement in the office has been growing all day! Best wishes to all!

Office Construction

2011-03-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

In the midst of finalizing decisions, we're gaining some office space. Overall, it's a much more efficient use of our limited space. Instead of having several offices with three people, we'll be ensuring that offices have two people max. We couldn't be more excited! (Makes phone calls much easier!) The photo above was done in the first day or two of construction (which started around March 10) - it's incredibly fast. They have been working mostly on electrical aspects the past few days, so the progress isn't as visible as you would think. Here's where things stand today:

We Can See the Light at the End of the Tunnel!

2011-03-08T16:51:00.000-08:00

So we spent the week or so after my last post finishing reading regular decision applications - a week or so earlier than normal, thanks to our electronic processing and reading system. This allowed us an entire two weeks to shape the class - this is an incredibly daunting process, so the more time we have, the better. Every student is reviewed by the committee in the group setting, which means that there is a different opinion for each person in the room. While I cannot recreate any conversation in particular, I can say that we are thorough, debating every aspect possible. This is when we really get to know our applicant pool - and each other.

It's interesting to see how students from Indiana differ from those from Colorado, which is certainly different from those in Queens, NY or local Bethlehem, PA. These differences really allow us to balance the class in fun ways - pulling in students with a wide variety of talents, experiences, opinions, backgrounds, and more. By the end of the day today, we all felt quite comfortable with where the class stands, and thus we can move to the next step. It's sad to think about all of the amazing students we can't take, but we grow increasingly excited about those to whom we are able to offer admission.

Now I know you are all waiting to hear about our decisions - and I can understand that. But getting decisions online and in the mail is much more difficult than you would think. First, we "convert" preliminary decisions to final decisions. What this means is that we avoid making mistakes, sending letters to students before we are ready. After they are final decisions, we then begin the printing process - this is incredibly tedious since the offer letters include information about admission to special programs (IBE, IDEAS, South Mountain College, etc.) and merit scholarships. Once the letters are printed, each one, quite literally, is reviewed to ensure the information in the letter is correct for that specific student. We couldn't thank our data entry and support staff anymore for the great work they do with these. It allows the counselors to look ahead to the upcoming on-campus programs (Junior Open House, busy visit days in April, on-campus admitted student events, etc.) and off-campus travel (college fairs for juniors and admitted student events). It would be a difficult balance without the staff checking letters - so I think everyone should be grateful for the accuracy of our notifications each year.

In the meantime, the Office of Financial Aid is busy working on need-based aid packages. The counselors are evaluating information submitted and developing the aid packages that contain grants, work-study, and (minimal) loans. Then once they print and check their letters, they send them up to our office so that those being offered admission, submitted paper work on time, and who have a demonstrated financial need, can receive need-based aid information along with their admission decision. Some parents and students complain about the financial aid deadlines we have, but the benefit is that we are able to send everything out together - if we extended deadlines into March, financial aid packages would not be completed until mid to late April. (I have to give a quick shout out to everyone in financial aid for their hard work during this time of year! They are incredibly efficient and accurate as well!)

These days I'm working on web pages for all of our admitted student events, which are on and off-campus, in April. I'm making sure registrations work, links to important documents are functioning properly, and that the admitted student portal has a calendar that is easy to read. In the back of my mind, I'm also looking forward to seeing some of my high school counselors, alums, and parents of current students when I travel in April. It'll be here before you know it, which is crazy to me. Feels like the years have flown by.

Off to book my flights for April and watch Glee (since it's spring break, I don't have to read for a Thursday grad class this week and can actually watch a TV show the night it actually is on TV!)

Have a great night!

Early Decision II news

2011-02-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note on this Valentines' Day - we have posted Early Decision II results. EDII Applicants can now see their decision in their portal accounts.

For those admitted: Congratulations! And please remember: If you trying to submit your enrollment deposit, you will need to follow the instructions in your offer letter and open your admitted student portal - this is not the same account where you see your admissions checklist and decision.

Regular decision students - we wish we could let you know, too, but we're still reading your applications! Look for news in late March - I'll post here, there will be news on the admissions blog, and a message on Facebook when the portals show Regular Decision decisions....which sounds odd, but it is what it is so we can roll with it.

How is it February?

2011-02-13T16:27:00.001-08:00

Once again, it's been far too long of a break. Work and grad school certainly keeps me busy these days. That leaves me with so much to say!!! Including, how is it the middle of February already? It feels like we just started reading Early Decision applications last week...in reality, it's been 2 months. Wow. So instead of covering every detail of travel and reading in one marathon post, I will start my triumphant return with a quick update about a few things I was able to do over the past few days.

February is Black History Month, which means we have a ton of events here at Lehigh. On Thursday, between work and class, I was able to attend the information session Lehigh's Multicultural Greek Council. It was great to learn more about the culturally-based Greek organizations - I'm really proud of what they have to offer our students of all backgrounds. Yes, they provide amazing support for their multicultural members; but, they also bring a attention to the value of diversity, though, which is always great to see. I am a firmly believer in learning about and appreciating differences, so I'm especially proud of organizations that make it a point to nurture diversity. I look forward to their continued growth and programs at Lehigh.

On Saturday night, I was able to scoot over to campus for the Vagina Monologues, a show put on as a stand against violence against women around the world. The monologues are acted out by students, faculty, and staff at Lehigh (and many other places across the country). They range from funny to powerful, but always are educational and supportive. One of the most significant parts for me, though, was at the beginning when two males students provided some statistics that made the presence of men at the show so important and impressive. I was also quite proud because one of my co-workers read the monologue, "I Was in the Room," which is about being present at the birth of a child - it was incredibly meaningful and therefore touching because she actually had been in the room when her granddaughter was born a few months ago. So touching! And then there's the fact that one of the producers (directors? both? I'll be honest and say that I'm not really sure...) is the one and only Emilia, one of our bloggers. I don't think it's possible to truly understand what she's put into the 3-show production over the past 6 months or so, but the little that I do know makes me just so proud of her. It was wonderful and raised awareness and money for a very important cause.

Ok that's it for now - more to come in the near future. I promise! More frequent posts = shorter posts, right? We'll see how it goes as we finish reading applications. Off to do some reading for my grad school class!

Jess

Amazing College/Guidance Counselors

2010-09-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t do my job, particularly with enthusiasm, if it weren’t for the amazing students and counselors with whom I get to work. The start of travel again has brought many counselors back into my life, and thus I feel it’s appropriate at this point to talk about how fortunate I am to work with adults who want to make a difference in the world by guiding students in directions that are appropriate for each individual student.

St. Louis was my first trip of the year, and it certainly reminded me of the good people there. I was able to visit with counselors at each school for some time, continually building relationships with the counselors that go beyond just superficial discussions about Lehigh and their schools, and even past basic comments on the students who are considering Lehigh.

The counselors who are able to set aside even just a few minutes of their time for me understand the value in us getting to know each other. – the more we know each other, the easier it is to help the students. Of course, these counselors let me know the strengths of the students that might not come alive in an application, listen to what Lehigh is looking for and thinks critically about who might be a good fit, and know to call or email questions so that they can advise future students as best as possible. The respect that is built lends itself to openness and honesty – something that benefits everyone in a field that appears so confusing, scary, and misguided for many.

Because these wonderful people have learned about me, as a person and not just an admissions counselor, I feel comfortable calling them whenever I have a question about a student or their school. I can easily enjoy their company over lunch and/or dinner – meaning I spend less time alone on this recruitment road that leaves most lonely. I just can’t say enough about my counselors – while they are many great ones out there, I like to think that mine are the best.

y short time in Kansas City also reminded me of this. Public school counselors in most areas are oftentimes kept so busy with general counseling duties that the college piece is overlooked. But at one school in particular, I know this critical role is not ignore. One counselor takes the time to think about the students at the school and who might be a good fit for Lehigh before I arrive at the visit. She’ll call students out of class that she feels is appropriate, and supports them throughout their process. This counselor goes out of her way to call down students she feels is appropriate – which has resulted in several applications and one enrollment. Now the numbers might not seem startling, but when you consider that without her intervention, a student would be in a completely different direction, you can start to appreciate the difference a counselor like this makes.

I was again reminded of how great some of these counselors are at dinner this past week – ten counselors that I’ve gotten to know from across the country joined me at dinner. It was just a great time – of course we discussed Lehigh, but we also chatted about admissions trends, a few other colleges and universities, food from certain parts of the country, my sleeping habits, and more. I consider myself quite lucky that I was able to gather such a random group of counselors who didn’t necessarily know each other and end up with a night that we all enjoyed. It was great to see many of my other counselors at our national conference (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) in St. Louis, and look forward to meeting a whole new group in Colorado.

I’ll certainly miss these people when I complete my career one day. They’ve played such an instrumental role in my growth – it’s difficult to imagine not seeing them once or twice a year. They aren’t just counselors to me – instead, I have friends all around this country; friends who help make the world a better place one student at a time. How lucky am I that I get to know them? Love it.

What a Degree is Worth

2010-08-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Rankings only tell part of a story, so I you should take them with a grain of salt - they are taking from thoughts people have (right or wrong, true or false), comments from an unscientific sampling, etc. But they might give you an idea about a school that you should investigate further. However, some are more quantitative - Wall Street Journal's list of the Top 20 Colleges That Offer the Best Return on Investment.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/30/top-20-colleges-that-offer-best-return-on-investment/

Not the first list of about value to which Lehigh has been named. But it's always good to see that something does come of the great education here. From starting salaries to long term income, Lehigh provides a great base - leadership, presentation, and communication skills, liberal arts base with technical opportunities, interdisciplinary and hands-on learning. I can't say enough. Like I said, though, it's nice to see the recognition.

Additionally, Bloomberg Businessweek did a study on the Return on Investment - looking at the money put into an education, and salaries coming out. Lehigh was 12th on that list. You can check that out at http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/bs_collegeROI_0621.html.

Far too often I hear that Lehigh is just too expensive - and I realize that $50,000 is a lot of money. But aid goes a long way, and for those who aren't eligible for aid, it's important to consider the end result. In my* personal experience, Lehigh was significantly more affordable than a public school in my home state. There wasn't even a choice! So my advice: consider all of the information - it's not just what you put into the education, it's also what you get out of it. That end result can vary drastically one school to another - so be sure to check out placement data, starting salaries, overall satisfaction of alumni (one popular measure is the rate by which alumni donate back to their alma mater).

*Everyone's situation is different. But you don't know until you try and thoroughly understand financial aid packages. They can be misleading at times!

NCAA Tournament

2010-03-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

Check out the attention CJ McCollum got: (check out the score! I stopped taking photos then, but there were many other great points in the game)

All I have to say is how impressed I was with the way they played against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament the other day. Kansas easily could have lost to Lehigh instead of Northern Iowa. The Lehigh family - from the students to alums (and a counselor!) in St. Louis and Phoenix - I've been in touch with are incredibly proud of how they played.

Here's one of my favorite articles about the game:

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/031910aaa.html

Unfortunately the women weren't in quite as close of a game - despite their heart and effort, their shooting was a bit off last night, so I can only imagine how frustrating it was for the ladies. Those kind of games can happen at any point, but you just never know when. In the end, it was a great, historic season as they finished with a record 29-4. I'd take that any day.

Our student-athletes are so interesting. Balancing academics with Division I athletics is challenging enough, and yet most are also involved in community service and have such strong character.

Great job Moutainhawks!

Tournament Time! Let's Go, Brown and White!

2010-03-17T12:39:00.001-07:00

Everyone in the Lehigh family is quite excited about our men's and women's basketball teams qualifying for the NCAA tournaments - nothing like sweeping the league titles! We couldn't be happier for them.

The women scored back to back championships, finishing with just 3 losses this season!! I wish I could have been there - watching them win last year is one of my most favorite Lehigh memories. I was personally surprised by the seeding the woman received for the NCAA tournament - with their record, I thought they deserved to get higher than a 13 seed. In any case, I can't wait to watch them on Sunday!

I was able to watch the men beat our rival Lafayette in a great game last week, winning before senior standouts Zahir Carrington and Marquis Hall hand the team off to freshman CJ McCollum (the Patriot League Player of the Year who won several Patriot League Rookie of the Week and Player of the week awards this year, AND is 45th in Div I for points scored this year! Check out what KU has to say about him here). It's one of our most exciting basketball teams during my time here (almost 11 years!!), so it will be fun to see them in the tournament.

We all know the challenges that lie ahead for our teams - but that won't take away from our school spirit! I've been in touch with alums all over the country, and they can't wait to see the Mountain Hawks in their homes.

Check out some of the fun coverage of Lehigh thus far all over the web - my favorite is this video of Men's team travels to Oklahoma City:

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7165284/18659808

Saw this on our homepage - shows maps of where each team traveled, videos from along the way, and more. Really neat stuff!!!

GO MOUNTAIN HAWKS!!

El Nino Strikes Again...and Again...and Again

2010-02-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

I could let anymore time go by without talking about the weather in the past month or two. We had quite a bit of snow in February. It was a bit unusual for this part of the state - but I guess that's what you get in an El Nino year. Plus, most of the storms this winter hit Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark, etc. much harder than here. In mid February, we had quite the storm, though. The Lehigh Valley got probably about 18-24 inches - which is a considerable amount for here. As I've mentioned many times before, I'm from lake effect snow country in NY, so it takes quite a bit of snow to phase me. This storm actually did impress me. Check out the photos I took outside of my house the day after:

(that pile of snow is as tall as the cars immediately behind it)

Because we were forecasted to receive so much, and because of the timing of it all, we had to close the university for a day. I was incredibly jealous that I couldn't make it to campus, though, because the students organized a snowball fight which ~200-300 attended. Check out a great story about the first snow day since 2003 (my senior year) from Lehigh's newspaper, The Brown and White, that includes video and photos. The YouTube video of what the students were up to is classic.

Just as quickly as all of that snow came, the weather changed. It has been absolutely beautiful here - temperatures jump up to the 60s and low 70s last week and throughout the weekend. Blossoms have started to pop out on the trees. This is the best time of year here - in my opinion. I love the look of campus in the spring, coming back to life, and exciting the community - I'm sure many of the tours in the past week have seen studying, playing frisbee, and just plain relaxing on the UC Front Lawn - quite the sight.

I hope you're able to see campus in the next few weeks and share in my joy. Back to planning my April travel to NM, AZ, and MO. Have a great day!

Oh New Mexico, How I Miss You

2010-02-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

While we’re months into reading thousands of applications (and therefore sitting for hours), it is a nice break to think back to fall travel when we were constantly on the go - we seem to go from one extreme to another. As you know, I spent about 9 days in Arizona – which is always great. But I headed to New Mexico while getting over a sickness, which was no so great. Fortunately, seeing that familiar, beautiful landscape does nothing but bring a smile to my face.

I landed in Albuquerque after panicking the night before – I had to change outgoing flights for my return home (which would be a week later) and in the process my flight between Phoenix and Albuquerque was cancelled. But PHEW! The travel agency was great in re-booking me, making sure I arrived in time to grab dinner, shockingly enough at the Chick-fil-A that was just down the road from my hotel (what a great surprise!), before for my first interview.

At the informal interview, it was great to finally meeting a student for whom I planned a visit back in May – since it was the day I was leaving for my honeymoon, our paths weren’t able to cross at that time.

Before I knew it, it was dark; who knew what I’d see the next morning…As I was getting ready Thursday morning, it all seemed typical. I knew the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was taking place, but I had no idea that when I walked out of the hotel I would see hot air balloons EVERYWHERE. It was amazing. When I arrived at Sandia Prep, I found one balloon right above us:

(It was actually a lot closer than it looks)

And then there was one in the distance landing behind the Bosque School:

And over by St. Pius X, I had a great view of the Sandia Mountains:

Apparently the winds were a bit strong for ballooning that day, and brought some into the downtown area – I heard about a broken leg and a few other injuries from the balloons coming down in a couple precarious places. It appeared as though that was very normal for locals, but an interesting surprise for this newbie.

While my day started on this very high note, it did come to an end. As it turns out, H1N1 hit the area quite hard by then, and there were significant absences in the schools – 2/3 were out sick in one school! Needless to say, while my visits weren’t all that productive, I consider myself lucky for not getting sick again.

I did take some time to enjoy the Balloon Fiesta – something I now firmly believe everyone should experience once in their life. A friend joined me, so watched take-off on a few mornings, and attended the “Glow-deo” one night – where you can walk around the balloons and every few minutes they light them up (nothing like it elsewhere!). Here are a few of the photos from a Special Shapes Mass Ascension, Special Shapes Glow-deo, and general Mass Ascension:

I learned that green chili breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls were two critical components to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. While I'm not much of a burrito person - in fact my co-worker Brian, who loves the New Mexican cuisine, tells me how shameful it is that the pickiest eater travels to a state with such unique, delicious food - I did LOVE the availability of cinnamon roll type options. That's right up my ally. I could not resist. (I have to acknowledge, though, that I've never seen such a variety of foods in general. The options in the park really covered just about everything.) I should also mention that I love the local chain, Flying Star Cafe. Great menu, atmosphere, etc. I have yet to give in and have dessert though...one of these days...

We also learned a bit more about the history of the area by trekking along 2 trails in the Petroglyph National Monument. I showed her the amazing views from Sandia Peak Tramway.

My remaining time was spent being shocked at the interest in Lehigh that I saw at the big college fair (always good to see name recognition, students who have done research, etc.), visiting schools in Santa Fe and Los Alamos, and connecting with a few community based organizations. I think there is some significant growth possible for Lehigh in New Mexico – it’s a diverse population with great cultural ties that we would love to have shared more frequently on our campus, there are many remarkable companies in the state doing work that require the types of education we provide, and many transplanted families who are more inclined to have students attend college far from home.

One of the most interesting experiences I have each year in New Mexico is the trip to the United World College (UWC) –USA in Montezuma, NM. The students there are from all over the world and have the strong desire to learn in an incredibly diverse environment. The stories they tell me about their lives are fascinating - makes you stop and think about your life and the world differently.

With all of that information in mind, we recently decided that I will be attending a case studies program in Albuquerque in April and hope to catch up with some of our alums then, and then will return in October for a college fair. I couldn't be happier - they are amazing students and I'm thrilled to do even more to be in contact with them.

Ok, time to get back to reading applications - next time I'll tell you about our February snow, and let you know how I spent my time in St. Louis.

Jessica

Lehigh's first snow day of the 2009-2010 year

2010-02-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note before I really get going with reading applications (it is February after all). It's our ~4th snow storm of the winter (compared to the last few years when it never really felt like winter), and wow - this one seems to have actually really hit us. Most of the storms this year have been too far south or east, hitting Philadelphia and the state of NJ pretty hard and leaving us with a few inches of snow. But this one seems to be giving us a bit more than we can handle. Thus, the university closed today - a bit of a shocker in my book since it takes A LOT for that to happen. We have a great crew that cleans the walkways on campus, so normally it's just an issue of getting essential staff (professors, dining hall employees, etc.) to campus. It must be pretty bad out there. A quick thanks to all of those who make it in on a day like to support our students - you do great work and it is very much appreciated!!

The closing and the snow, though, is nothing I personally have to worry about. Despite the fact that the area schools and most businesses are closed, I can work from home. In fact, today I was supposed to anyway - reduces distractions so that we can read more applications. So other than having my husband at home, who enjoys bugging me so I'm sure it's going to be a really "fun" day (at least it's worth heating the whole house today, so I won't have to rely on my trusty space heater), it's status quo for me. *sigh* How things change.....A snow day means very little to me now.....these are the times when I realize I'm not a really big kid and instead am an adult - the days when I realize I'm no longer in high school in Upstate NY when we used to wear pjs inside out and backwards as a foolproof (ok maybe it didn't always work) way of getting a day off. Of course, back then, we would have school despite 6 inches of snow overnight...

Speaking of students - I'm sure the Lehigh students are enjoy their day off. ...this is when you can think about students being that cross between an adult and child. A snow day is nice when you are in college, but great when you attend Lehigh and you have a variety of hills to sled down - and oh yes, they will go out in force. I'm sure there will be a number of snowball fights and other fun in the snow, too. It's actually really endearing - they go from being such incredibly bright and hardworking growing adults to little kids just wanting to have some fun. I love it. I wish I lived closer to campus to witness some of their simple joy!

Ok that's it for now - once I go through some applications today I hope to post about my trip to New Mexico.

For those of you affected by snow: take a lesson from the Lehigh students -have fun! If you have to go out, please drive safely!

Oh New Mexico...what different weather that post contains...

What takes so long? I'll try to explain.

2009-12-31T12:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post today - much more to come in the future (after all, I do have to tell you about my time in New Mexico! What a trip!).

The past two weeks have been full of me finishing up some projects and getting somewhat caught up in email - and some vacation time (had a white-ish Christmas in Upstate NY that ended with driving back to PA in lake effect snow off of Lake Ontario AND Lake Erie!). Mostly, though, the office has been working on processing and evaluating applications. They just keep coming in this time of year, so data entry is filled with busy bees, scanning the documents, matching them up with the applicants, and more. Meanwhile, the counselors are reading and evaluating all of the documents and contemplating decisions with the committee. This will all continue until all applicants and their documents are in the system and read.

I know many people wonder why many colleges and universities don't provide admissions decisions before March or April - a perspective I can understand. After all of the effort students put into their applications, they are eager to know the result. And while it might be possible for admissions counselors anywhere to make decisions more quickly, that would mean the applicants would not be reviewed as closely. College admissions counselors respect students far too much to rush or ignore entire application pieces the students worked so hard completing just to get a decision out the door. Additionally, we want to see the best in and we want the best for the students. Thus, we want to make sure we need to spend some time reading applications in order to understand each student's abilities, dreams, and more - a process with fascinating results. (From what I read, this country and the world have an incredibly bright future - I can't wait to see what happens!)

Once we have read and evaluated one application, with perhaps 20 pages of information, we need to make a recommendation on a decision (some are easier than others) and move the application through committee before we move onto the next applicant. What makes this process take even longer is the mere quantity of information and applicants. Consider 20 pages of information for each student times the number of applicants - last year we had just over 12,000. That's 24,000 pages of information that we evaluate between December and March. Phew!

If you want to understand this further through some humor, check out a recent youtube video our colleagues at University of Delaware filmed. You'll pretty quickly see that admissions counselors are not cold, cranky, uncaring people, but just the opposite - unique and creative individuals with passions, personalities, and the desire to help students reach their goals through their most appropriate means.

What I haven't even touched on here is the processing part - how we receive 10,000 applications and corresponding pieces submitted separately are matched together to form the files we read. That clearly can be a complicated process but our data entry staff are champs - their accuracy is amazing. And as great as they are, that still takes a while to get it all organized, processed, updated in our system, etc.

So again, while I wish we could provide more instant gratification, we do want to make sure we have the right pieces for each student and evaluate them thoroughly. We want to make sure we won't enroll so many students we can't fit them in the classroom, while at the same time we do need to bring in a class. As a result, a few months pass before we can finalize our decisions.

Hope I've helped you understand a little bit more about our process. Until next time, have a great day!

Desert living

2009-12-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

I headed into travel season with a mix of emotions - excited to return to the people and places I've come to know quite well, frantic because I had been busy with new web projects I was trying to get going before I left, and exhausted because I traveled each day over 4 days leading into my flight out. was even eager to exercise each day as part of a new travel mindset I was trying to employ. I was determined to be healthier than ever. This time frame goes much smoother when you feel good.

So on September 28 I headed out to warm - no, HOT - Arizona. This always excites me for many reasons. One, I am a warm weather person - I'd rather be in 100 degrees than 30 degrees on any given day. Also, the landscape is completely different - it's a beautiful sight that we don't have on the east coast. Most importantly, being across the country, I love working with students who have an open mind about coming to Lehigh - who are excited about what they've learned and want more details, who are eager to experience something different for a few years of their life, and more. I am not sure I could have done what they are considering, so hear how much they look forward to trying something new is inspiring. Plus, it shows how unique they are - how they are willing to go against the grain because so many of their classmates opt to stay at or near home to attend college with their high school classmates.

Whenever I am in Arizona, I have a difficult time accepting the fact that I'll always be 3 hours behind. So, to ease my mind a bit, this year I opted to try to stay on east coast time as much as possible. Going to sleep by 9 AZ time and getting up at 4 presented some interesting challenges - by the time I headed to my visit first, I was ready for a nap, I wanted lunch at 10:30am, and I had informal interviews and college fairs that would finish around 9. While those nights weren't the easiest, it felt great to get up, fit in a short work-out, get some work done, and get ready with slightly less of a rush. On many mornings I actually sat down for breakfast! If you read my previous post, you'll understand how rare that is!

Tucson went well (despite still needing the GPS...it's not as easy to learn it when you're only there a day or two each year) - with an especially great visit at BASIS Tucson. It's one of the featured schools in the documentary Two Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution. I just wish I had been there for the viewing! BASIS Tucson is one of many great charter schools in Arizona filled with students who love to learn, are driven, and have interesting passions. As a result, I also go to many in the Phoenix Metro. Another of note is Chandler Prep - it's currently in an old movie theater, so it makes for a fascinating visit. I didn't take photos there, and in the next year they likely will be moving into a new, more traditional space, so I feel I missed an opportunity (Chandler Prep students - if you want to send me a photo or two of a classroom, I'd be happy to post it!).

I was kept busy the rest of the week in the Phoenix metro with more high school visits, interviews and a college fair before I headed up to Sedona. Check out some of my photos:

View of Catalina Mountains in Tucson from hotel room

CLUTCH contemplated climbing Squaw Peak in Phoenix despite my recommendation...I climbed it as I was out of shape 2 years ago, and I thought I was going to die. On the bright side, I made it to the peak!

View from Phoenix Mountains Park (Squaw Peak is behind us) looking toward downtown.

CLUTCH checking out Bell Rock in Sedona

Believe it or not, half of the restaurants and shops are in the light area even with CLUTCH's eye.

Appropriately named Coffee Pot Rock

Sedona....or West Sedona....not really sure where the line is drawn....but it has a nice backdrop...

Small, but a panoramic shot of the view from the Sedona airport.

So I was doing really well on my east coast time based schedule, and felt like I was accomplishing a lot, despite the attempt by my allergies to slow me down. So imagine my surprise when I started to feel incredibly fatigued while in Sedona. Good thing it was after my two interviews there! It hit with full force while I was taking the scenic route from Sedona to back Phoenix, through Cottonwood, Jerome, and more - you wind your way up the mountain range where there are some stunning views looking north toward the red rocks in Sedona. Then you wind your way back down the other side of the range with spectacular views of the south. It was somewhere in there that I realized something was wrong. It took until I was nearly back in Phoenix, as the temperature slowly rose entering the valley, for me to recognize I had a fever. I kept the AC off when it was 88 degrees and rising outside the car while sun was beating down on me. Oh yes, I had been in denial.

Thankfully, there was a CVS next to my hotel that I was able to visit to get some relief. (Just picture me sitting in the pharmacy waiting area taking my temperature with a thermometer I just purchased.) Once my fever was confirmed, I quickly bought medicine and headed over the house of a current student. His mom invited me for dinner, despite me being sick, and I had a great time. I am absolutely indebted to this family, now, for taking me in while I was sick, providing me with a home-cooked meal (chicken and rice - two of my favorites!), and good conversation. When I returned to my hotel, though, I crashed - not waking up until almost 7:00 the next morning (which you know is far past my new 4am wake-ups). I felt so bad I had to cancel my school visits for the day. But as my sister reminded me, I had a busy schedule for the week and it was important for me to get well. But a respiratory infection wasn't going to stop me for more than a few hours.

I slept enough that day that I was able to hold my interviews that night, which was invigorating. The students were quite interesting and had good questions. I can't wait to read their applications! While I made it through that night and visits the next day, I had to cancel my dinner with alums that I had scheduled the following night. I was disappointed because while I've gotten to know a few of our many alums in the state, this was going to be a great opportunity to meet more and share updates about Lehigh with them. I'm sure I'll be out again in April, so hopefully another opportunity will present itself.

And thus, my time in Arizona came to an end - perhaps in not as healthy of a state as I had hoped. Some quick favorites: Latin radio stations (I love the Spanish language), the sun, random mountains, John Jay and Rich (radio personalities), and Paradise Bakery and Cafe (the Fire Roasted Garlic Tomato soup and fruit salad are out of this world!!!! If you are in Phoenix - even just the airport, because there's a location there - and you don't make it to a Paradise Bakery, you are missing out!).

Next up: New Mexico - H1N1 and the Balloon Fiesta.

Things to remember about September...'09

2009-12-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

It does seem like ages ago, but as an attempt to catch everyone up on my life at Lehigh, I do need to step back in time for a few posts. September was quite the busy month for me. I'm in charge of posting dates and details for off-campus programs, on-campus events, and more. Obviously, there's a lot that needs to go up that is related to our fall travel and campus visitors. Additionally, I do recruitment travel, so I need to figure out when I'm going to each place, how long I'll be there, which schools I need to visit and get those scheduled, when I'll offer off-campus informal interviews (not required), where I'll stay, how I'll get there and around once I land, and more. There's a lot of coordination that has to take place.

As far as a few specifics: The president held a town hall meeting with the faculty and staff of the university, letting us know where we are with our strategic plan, introducing us to our new provost, and providing us with an update on our finances. Here's a quick shot from the beginning of it:

As my travel season approached, we had our big National Conference in Baltimore. A few of my co-workers and I headed down to gather with about 5,000 college, guidance, and admissions counselors from across the country and around the world. I love the conference because it's provides us with great information about trends we're seeing in the college admissions field, opportunities and ideas for changes and collaborations, and more. It can be a bit overwhelming, though, when you see many people you know that you have to place and name in seconds. I love seeing them all, but it certainly keeps me on my toes. It's almost a fun quiz. Uh oh...I think I've once again acknowledged that I'm a competitive dork.....

But anyway, September kept me busy in my personal life, too. I started grad school - took just one class this semester. It felt great to be back in the classroom here though - I love to learn and be challenged intellectually, and the Intro to Environmental Policy Design course was just that - basically it was a philosophy class that presented us with different ways to approach environmental issues.

My husband (it's very funny for me to use this word....) had limited vacation after our honeymoon, etc. so we needed to use Labor Day weekend to visit my parents in Virgina. On the way down we spent some time with one of his college roommates and his wife in Baltimore. It was a great visit overall - beautiful weather, had fun reminiscing, and it was fascinating to see how our friend has grown so much since college. He's a an engineer by trade, and a community activist now in his spare time - he'll collecting signatures on different issues, drum up support for revitalization, and more. I'm so proud of him - he has so much passion for these projects!

Visiting my parents was nice as they live in a beautiful area.

My parents retired a few years ago and headed south to get warmer winters (but did not want anything too drastically different). Their house now has a great view of mountains, Labor Day fireworks (with the exception of the house across the street), and the moon rising behind the mountains.

September also meant seeing Kelly Clarkson at the Allentown Fair with my cousin - so nice to have her in the area! Here's 2 photos....though I admit not the best...I wasn't exactly front row, and my camera struggles at night...

The Allentown Fair brings in a lot of big acts, so it's always a good opportunity for students to get off campus and enjoy the area.

Also in September, which ended up being a crazy weekend for me, was the wedding of another one of my husband's college roommate's. I had to leave the conference in Baltimore early so that we could make the trek to an area in Massachusetts that was so rural the bride and groom referred to it by it's GPA coordinates. It was a beautiful wedding with an amazing backdrop. Here's a shot of it, though it doesn't do it complete justice.
A small Lehigh reunion of sorts, we got to see many of our friends that we rarely get to see since we've all spread out so much since graduation 6 years ago. Once we returned home the next day, I had to quick pack and be ready for my departure for Phoenix on the following day, which will be the topic of my next post.

Til then, have a great day!

It's December, so I'm willing to accept the arrival of snow.

2009-12-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

I have a lot to share from the past few months, but I thought I'd quick let everyone know about the weather here. It's actually been really nice - 10 degrees above average. Some great, warm, sunny weekends for almost a month straight.

However, snow is not only in the forecast for tonight, but it's also coming down as we speak. Doesn't look too bad right now, but could become messy as we go.

While you all know I'm not a huge fan of cold and snow, it really isn't too bad here in PA. Winter lasts maybe the traditional 3-4 months. It's December, so it's not surprising to see snow. I will deal just fine. However, as I have to run out today, we'll see if others can.

It's always interesting to me to see how Pennsylvanians react to snow. In Upstate NY, you know how to drive in it so it doesn't stop you until it's coming down 1-2 inches per hour. Here in PA, though, people will freak out with just a forecast of 3 inches - running to grocery stores to buy milk, eggs, and bread (what we call the French toast panic) as though we'll be snowed in for a week. Many typically also are very afraid to drive in snow, too, so the highways go from 55+ to 30mph. I'm not quite sure that's entirely necessary. Being a December baby, I learned how to drive in the snow when I turned 16, so I have a clear advantage. Ok so I need to be more patient. After all, I can understand we don't get 120 inches of snow for the season like Upstate NY.

All of the reactions to snow here, though, is quite interesting since we are in the Northeast. We get snow every year. It's actually normally covering the ground for much of February. So I have yet to figure out why the panic arises the way it does.

So I'm here, about to run some errands, hoping we can all keep it together over a few inches of snow. Let's not let it stop our lives. Let it just pretty up the lawns that are filled with holiday decorations. I'd be satisfied with that - after all, it's just not the holidays for me without the entire scene (see -I can admit that!).

Have a great weekend!

President Obama visits the Lehigh Valley

2009-12-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

Check it out some of the photos:
http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/all-obama-allentown-pictures-120409,0,1851351.photogallery

September, October, November....Where does the time go?

2009-12-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

I disappeared from blogging - AGAIN! For those who guess that meant it was recruitment time again, you are correct! It is always tough to balance that time in my life. An average day starts with waking up at 6, running around all day, and crashing around midnight. In the past I may have provided some insight into the day, but let me give you a few more details. You may be surprised by the life of an admissions counselor during "travel season."

I usually start my day with the alarm going off for 30 minutes starting around 5:30. Once I force myself up (I am a night owl, so this morning thing is a challenge!), I can't resist taking care of some emails. After sending a few, I rush to get ready for the day. And as usual, by 7:30am, I'm already running late. I've come to realize that doing anything on the computer in the morning sets me back, so despite how tempting it is, I'm trying to avoid the computer until I'm completely ready to go. Work always calls, though, so it's a constant battle between different responsibilities.(Yes, I admit it - I'm a workaholic!) Then there's the last minute double checking maps online verifying that I do know where I'm going - even without my GPS! (That's one of the benefit of traveling to the same places for 5 years.)

If I'm lucky, I'll grab breakfast from the hotel as I run to the car. Like I said, I struggle in the morning...Getting lunch can be tough on these days, so it's crucial I find time to eat breakfast - otherwise, I might not eat until 4 or 5pm. You all know by this point that I need my food, so going that long without putting something in my stomach is just not a good idea. I have found, though, that doing some grocery shopping when I arrive in a state will help with those especially hectic mornings (thank you Target!).

The largest chunk of my days on the road are my high school visits - I'll drive from school to school figuring out where to park, where to enter the building, getting visitor sticker after visitor sticker, and more. It's always an adventure! Each visit is a brings a surprise - will any students be there for me or will I have an entire room of them excited about Lehigh? Will I get to catch up with the great counselor I met the year before? One of my personal favorite parts of returning to schools is testing myself - can I get to the counseling office or career center without any instructions? My visual memory is tested but I succeed frequently. Oh the little victories that get me through my days....

While I do typically end up sharing the same Lehigh details school after school, the personalities at each visit that make them fun and unique, and keep me going. The eagerness to learn about a school they haven't heard of before in some schools mixes with the familiarity and excitement that comes from students who have visited, done their research, and/or know many current Lehigh students at other schools. It's a great balance when I'm in what we call our "outreach" travel. I really feel like I'm making a difference for these students.

I typically schedule about 5 of these visits a day, but if I'm lucky (some might not choose that word), I'll be able to visit schools that have longer/later hours (i.e. end at 3:30) and/or have many schools near each other so that I can reach out to up to 7 schools in a single day. Those days are tough - literally praying I can make it to each appointment on time - but are completely worth it when I meet the students who are so eager to learn more about Lehigh.

In the event that there's an AP test given or some other late scheduling conflict when I get to a school and I'm unable to see students, I'm able to quick grab lunch. I'll find the closest Chick-fil-a, Sonic, Subway, or Wegmans (depending on the state I'm in) and have a moment to relax. Otherwise, even a 10 minute window might provide the opportunity to eat while I drive....I just have to hope I don't get food all over me....I have a Tide-to-Go stick with me in my purse, desk at work, in the kitchen at home, and more. I was quite impressed with myself this year, though, as I had few, if any, food incidents.

Once I'm done with my visits for the day, I'll take a moment in my hotel room to breathe. In the hectic schedule of my day, stopping for a second is rare. Before I know it my 5 minute break is over and I'm off to meet with students for informal interviews (not required, purely informational) - I've meet some great kids in these, so it's a lot of fun. They give me a pulse on student lives, interests, thoughts on Lehigh, and the culture of an area. You never know what you will learn!

If I don't have interviews, I have a college fair or plans with an alum. Rarely do I have an evening free - something that I think surprised my one sister when I stayed with her in Arizona last year. "Downtime" means it's email time - from following with students I met that day to taking care of some of my other office responsibilities, I'm never short on work. Good thing it's interesting!

Somewhere in the middle of the interviews or between school visits and a college fair, I get to take a break for dinner. If I've planned it out right, it's about 45 mins of my day where I can actually eat a full meal (PF Changs/Pei Wei, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Wegmans in NY are some of my favorite places to eat, though I do try to find local places, too). Some feel weird eating alone, but in this job, if I couldn't find a way to be ok with it I'd be hungry or would stare at my rental car dashboard or hotel room much more than I already do. It's really not that bad either - from tvs to email, I keep busy while waiting for my delicious food. Eating at some of my favorite places is a perk of the job.

By the time I return to my room at night, I'm take care of a few more emails/projects. When I realize how late it is, I'll give a quick call to my husband then head to bed. It's a crazy schedule but it is filled with great people, lots of funny happenings throughout the days, some amazing views, and interesting cultural differences. I enjoy it all despite the exhaustion.

While I do love sharing Lehigh with so many people, I love when I have a moment to truly enjoy where I am. Oftentimes I have interviews, college fairs, and other meetings on weekends. But when I get a break, I try to get out in each place and experience it - to see the petroglyphs in Albuquerque, walk around the zoo in St. Louis (BEST zoo in the country, in my opinion), and to check out the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

Hope this sheds some light on the life of an admissions counselor in the midst of "travel season." Next time, (which will not be in 3 months) I'll give you some details about this year - where I went, what I saw, and more. Til then, have a great day!

September changes

2009-09-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hello again! It's been a while, so I apologize. Things have been quite busy lately with planning for upcoming travel, working on pages and registrations for upcoming events, and with visiting counselors. This is one of the busiest times of year in the office as most are trying to balance a variety of major activities.

We hosted 15 counselors from around the US/world on Sunday and Monday as part of our National Counselor Workshop held in conjunction with Lafayette College. It was beautiful weather their whole time here, and they were a great group, so it worked out quite well. Plus, Liz was running the program, so it was in good hands! I had three counselors in the program - two from charter schools in Arizona and one from the Kansas City metro. It was really nice to get to know them a bit outside of our daily activities - where they all have been incredibly helpful. They have opened their doors and are great at their job, so they really learn what the experience is like here to better identify students who would succeed here. Our students again shined (several who I recruited, so I like to take credit as though I'm actually somehow responsible for their intelligence, work ethic, and accomplishments! haha) as they interacted with the counselors - truly amazing to what them share what they know.

In other areas, we're in the midst of what we call "travel season." This means that many are out of the office recruiting students at high schools, college fairs, etc. etc. If you want to hear more about some of these experiences, you should check out our office blog - lehighadmissions.blogspot.com. Keep an eye out for how many different places our mascot, CLUTCH, travels. It's certainly making our adventures more exciting. While we love going out and seeing the world, it does mean that when you're in the office, it's incredibly quiet. What a change that is, after most of us being here regularly over the summer. We go from loud and involved in each others lives and excited when the students return, to not seeing each other for 2 months.

Another big change for the office is today. We're rearranging the office, so several people and their belongings are moving in and out of offices. While I won't be moving anywhere, I'm sad to see my two current office mates moving - and this is not about who's coming in with me (Laura and Dave). It's just that Dana, Brian and I get along quite well and oftentimes are working on projects that involved each other so it was a great mix (which sounds like a bad plan to separate us, which is not the case. There are many factors that go into the set up of the office).

So here's a tribute to the few months we had together - photos of Dana and her husband on Chick-fil-As cow appreciation day, and the three of us carrying class flags at last year's Freshmen Rally*.

Thank you, Brian and Dana - it's been a good few months!

Also changing is the weather and daylight. It's nice that after it finally did heat up as usually with some strong humidity, it's getting back into those sunny days with temperatures in the 70s.....perfect in my mind - except for the fact that it's too dark to run in the morning, and too dark to run by the time I get home from work. (I wish we could use a few more hours in each day - but it's a problem that only Stewie Griffin could solve in his cartoon world....) Mixed in with this beautiful weather, though, are some of those cool, rainy days that seem to be there to prepare us for November and December....oh well. I'll enjoy it while I have it by talking long walks over lunch!

Ok, time to book some more high school visits. Have a great weekend!

*Quick note: the Freshmen Rally is held during Orientation Weekend. It's basically a pep rally for the class - so that they get to know each other, the school, and the traditions. It starts with the parade of classes, where every class that has a living member has their flag carried to the stage. As many of the carriers are from the class that they are carrying, which is the case for Brian, Dana, and I in this photo. The rally involves many parts of the university, from the dance team and cheerleaders, to musical groups who help lead the alma mater - the first time the class sings it together. The Marching '97 play some of the fight songs so that the first-year students have the opportunity to learn those, as well. It's a great time, with alums, current, and new students all coming together to cheer for Lehigh.

Chick-fil-a is open! (and the students are back!)

2009-08-25T16:25:00.001-07:00

Ok so while the title of this may sound like I appreciate all of the dining halls and food court being open more than anything, it's not true. Students have returned to campus, and thus it's returned to normal around here!!! We like that.

In the summer, while there are some students around (and lots of visitors), it just feels a little bit empty. So yes, now that the fall semester has begun, it does means longer lines at our favorite lunch sites, and sometimes our parking spots are mysteriously taken. But the campus is alive - there's a buzz of activity and personalities that makes Lehigh Lehigh.

Our students are fascinating- we love hearing their stories about their lives, and about their research projects and study abroad experiences, etc. One in particular, I like to call a ray of sunshine - she can't help but make you smile! (Oh yes, Carmelita, we love that you're back from Copenhagen and in our lives for one more year - but do you really have to graduate and leave us?) Others are loud and boisterous - so we can hear them coming a mile away - but what they offer to life here is incredibly unique. Their zest for life and Lehigh keeps you going.

And still, others just amaze us. One student in particular just takes on everything he can - the South Mountain College program? Helping it grow and thriving in the unique environment. A time consuming, challenging major like architecture? He just shrugs off the fact that he'll be spending hours a week working on his studio drawings and says that since he dropped his formerly 5th class (which likely overloaded his schedule) he'll be fine. In fact, just as you think that as the professional you need to step in and NOT let him volunteer for admissions, there he is, telling you that he was up at 1am last night doing some research for our office without even being asked. Does he sleep? Oh to be young...and I know what you're thinking - and yes, I'm not that old. However, for me 10pm arrives with many, many yawns and heavy eyes....haha.

Anyway, these are just a few examples of our students - but what I love is that there are so many more. It keeps us on our toes!

Move-In Day 2009

2009-08-25T15:32:00.001-07:00

Welcome Class of 2013! I hope you had a smooth transition into your residence halls and classes. Wanted to let people know quickly about that day. Took a few photos to share, too.

Every year, Move-In Day is a great experience - hundreds of volunteers across the university assist in making it be as easy as possible on our families, typically in crazy colored matching t-shirts so that we can easily be spotted. This year it was orange.......at least it was better than the fluorescent green from a few years ago. I love the staff the chooses the colors, but...really?

Our volunteers - students, faculty, and staff - carry boxes into the residence halls, literally taking the load off of many students and parents. (It's crazy, though, how much stuff students bring. ...I admit, though, that I was one of those ridiculously over-packed types......I believe my theory was, "What if I might need this at some random point? I should have it with me. I'm packing it." ....what did I do to people????) Other volunteers help with directions, parking, and/or check-in.

Each year I volunteer to help with check-in - it's the easiest way I can see the students I've worked with over the past year or two. It really is a neat experience to see all of our hard work come to fruition. Seeing our students moving in really reminds what it is all about. They're so cute, too - most have mix of nerves and anxiety about the unknown combined with an excitement about the journey they are starting.

This day is a bit strange since we're out and about around campus helping out in different ways and greeting our students. One family came to Admissions to see me - they are from Tucson and I hadn't met the student's mother before., so I really appreciated it!

I usually go to the lunch for these families, too, since it's more of an opportunity to check in on them. It was great this year because I ran into a student from Phoenix/Scottsdale and her family - it was great chatting with them, especially since I started working with her during her junior year spring break and she committed to Lehigh in early decision. Lots of love for Lehigh already!

I was hoping to see more of my students that just started, but only saw a handful - hopefully I'll see more in the coming weeks.

Here's a pic from the end of the hot, humid lunch outside of Rauch Business Center.

Later on, I went to the Class of 2013 welcome - what a great Dean of Students staff and group of Orientation Leaders we have! They made me laugh a lot - as seen probably in my Twitter posts. Here's a photo of the Orientation Leaders doing the, "Lehigh Rumble" - one of the traditions here.

It was an especially busy but fun day because that night, many of my co-workers and I (and friends/family) joined us at the Iron Pigs double header. Nothing like a little AAA Baseball to cap off an evening! Here's when our group was listed up on the scoreboard - can't you tell? Not only does it have Lehigh Admissions Office, but if my memory serves me well I think it also said something about us being the greatest people ever.....maybe....

Ok so the iphone doesn't exactly take the best photos. But we did have a great time with beautiful weather and each other. It was our last hurrah before we all leave to recruit across the country and the world.

So that was Move-In Day, busy but fun. Hope we can welcome you one day!

Summer Cleaning

2009-08-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Started a post a few weeks ago and I'll finish that one soon. For now, I just wanted to give you an idea of what I've been up to since it's been a while.

Summer is typically the time when we can catch up on all of the projects and organizing we've wanted to get done for months - unfortunately, I've wanted to do some massive cleaning/sorting/recycling for years and have been unable to do it, so I have a lot to take care of now. I spent all of today doing this, my second full day this summer; even though I have more to do I feel good about my progess. I don't need the step-by-step directions for Hopkins High School to Edina High School in Minnesota that I had to print off 3 years ago; we have a better technology now. I certainly don't need the fair information for those I attended 4 years ago; we have all of that information in our database. And I don't need the agendas to meetings I attended a year ago when I kept notes on separate sheets of paper. It's just a bit of spring cleaning, in July and August.

While I am doing this, I'm thinking about all of the other things I need to be doing - but couldn't with the mounds of papers on my desk and cluttered throughout my files. I just finished building the fall calendar that you can see in a new format now - you can click on things and get more details, etc. I just need to make some updates to it already so that you can also click on directions, full details, and more - just like to keep it as easy for all of you as possible; I don't like to leave anyone down path they want to go back on so it'll take some time to finish the connections.

I'm also thinking about my travel for this fall - need to get the general schedule finalized so that I can begin to schedule my high school visits, send out postcards for off-campus interviews, book flights, and more. Then all of the web projects - posting Open House and other event dates, getting registrations up and running, updating the way we share contact information for the counselors, etc. etc. The list grows every day.

So here I am, in the midst of getting situated for another year, busy as a bee. I took my little trips in the past two months, so I'm in all August working hard. Let me know if you have any suggestions for the web!

Have a great night!

Lehigh Valley - still a great place to live

2009-07-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

Didn't get a chance to post or Twitter the other day, but I took Thursday afternoon off to head 10 minutes south of campus to watch the US Women's Open at Saucon Valley Country Club. Pretty amazing experience - shows once again the variety of things to do here in the Lehigh Valley.

Got to see a lot of great players, namely Inkster and Pak - holy cow do they hit the ball. Didn't get to see everyone I had wanted since I couldn't take the morning off (had a marketing meeting). Very lucky today, though, as we just learned we have access to two tickets for the final round today! While we might get there a bit late, we'll still get to watch the end, which is the best part anyway.

That's why this post has to be so short - need to head out to get over there. Can't wait to see Ochoa and Creamer! Also, glad I can show my husband the #2 green- you have to see it in person to understand how crazy it is. Did anyone see Inkster's struggle with it yesterday? If you did, you have an idea of what I'm talking about.

In the end, I love that we have the opportunity to see these kind of things here - hoping we can get the PGA here at some point. The Senior tour has played at Saucon Valley CC a few times in the past 20 years - now we have the LPGA Open. I think it speaks to not only the quality of the course but also the area - there's a great shopping and dining 5 minutes or less from the course at the Promenade Shops. Then 10 minutes north they can explore the south side with great mom and pop restaurants and shops and soon to be BethWorks site with more entertainment. The north side has a lot, too, and I believe they are staying at Hotel Bethlehem right on historic Main St. Not to mention the visiting fans have been able to check out the Iron Pigs at night as they've been home against the AAA Yankees and Red Sox the past few days. Plus there's Dorney Park...etc. etc. I think you catch my drift.

Ok, time to go watch some great golf!! Hope to not get burned again!

Summer Admissions Staff and Territory Changes

2009-07-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

Have been quite busy over the past few months. Contrary to popular belief, we don't have the summer off - in fact, for me I've been just as busy as I am the rest of the year. I have had lots of web work - doing some benchmarking (what do other schools do?), research (what would counselors want on web pages designed for them?), updating (the application forms are now active for students interested in entering in the Fall of 2010), and more. Plus now I'm planning my fall travel, taking on some student interns, so that just adds to the craziness. But it's good - means we're accomplishing a lot of great things.

Overall it's been a nice summer - weather was unusually cool for a while, which meant it was perfect in my mind! The 70s and sun reminded me of my childhood in Upstate NY. Can't beat sitting outside for lunch, playing tennis in the evenings, etc. Of course the real summer decided to arrive, which is ok by me - just hope that the hot, humid and storm ridden weather we currently have stays away for the next few days.

Some big changes in our office in June and July, too. Two of my co-workers decided to head in new directions. Lisa accepted a college counselor position at one of the local private schools. I think this is a great move for her - she's thought about doing this for a long time, spent 11 years at Lehigh (and more at her alma mater Colgate), and loves living in the Lehigh Valley.

Susie has also decided to make a change. She's been in with Lehigh's admissions office for over 20 years - what a loss!!! While we didn't get to see her every day (she worked out of her home in Upstate NY), her efforts and experience will be missed. While it's unfortunate for us, I also think Susie's making a great move by joining Union College's Admissions Office. One of my sisters is a Union alum, so I'm quite familiar with this wonderful school. Additionally, Union is right down the street from Susie, so she won't have much of a commute ahead of her.

Their departures means changes in our office. Liz, who recruited in New England but not at the boarding schools Susie had, will be taking Susie's schools and thus covering all of MA, NH, VT, RI, and ME. I think she will gain a lot from the experience - she is also perfect for these schools since has a deep understanding of the boarding school life. Liz previously worked in admissions at two boarding schools and currently still lives at one. Krista also found a nice fit for her - she grew up in the Lehigh Valley and will now be the counselor assigned to the region.

Speaking of recruitment territories - mine will remain largely the same - Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas and Missouri. However, I pick back up a few states that I previously had (Montana, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Iowa) and lose Upstate NY. While I'm sad to not return to recruit in the area that inspired me to do this job, I am ok with it. With my increased focus on all things web/social media/etc., I need to spend more time in the office. I just wish it weren't in the same year that my cousin was heading off to Roberts Wesleyan College. I would have easily been able to check in on her during my travel.

So that's about it on the staffing change and territories for now. It's getting late quickly, and I have to be up early. Tomorrow is move-in day for our new students. I love to work the first check-in of the day so that I can welcome my students first thing. It's a great day every year so I'm looking forward to it. I will post about it asap.

Have a good night!

PS. One week or so until the Melting Pot in Bethlehem opens! I can't wait!

Happy June!

2009-06-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer thus far - my has been terrific thus far. Had my wedding and honeymoon, only to come home and find out that I was able to go to Italy for a week with my husband who had to go there for some work. Not bad for June thus far, right? Also, I went to a high school friend's wedding in Rhode Island and had a great time. And not to leave out any weddings, I want to throw a quick shout out to my co-worker, Kyle, who just had her wedding this past weekend - congrats!!!

Now I'm back at work with lots of summer projects. We launched the new design of the admissions website back in January with the plans to expand in a few directions as soon as possible. I'm leading the charge so the summer is the best time to make progress - no work travel, no applications to read, etc. etc. First on my list is to expand information on the international student pages - want to make sure all those who aren't able to visit as often as others can still get the information they need to make educated decisions. We'll be putting up student profiles with the ability to email them, so that should help students outside of the country get a better grasp of student life and experiences here. We'll also be updating information on financial aid for citizens/permanent residents abroad and non-citizens to clear up much of the confusion they experience. (Financial aid in general is confusing, but try not being in the US or not being able to access US federal money.)

Another 2 projects I have on my list of things to do is to create pages specific to parents and college/guidance counselors, both of whom play a critical role in the college search process. We want to make sure they get the information they need and feel that a few pages directed toward them could be helpful. Look for that in the next few months! Today I'll be finalizing a short survey we'll send to counselors we know well to find out what they most need on a college website to best serve their needs. Lucky for us plenty of research has been done on parents and what they need, so that should help us to develop their pages.

I hope to start posting tours, sessions, etc. in a new calendar format as well - for a while we've had to use Word or Excel and post pdf versions of a calendar. However, in the next month or two you'll be able to use an interactive calendar that will allow you to see our schedule in different views (by day, week, month, etc.), etc.

I just need to find time to do this all!

I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend - I'm sure I"ll have a relaxing one, but am a little disappointed already by the much below average temperatures and rainy forecast...isn't this supposed to be June in the Lehigh Valley? Why is it that 7 years ago, when I gave summer tours here and worked in the Athletics Department, it was 90+ degrees, sunny, and humid most days? I wouldn't have minded our current weather so much then and that weather now.... haha, go figure. In the end I'll take either over winter, so I will still be happy!

Happy Father's Day to all fathers, especially my own!

Jessica

Yes, I'm still here

2009-05-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's been ~three months since I last wrote, and for that I apologize. So much has happened during this time that I wanted to write about it and yet because so much was going on I was unable to post. Here's a quick update: February was spent reading more and more applications. Then, by the end of the month, we had to spend time "shaping" the class - that is, reducing the inflated number of offers to a point where we would not over-enroll and cause housing and classroom issues. Shaping is difficult because we're really splitting hairs - we have to take students out who we really wanted to have in the class. During this time, we lose a lot of sleep, hold lots of discussions and debates, stall in making decisions we don't want to make, and finally, sadly get to a point where more wonderful students have been wait listed. We all hate this week or two. March, for me, was spent doing a lot of emails and letters to students, traveling to events, and working on web aspects. Mid-month I went to Rochester and Syracuse, NY for the national college fairs. A great trip overall, I got to see part of the Rochester St. Patrick's Day parade right from our fair location downtown since it begin 30 mins prior to our fair and saw my cousin's dance recital in Rome, NY. (Did a little shopping, too - including purchasing my wedding vail!...I may have done more shopping at the Finger Lakes outlets...but we're pretending I bought are clothes I've always had but haven't worn...less of a surprise that way...)

During this time I also got to see our Women's Basketball team beat Lafayette in the Patriot League Championship game - while we were up with a solid lead at one point, it became a bit of a nail biter toward the end. In the end it was a good, memorable game. Here are a few pics I tried to get with my phone:

But back to work things. The fairs were excellent partially because of the scanners we got to use - students could sign up and receive bar codes that we counselors could use to gathering their data. This allowed me to have many more meaningful conversations since time wasn't wasted filling out cards. I really hope this admissions industry promotes the growth of such processes/devices. It was also great to hear about the number of families planning visits (or who had just returned from visits) to campus - I sense Upstate NY is falling in love with Lehigh! Ok, maybe not EVERYONE, but the word certainly is out, which I've been working hard to do since downstate knows Lehigh extremely well. At the end of March I traveled to Arizona for an admitted students event and counselor program. There were many great things about this trip - met students and their families, alums I've gotten to know, enjoyed BEAUTIFUL weather, and got to see my sister for a few days. We finally made it to Sprinkles together - what a delicious little place....though I firmly believe you just can't go wrong with cake/cupcakes. During one call with my co-worker (whose parents live in the Phoenix metro) while I was there, we spoke for about 15 minutes about how good the peanut butter chip cupcake is. Fantastic! Just to share, too, the call was about our visit evaluation is going online - which it is now. When you visit you'll see how easy it is to provide feedback now!One thing that didn't go as well as hoped was a program I hoped to do with a local Latino community based organization. It didn't come together this year, but hopefully we can get something going for the fall. There are some amazing students in their group.

On the Tuesday of my trip, I picked up my co-worker Barre at the airport and headed to Mill Ave. (near ASU) to eat outdoors; that would be the extent to our enjoyment of the weather. We then stayed indoors to do work the rest of the day, which I have to say that part was a bit painful. The weather was perfect, but when you things to do and the rest of your office is 3 hours ahead of you, you have to prioritize. That night, we had a terrific dinner with the alum who has hosted the admitted students event for over ten years - a quick shout out to Jim! Thank you!!! We ate at yet another terrific restaurant (yet another plug: Chelsea's Kitchen) and really enjoyed ourselves. It was nice to spend this time with Jim and his wife and Barre. Plus, I love getting to know the areas to which I travel, and this restaurant was right down the street from Phoenix Country Day, from which we we have 3 freshmen.

The next morning Barre and I met with local guidance/college counselors for breakfast - a solid turnout in an area that is really starting to take notice of Lehigh. (Case in point, we have 7 students entering Lehigh this fall from the metro area representating 6 different schools.) After this, we got in a little exercise while taking a walk in Papago Park; a quiet, beautiful park near downtown. It was incredibly peaceful to just sit and rest for a few minutes on top of one of the big rock formations........and then we ran off to a spring training game with the Diamondbacks and Brewers. I had never been in this western part of Phoenix before, so there were many benefits to attending the game. Whlie it was enjoyable, one of the downsides of attending the game was the traffic (and accident) we hit on way back to the hotel. In a rush, we managed to get back, change/primp in 10 minutes. It was, in fact, impressive. It's also great knowing an area well enough to know easy detours.

The admitted students event that night was AWESOME. Great alums, wonderful students, and fantastic parents. There's so much I could saay about the night but I'll just leave it as successful and special. We love these events because it brings together potential new members of the Lehigh family with those who already love being part of it. While "family" might sound cheesy, it's actually quite comforting.

After the event we tried to go to Phoenix's premier pizza places, but we found that at 9pm the wait for a table was 90 mins. So, to Sonic we went - since Barre has never been and I love it. We finally have one in the Lehigh Valley, but it's on the opposite side from where I live so I haven't frequented it yet.

Leaving was painful, but coming back to see my admitted students from everywhere was nice. The rest of the month was meeting with these students, helping at our events, and more. It keeps us increidbly busy as we're not at our desk for most of the day several times a week. In the meaintime, emails, phone calls, letters, and more are coming in from students who would like to come off of the wait list - something that is always difficult to predict.

By the end of the month, we were able to make some of these students' year by offering them admission. I love making these calls, though at the same time it's sad to see which of my students have decided to go elsewhere.

In the end, I believe students go where they are meant to be - that it all works out in the end, even if it means not attending Lehigh.

Ok, this is a gigantic post, so I will leave it at this for now. I promise, though, that I'll be back soon and talk about the wait list process. You'll see...

Dreams...

2009-02-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to have bad dreams about my upcoming wedding....the one I had the other night was horrible in my mind that I woke up mad, frustrated, disappointed, and so many other things. From what I can remember, the DJ was horrible - I'm talking minutes of dead space in between songs, no one danced, half of the guests I expected were not there, there was something wrong with my dress, etc. etc. While this may not seem all that disturbing, at the time, it was. These kind of "my wedding is a disaster" dreams seem to be happening a lot, even despite the fact that we got a lot planned last month (which is when I can understand why I had those types of doomsday dreams). The funny thing is that while I've been stressed about the more major stuff (location, photographer, etc.), I really don't care too much about the details, for once in my life. It is what it is and the day will just fly by anyway. And yet, these dreams....

It appears they are becoming less frequent, though. I think that I'm at a point with work that the wedding dreams will be replaced with the thoughts I was having when trying to fall asleep last night. You know when you play a computer/video game so much that you go to bed thinking about it (don't worry, I don't have time to do anything like that anymore) - how when you close your eyes it's all you see? Well after reading applications all day several times a week for several months, I've begun to fall asleep thinking about applications and my reading process. Oh yes, last night I just couldn't get the thought of reading applications out of my head. Wow.

Write in the GPA on the summary sheet. Circle W or U for weighted or unweighted. What's the rank? Write that down. What level of rigor does the counselor indicate? Circle the matching number. What's on the transcript? How many honors/AP classes? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.....What does the school offer in the way of honors/APs? Check over the profile...

Who says admissions counselors don't care? I love my students and go to bed thinking about their accomplishments. Choosing between them, then, obviously is an incredible challenge.

I could go on and on about that, but for tonight I"ll leave it at that. Time to head home for another wonderfully cooked bbq pork roast....I still love my slow cooker....and yep. There's my comment about food. That means this post is complete. Have a great night!

Apparently I like food

2009-02-05T19:54:00.001-08:00

I just noticed that I manage to write an awful lot about food. I guess I'll just come out with it and say it.

I love food.

While I may be picky, the food that I do like I REALLY like. So yeah, I know it. Just thought I'd let you know that I recognize this. Probably should admit I think about food quite often too - that's probably how at least one comment about food makes it into nearly every post. And I'll probably continue to write and/or mention food in each post - figure I should share my reviews with people whenever possible in case one day they are helpful to someone. I could give you a recommendation for nearly every city I have visited - that's how seriously I take food. I plan ahead (so yes, that would combine my love of food with my first love: planning) what I'll eat and where.

Quick food tip: cake batter with some milk frozen is an excellent treat. Ok, sharing that may be over the top. I'll stop now. (But seriously, it's amazing.)

Work calls...

2009-02-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

Disappointed I didn't go to the Sustainability talk today - really wanted to learn more about what Lehigh is doing (which is a lot). I'm very environmentally conscious (ask my fiancee - I think I drive him crazy with recycling and the purchasing decisions we make - including registering for eco-friendly kitchen products). Im even considering one day pursuing the new Master's Degree here in Environmental Policy Design. But, work calls - lots of web things to take care of (need to get registration up and live for the upcoming Junior Open Houses), need to contact a few students about outstanding issues (missing items, etc.), and was hoping to read a few applications today. Plus, need to get out of here in time to meet a few friends for dinner at Friday's - they helping with a fundraiser where they will donate 20% of your check to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society tonight (at the one in Allentown).

We're getting into the real crunch period for us in the office - we've completed the Early Decision II applications today, will make sure they are finalized to print decisions next week. Then, there's only three weeks to go to finish reading the regular decisions applications - that means about 1,300 applications a week for the office....not an easy feat, but we're up for the challenge. We've got a great, dedicated team here that really wants the best for the university, so while this time of year is stressful, I know we'll get through it with a lot of laughter. I think that must be a requirement in admissions - you won't survive if you don't have a good sense of humor.

Need to go take care of some emails and Junior Open House web items - hope you enjoy the shot of campus I took the other day with my phone. I couldn't resist - the light snowfall made for an especially beautiful walk on campus after lunch off campus (at the new Sandwich Garden - delicious!). Certainly not the best photo ever, but still worth sharing. Have a great night!

Lunch-time walks

2009-01-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

As often as we can break ourselves away, a few of my co-workers and I enjoy a lunch-time walk. It's nice to get out of the office, get some exercise, and enjoy the beautiful campus. On today's walk, though, I enjoyed two things that I wanted to share.

1) There's an amazing view from outside Upper Cents residence halls - as you come out the front, there's a patio with nice tables and chairs where can eat, study, or just hang out. Sitting there, you can see over and around Rathbone dining hall (which has a great view itself) and see the Lehigh Valley. It's breathtaking! How lucky are these students that this is what they get to see every day? I hope they take a second every day to enjoy it!

2) As we walked through South Bethlehem, we always learn something new or find a new place to eat. Today, it was the latter. First, we investigated Michael's Steaks on New St. ...being lunch time and a little hungry, Krista and I decided to split a cheesesteak. Yum!!! Very good stuff! Had this place been there when I was a student, perhaps we wouldn't have driven to Philly! The steak here even is bought in Philly from the same company that supplies some of Philly's most popular steak places. We also stopped at the new Sandwich/Garden place right by Campus Square. It's fairly new, so we haven't eaten there yet, but with an incredibly expansive menu, I'm excited to try it next week.

I love these walks!

New webpages and other random thoughts

2009-01-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone - just wanted to make sure everyone knows that the admissions pages have a new design/layout. We'd love some feedback, so feel free to send me your thoughts at jed305@lehigh.edu.

Still reading lots of applications, trying to keep my head above water with emails, and planning for spring events (online chats, making registration and communication for on campus events more electronic, etc.); at home I get to spend each night wedding planning, so you can image how often I get to relax these days....

Luckily the cold stretch we had for a few days last week is over (though I heard another is about to come through..ugh...). The only thing that made it better for me is that when it was 6 degrees here, my parents (who are 5 hours south - halfway down the state of Virginia) were only at 10 degrees. So it wasn't because we are in the north. We get this kind of weather for a few days probably about once or twice a winter, so it's really not that bad. Today I think we're back to normal, which is around 40. Also, had a student tell me about a horrible injury they sustained that completely put the cold weather into perspective. If you are worried about being where it can get cold, don't. It's just a part of life for a few days and you'll survive just fine. There are much worse things in life.

More randomness....last weekend went to see two of my friends (who are married) from Lehigh - they are CPAs for one of the big four accounting firms. They just moved from Manhattan into a house they bought 30 minutes outside of NYC - so yeah, a Lehigh education has helped them quite a bit.... It is a beautiful house from the 1920s with 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths - needless to say their cats are enjoying the extra space just as much as my friends are. Oh - that reminds me. I haven't even told you all about Lehigh/Lafayette!!! These are the friends we go to the game with every year. Wow, I'm really behind....so many special moments and photos to share!

Also, want to give a quick shout out to my cousin who is a senior in high school. She has already been admitted at one her of top choices but has her audition into the music program there today. Good luck Taylor!!!

Ok need to take care of some emailing - I'll stop my random thoughts for now.

Hope to catch up with everything I want to share at some point! I'll get there. I promise.
Have a great weekend!

No, I haven't forgotten

2009-01-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

Happy 2009!

So it's realllllly been a while since I last wrote. I sincerely apologize for that. This position keeps me (and my co-workers) quite busy. We go from being on the road around the country to being immersed in applications - all the while trying to perform our secondary responsibilities (i.e. some of the web projects I do).

So in the past month or so I've watched our Early Decision applicants get informed of our decisions, got the Virtual Ambassador program for those students (more details later), started to get student blogging up and running, read a lot of apps, and ate my way through the holidays in what my fiancee likes to call the "Great White North" (my hometown in Central NY).

Releasing decisions is always interesting - it's when we have to find comfort in what we decided knowing that despite excitement by some, many will be disappointed. It's not easy to take. But I am thrilled with the group we're bringing in there - I'm ecstatic that some of the great kids I got to know (and others who I would love to know better) are now officially part of the Lehigh family.

At the same time as making those decisions, I was trying to pull together current Lehigh students who would keep a blog (or who would be willing to be showcased on a site where they would answer questions from admitted students, at the very least) for us here in admissions. While getting it fully off the ground will take some time, I think we'll have a few terrific students sharing their experiences with you - without censoring from me or others. I hope that it is useful! Somewhat in coordination with that is the Virtual Ambassador program. It's in its 4th or so year now, so while that has been established, it was new to me this year. Even now I'm still working out the kinks (i.e. figuring out the password to the email account...). But at least the students we admitted in Early Decision I have Lehigh students to reach out to immediately. And I was a little worried it wouldn't come together in time...

In other news, I have also spent most of the last month sick, reading applications from home, or on vacation. I'm sick of being sick, and while being home was nice, I like my own bed, peace and quiet, and healthy/healthier food. I think all the work I did in December to lose weight was undone by a few days of overeating...which I thoroughly enjoyed....I don't remember how many fantastic potatoes I had Christmas Eve, not sure how many cookies I had that last night and having celebrated my birthday with my family, I had some cake, too. And it was all delicious. I'm Italian and I like to eat. I'll also throw in here that I had a great New Year's Eve - turns out I still remember the Spanish I studied while a student here. My friend's sister is visiting from Mexico and while they know plenty of English, speaking Spanish again was a lot of fun. But anyway...

Reading apps away from the office allows us to be in an environment that allows for significantly more productivity - you aren't stopping to take phone calls, respond to a co-worker's question, etc. Staying home twice a week to read began mid-December and will continue through mid-February, which I love because it means a few more minutes of sleep, real meals that are filling and yet healthy, and reading apps in larger numbers which provides better context. What this means, though, is that I spend most of my days when I'm in the office catching up on emails and misc web items.

Looking forward, I'll need to plan my travel for the spring. I know that at the very least, I'll be going back up to Upstate NY for college fairs in Rochester and Syracuse, Arizona for an admitted students event and hopefully a special program or two, and St. Louis for college fairs. We are unveiling the new design for the website next week, so I'll spend a great deal of time working on that transition and learning the new program I'll use to make simple changes. App reading and committee reviews will continue and I'll work with my international student group on developing more web components for prospective international students. I know I have more to do, but really, what I've listed thus far will keep me incredibly busy and stressed so I'll just leave it at that. Wedding planning on top of it all just adds to it. Oh, right, I also need to finish my fall travel blogs - definitely want to finish sharing that with everyone.

Ok, need to do some emails and work on web stuff.

Have a great new year - may it be filled with wonderful things!

Lehigh/Lafayette Week

2008-11-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well it's Lehigh/Lafayette week already! Tomorrow will once again be my favorite day here, as we participate in "Brown Out Day" by wearing Lehigh brown and listen to the band as they march around campus playing our fight songs. It really is a great tradition.

Some of the other traditions going on this week have been resurrected over the past few years, including the bed races. They only were held for a year or two when I was a student so I'm thrilled to see the return. Of course, it's possible that they stopped the event because the home made beds weren't safest constructions...which brings me to a funny thing that I saw today: a few of the extra bed frames from Residential Services where downstairs (weird enough) but had wheels on the end of the legs. Our Registrar told me that he even saw someone officially testing the tires to make sure they were at the "minimum PSI"......oh do times change...I guess these are the things that have to happen in lawsuit ridden times...

And then there's the annual Turkey Trot - a 2+ mile run up and back down the hill. I've never done it myself despite promising myself I would do it the next year. One of my favorite memories of this event happened two years ago. One student dressed as a turkey, while another as a pilgrim with a big fake gun appropriate for that time. Oh yes, the turkey ran first and the pilgrim proceeded to chase after him........it's also not a surprise to see Santa take his turn at running the race. While the few costumes are hilarious, it's also great to support my co-workers who run up the hill. It's always fun when there are competitions open to all of the Lehigh community (although our Admissions/Alumni Association/Advancement softball team lost so much this summer I'm not sure I would call it fun...).

So in the midst of all of these enjoyable things, I am busy doing lots of work - including, trying to read early decision applications, email students, finalize the spring 2009 tour/session calendar for the website, find students to write blogs, and more. It's not as tedious as it sounds - just time consuming, which is why I'm struggling to get posts up on here.

Ooh - and non-Lehigh/Lafayette related, tomorrow night our wrestling team competes against the University of Michigan here at Stabler. I hope I am able to join several of my co-workers there!

Last thing - I'm sure I'll do some twittering this weekend during the game....there's a lot at stake....we haven't won in 5 years...so check back if you want to see my thoughts as they happen.

GO LEHIGH!! BEAT LAFAYETTE!

Why post now?

2008-11-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

I'm sure many of you are wondering why my posts about travel are just starting to show up now. Trust me, I wonder how that happened, too. But that's what travel does to you.

It all starts with the travel to that area - with my territory, it usually takes upwards of a full day. Then there's early AM beginnings, as many high school visits as one can humanly schedule in a day and/or counselor events, interviews and/or meeting with alums, and meals - only if there's time. By the end of these nights, I'm exhausted and starving. It takes a lot to even respond to emails while I travel. So that's a quick note: never be offended if it takes a few days or more for me to get back to you during September and October - I do what I can until I fall asleep.

Thus, the blogging gets postponed and here we are in November adding in my stories from travel. I hope you at least find them interesting and relevant (although I'm not sure where my obsessions with Chickfila, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Wegmans, to name a few, fall....). Send me an email if there is anything you want to know - I'd be happy to blog about a topic that is of specific interest.

Fall travel part 3: Home for 2 days

2008-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Leaving St. Louis made me hate my travel. I love it - I really do. But when you sit in an airport for hours upon hours afraid to leave the area to get dinner just to find out that your connection (that you could have made had it left on time) left 20 minutes early and was the last flight out that night, you temporarily hate the travel.

I will avoid flying a certain airline now (that once was my favorite) because of the way it was all handled...so that was a shame. Perhaps all of the annoyances would've been something with which I could have dealt had I gotten home that Thursday night....after all, I was only supposed to be home late Thursday through 6am Sunday.

I guess in the end getting home at all should be good enough. I had a very short though productive weekend home, including making wedding progress, getting some emails written, eating at one of my favorite places (the Melting Pot) - can you tell that I love food yet? - and seeing a Lehigh football game. There was also the joy of packing for AZ 100+ weather, Seattle 40-55 degree weather, and NM weather right in the middle.

On that Saturday, I unfortunately had some more travel issues...despite getting to Villanova 30 minutes before game time, it took 60+ mins to drive past the parking lots with open spaces to a spot about a mile down the road. Yup - we missed the first quarter and half of the second. It was a beautiful day, though, and a fun game to attend since it's a good rivalry. Here's a few photos I took...
It was close enough that there was always hope for us to win, but unfortunately that didn't happen. But at least I got to be there for a beautiful day and a relatively interesting game.

Saturday, night, though, continued the bad luck with travel...I got a call saying that my 6am flight to Phoenix was canceled. While I was able to be put on another flight, I had to arrive in Phoenix after the college fair I was to attend started. On top of that, I was told the incorrect departure time so I got up at 4am for nothing. But on the bright side, I managed to sleep nearly the entire 5 hour flight, and had many students come by the table at the college fair once I got there. Knowing that the families were understanding and willing to check back for me was comforting after the travel disasters I had experienced across 3 days.

And thus the travel adventures continued...

Fall Travel part 2: St. Louis

2008-11-17T08:18:00.001-08:00

Every year, I thoroughly enjoy my time in St. Louis - it is always getting better and better as I learn more about the area, the schools, and now the Lehigh alums that live there. So beyond barely needing my GPS, the highlight certainly was the support I've been getting from the alums.

Julio was extremely involved in the Admissions Office as a student (including as an Admissions Fellow - they help do our on-campus interviews) and graduated a year after I started working in the office. Thus, it had been a while since I saw him. It was great that he recently moved to St. Louis because I knew he would be quite active in supporting anything I needed. When I scheduled my interviews, I figured we would see the same overwhelming response we always see in St. Louis, so I enlisted his help. After one night of interviews, we got to catch up over dinner. It was great learning what he had done since graduation and about the steel industry in which he works. I should mention, too, that anyone in St. Louis can certainly get in touch with him through me should they want to connect with a recent grad in that area.

The Wymores have also been terrific alums for me in the St. Louis area - they held the first Freshmen Sendoff in August, and then helped arrange a small gathering for a Cardinals game. After several trips to St. Louis, this was the first successful trip to a game - so yes, a second MLB game in less than a week....but this one was much different - after all, the playoffs were involved on top of a great rivalry between the Cardinals and the Cubs.

It was a lot of fun not only because I got to spend more time with these St. Louis alums who have a daughter in the freshmen class, but also because several other parents and a sibling of current freshmen attended as well. It was great to hear their update on these students - that they've adjusted to the distance and are happy, etc. That's one side I don't always get to hear - I spend a year or more getting to know these students and then I leave to recruit the next class right after they get on campus. It's like watching the first half of a movie - you don't know how it all ends.

So while the Cardinals lost the game, pushing them further out of the playoff hunt, I feel like I won (cheesy as that may be). Each trip here seems more successful than the last - let's hope this continues! It leaves me wondering what will happen with my St. Louis recruitment in the next year...

PS. I fell in love with Whole Foods on this trip.

Snow? Really? Already?

2008-10-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm still in Upstate NY - started in Buffalo this morning and finished the day in Rochester. The weather was miserable - cold, rainy, and very windy. It was so windy I couldn't use my umbrella, so that was fun...It was one of those days where this job isn't so fun as I'm constantly getting in and then out of the car to go into high schools. At this point, I'm a bit in disbelief over the weather forecasts/occurrences further east of here that I may get to experience this week. SNOW. ugh.

Yes, I'm from Oswego - right on Lake Ontario, it's a city well known for the lake-effect snow that buries it each winter. It's actually only 90 or so minutes east of here (about 45 minutes north of Syracuse). As a child, many Halloweens were spent trick-or-treating in snowfall, and several years ago the day after my sister's early October wedding ago had snow. So you would think that I should be used to snow this early. However, I find myself refusing to believe that I could be experiencing snow already.

I'm not ready for it so I'm refusing to deal with it maturely. I hate cold and snow....most of the time....When I'm home for the December holidays, I'm ok with it. In fact, it wouldn't seem right if there weren't snow then. But for the rest of the time for me, I could do without it - I've had a lifetime's worth of snowfall just in my first 18 years of my life. I'm even still cold when I have layers on despite a room being 74+ degrees (thankfully, I can set the thermostat in my hotel rooms to my definition of toasty warm).

So there you go. I'm not enjoying being in Upstate NY right now (hopefully that won't affect my ability to talk about Lehigh!). I think what makes this worse is that usually my college fairs in Arizona are this week. Yep. Usually I'm in sunny, 80+ degree weather and instead, I'm in 35+ degree windy, rainy weather. I really hope the AZ fairs come back to this week next year so that I can enjoy the beautiful fall weather and colorful trees in Upstate NY in September, and enjoy the wonderful late October weather in Arizona.

Is it really that bad here? Probably not. I will just have to accept it and move on. Hopefully by the time I write next time I'll be fine with it. ...though I still miss Arizona this time of year...

For all of you experiencing snow right now, I hope at least you can enjoy it. Oooh - perhaps you should wear your pjs inside out and backwards like many in Oswego do in an attempt to twist fate into creating a snow day! : ) (of course, it has no effect...but it was fun!)

I promise - the next post will be much more positive!!! I already have positive thoughts: I love recruiting in Central and Western NY because of Wegmans grocery stores - they have great food and carry my favorite iced tea! I might try to eat the remainder of my meals there this week...mmm....

Home! (in Central NY, that is)

2008-10-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hello from Syracuse, NY! I'm just going through some emails now while watching the Phillies play in the world series. Thought I'd shed some light on what I've been up to these days.

After my crazy travel in September, I was in the office for 2 weeks. Between expense reports, information sessions and phone calls (when you're one of the only counselors not traveling these can easily fill your day), emails, web updates, and finalizing any travel details, the time in the office flew by.

Even my personal time went quickly - got to go to a Lehigh football game (we beat the defending champs - Fordham), tried on some wedding dresses (and found a few solid possibilities, which is a relief since the big day is less than 7 months away), cleaned a tiny bit of the house, and before I knew it frantically did laundry and packed to take off again.

This trip is a fun one for me, though, because I grew up in Central NY. I swung through the Hudson Valley and Capital District earlier this week - saw some great students along the way. It's such a different experience, too, than recruiting out west. Most have visited so I don't have to go through my entire speach. I don't mind doing it but it's nice to have a break since it's a lot of me talking and talking and talking...hopefully I'm not as boring as I am in my own head! But that's one of the things I love about my recruiting areas - that I have that balance of what students know about Lehigh.

People are always caught off guard when they see my region, too, which I can understand. But I love it - being from Oswego, NY, it specifically satisfies one of the biggest driving factors of me in this job: telling students from my home area about the school in which I believe so deeply. It's also fun for me to better learn the different cities - take Syracuse, for example. I've been here MANY, MANY times in my life (the closest malls are here). But I didn't always know how the different streets crossed and where they all brought you. It's fun not always needing a map or GPS, so I certainly enjoy coming back to these areas. However, I LOVE travel - and I've gotten to know many of my counselors out in Kansas City and St. Louis, so I cannot imagine not going there. Arizona is so drastically different, I'm drawn to it time and time again. However, I acknowledge I could never LIVE there - too many environmental issues...and probably bugs/creatures too....this is def. an area where I'm a girly girl. Then there's New Mexico, which was new to me this year. It just makes sense to have me go there when I'm in Arizona - so yea to me! It was a great experience - beautiful, loved seeing such a seemless blending of cultures (you want melting pot of cultures? check out New Mexico), etc. Can't wait to go back next year.

So anyway, here I am in Syracuse. I'm excited that tomorrow I'll go to two schools I don't normally get to visit. THEN I get to see my family in Rome, even trying checking out some wedding dresses with my aunt tomorrow night.

Have a good night!

Grounbreaking

2008-10-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

WRITTEN ON 10/17. Got too busy to post it at the time.
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I promise I'll catch everyone up with my travels (it will be riveting!). But for now, I wanted to write a quote note about yesterday. I went to the groundbreaking for the new S.T.E.P.S. (Science, Technology, Environment, Policy, and Society) building - a pretty neat endeavor for Lehigh. It will allow for a more focused and multidisciplinary study of energy and the environment (including understanding more precisely what the human impact is). I'm really excited about this new building because it will bring together all of the necessary compenents to study some of the biggest challenges of the day.

As part of the ceremonial groundbreaking (since the construction started back in August or so), President Gast introduced several community members who have been part of our study of the environment. From faculty to PhD students to current undergraduates., it was fascinating to hear all of the work they have been doing. It reminded me that there are an incredible amount of issues out there that affect people around the world each day. These introductions were an impressive part of the ceremony.

The odd thing is how it all ended....as the shovels lifted dirt and photos were taken, the song Step by Step from New Kids on the Block blared from the speakers. Not sure what that was all about as it just made me laugh. Who would have thought that 20 years after it came out it would be used in such a way....

Fall travel part 1: Kansas City

2008-10-14T13:08:00.001-07:00

Ok - so my first trip of the year was to Kansas City, MO/KS. I met a lot of great students and counselors (24 at my counselor lunch at Pierpont's!), and finally got to do a little sightseeing. I normally have to quickly get to St. Louis or Minneapolis, but this year I had some time. Here's one thing I learned from KC students and some fun that I had.

WEATHER TIME!
Each year I come to KC, I find that there is something the students teach me or make me realize. This year, it was about weather. Asked what the weather is like in PA, I realized that once weather moves past them, the students had no idea what happened. And who can blame them? What does one care what the weather is like east of him/her (unless it's truly newsworthy or a place where you are headed soon)? But once you are on the east coast, you are fairly well aware of the weather for the rest of the country because that is how we know what we'll get next.

So envision me acting like a make-shift weather person, using the "Colleges and Universities of the US" maps they have up in counseling offices - and yes, I did think about the movie "Groundhog Day" several times. I showed how typically the patterns move east, oftentimes with a slight northward trend, how the jet stream carries temperatures and patterns straight across the country or somewhat in a U-shaped motions, and more. I discussed nor'easters, big snow storms that move up the Atlantic Coast producing wide spread snowfall but large amounts in more localized areas as it goes. Honestly, it usually doesn't snow that much here. When I was a student, only once did it snow in the fall semester - it was the end of October/beginning of November and flakes were in the air but didn't accumulate.

Snow typically falls in January, February, and March - though even then it's hit or miss. Most of the time when it snows here it blankets the ground and carries few other effects. Rarely will it snow enough to cause real traffic problems - that's the only time classes might be canceled. The students wake up on most snowy days to perfectly shoveled and salted side walks. (On the rare occasion of a day off of classes, students will sled down the hills, have snow ball fights, play football in the snow, and more. It's like they are little kids again. Honestly, these days came so few and far between they are some of my best memories of Lehigh.)

As far as temperatures and overall climate - we do see four full seasons here at Lehigh (not something you are used to when you are from even nearby Upstate NY). Here's the Weather Channel's average temperature chart to help you get an idea - keep in mind that they change gradually so it isn't a major shock for the students, even for those from warmer climates. The summer usually has a few stretches in the 90s, and winters can get bone-chilling cold when those Arctic air masses move south and bring strong winds. In between is a lot of great, beautiful weather. Oh, and the other thing to remember is that we do see humidity in the summer here; a new factor to those from the southwest, I've found that most adjust fairly quickly.

PLAY TIME!
First on my list, being a huge baseball fan, was a Friday night Royals game. I'm also just a general sports fans, including stadiums, so it was neat to see Arrowhead Stadium right next door. My first views of Kaufman Stadium were surprising, as you can see here.

They are doing construction so it should be interesting to see what it looks like when they are done...cause it's not so pretty when it's work in progress. For example, most seats behind home plate were blocked off, which you can see from the boards in the photo below.

Overall, the game was an interesting experience...clearly, it was quite different than what I'm used to with Yankees games. It was against the Cleveland Indians, so it wasn't the most competitve game, nor one with playoff implications. But it was still nice to be there - it feels a bit smaller than other parks and the waterfalls in the outfield were as nice. When I was in 11th grade, I think I watched nearly every single Yankees game on tv; thus, it was fun to see the waterfalls in the outfield of Kauffman Stadium in person.

Ok, one last photo - here's my panoramic shot:

On Saturday, I headed over to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. I had driven past it a few years ago and was intrigued by the lawn art:

I would've spent more time here, but I also wanted to make it to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Now I admit that I'm a bit of an emotional person at times. But wow. That place is powerful. I highly recommend anyone visit there. I'd describe more, but am struggling to find the right words to express my feelings.

So that was Kansas City - lots of talk of weather, and finally seeing the area. Overall, the trip to KC was great!

September

2008-10-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

So I haven't written in a while because life in Septemeber was beyond crazy. Here's a rough sketch of it for you:

First week: Kansas City - school visits, dinner with alum, finally learning more about KC

Second week: St. Louis - school visits, interviews, dinner with an alum, met with other alums and parents of current students, etc.

Horrible time getting home. Home for >2 days. Horrible time trying to get to Phoenix.

Third week: Phoenix (fairs, visits, interviews), Albuquerque (visits, interviews), Santa Fe (visits, lots of driving, minimal sightseeing), Albuquerque (dinner with alum/friend I haven't seen since we graduated 5 years ago!, minimal sightseeing)

Fourth week: drove from Albuquerque to Flagstaff (drove through Painted Desert/Petrified Forest), Flagstaff (hs visits), Sedona (hs visit), Phoenix (hs visits), Seattle (conference, dinner with an alum and his wife/friends I have rarely seen since graduation)

Fifth week of September/First of October: Seattle (fairs), Phoenix (hs visits, interviews), Tucson (interviews, hs visits), Phoenix (counselor meeting)

Just typing that was exhausting. But yep, that's was my life. Lots to tell about each stop and I'll get there soon - it's just that since I'm rarely in the office this time of year, when I am I'm swamped - need to get back to the students with whom I met to give them the answers to questions they had, need to finish scheduling my travel for Upstate NY, have website updates to make, need to meet with my International Admissions Ambassadors, need to do this blog, definitely need to do my expense reports to get my money back for all of that travel, etc. etc. On top of that, when I finally get home I'm unsuccessfully attempting to plan my wedding.

So I promise I will write more soon - I have so much to share!

Talk to you later!

Oh, and I almost forgot - you can follow me on Twitter now. I decided that since I was unable to blog as often as I would lke that I would go ahead and let people hear from me more often (it's much more convenient for me since I can just text my thoughts/activities to Twitter and up they go!).

Move-in Day

2008-08-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Returning in a rush from a short vacation out west, I officially made it back in time for move-in day last week (Thurs, August 21). I’m sure people think I’m crazy for shortening a vacation for such a thing, but for me it’s the culmination of my work in bringing my students to Lehigh – the relationships I’ve formed with the students makes this day such an important one to me. Plus, the campus is incredibly alive that day with excitement (and some anxiety) from new students and their parents. It’s certainly one of my favorite days here.

I suppose I find this day to be one of the most exciting not because I am welcoming the new students to campus as a staff member, but because as an alum I am welcoming these students into my family – the Lehigh family. I am hopeful for them – that their experience at Lehigh will change them – will make them into a better person all around. I’m excited for them in regards to the opportunities they will have as a Lehigh student. And then there will be the memories they form – there are so many things they don’t even know to which they can look forward!

After lunch (which basically everyone at the university enjoys), I ran into a familiar group of people. Here's a partial shot of the end of lunch outside Linderman Library and the University Center as well as some of the new St. Louis contingent:

I can't experience move-in day without remembering what it was like when I moved to LU almost ten years ago…wow…I can’t believe it’s that long ago…but it was incredibly easy. I moved in a few days early to participate in the volunteer experience, a service opportunity that is now part of the overall "PreLUsion" program, activities for first year students prior to orientation. Even though it was a few days before the official move-in day, I still got the type of service you find on the "normal" day. I, of course, completely over packed and filled an entire van so much so that I can't believe there was room for me in the back. Amazingly, the volunteers (staff, faculty, and upperclassmen) helped to carry everything to my room - and did so in about 10 minutes. Compared to what I had with me and the time it took to fit it all in the car, this unloading process was a miracle. But this is the service provided for all students on move-in day. I think this was the moment when my parents (with two daughters older than me already through college) fell in love with Lehigh and picked it as their favorite among the three institutions their kids attended. In 10 minutes, my parents maybe carried three boxes - total. But anyway...

Regardless of my experience, there is one thing I’ve learned as a result of my career in admissions: no matter where you are from and who know at Lehigh (if anyone), everyone still has the same excitement and anxiety, comfort and helplessness, and more. I worked with students from Staten Island a few years ago and I heard the same concern from some of these students as I sense from students in my outreach areas – it’s a concern of what it will be like to be so far from home. Ok yes, - Staten Island is only 1 hour and 15 minutes away and Arizona is 5 times that on a plane. However, distance is a very relative thing. But it's important to keep this in mind - that students from near and far are nervous about being away from home.

So as I welcome these new students to our class, I hope one thing our new prospective students keep in mind as they investigate options is that almost regardless of where you attend (whether it’s close to home or far), those same nerves will be there within each student. It’s completely normal, and realizing everyone feels it will make the transition easier. I know the thought of homesickness can make a student consider schools closer to home. I challenge these students to try something uncomfortable and that brings anxiety because no matter where you go, near or far, you probably will have that anxiety. Challenge yourself. Try something new. Understand that the anxiety will be there regardless of the specific location. But believe that you can make it - that you and the other students can form tight bonds with each other so strong that you can't imagine yourself elsewhere (let alone closer to home). You can always go home on winter and summer break. You can always go home after graduation - and you have decades of your life that you can spend there. (Case in point: I met a father and son who both are Lehigh alums who live in St. Louis - both came to Bethlehem, PA for four years and have lived back in St. Louis nearly ever since.) But I bet if you let yourself go away, you'll find a home for four years if you let yourself have chance. Again, the nerves are normal - it's accepting that everyone else feels the same and letting yourself move past it that makes the difference.

I should also mention here that even just a few days helps calm the nerves. Some of the students that I was most concerned about their ability to deal with the adjustment are reportedly blissfully happy. Perhaps that’s something else to take away from this – that if you give it a few days, you might find the happiness that you expected.

Just a thought...

E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!

2008-08-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I, after 10 years or so of opportunities, finally went to see the Philadelphia Eagles practice. I cannot believe I hadn't made time for it before! Since they have their training camp on Lehigh's campus, it really couldn't be easier - and it was fun! Here are some of the photos I took:

(yes, this is part of Lehigh's campus - the main part of campus is up and over the other side of the small mountain you see in the background of this photo)

(I can't believe how close fans can get)

Shortly after I went to this practice (so yes, after the awe of it all died down for me), we heard about some of the interactions players had with some of our tour guides. It just so happens that some of our tours get to the University Center, where the players eat lunch, at the exact time that the players arrive. We hadn't heard of much interaction before, just some "star" spotting. One day, our tour guides hit the jackpot. One player (name unknown) pretended to join one of the groups and asked a few questions, including about banking on campus (we have a branch of Wachovia and several ATMs, for those who are curious). So that story I thought was fairly entertaining.

But then one guide hit the jackpot: we were told how Donovan McNabb himself stopped a tour group and spoke with them! (why am I so excited? Well, I'm originally from near Syracuse, NY and watched him play during his college years...he to Philly not long before I came to Lehigh, so he's quite naturally my favorite NFL player.) So what did he say to the tour group? He told them how good the Lehigh food is - and I'd like to think that's a pretty nice endorsement.

I'm not sure what I would have done had I been that guide...perhaps it's better that these run-ins come years after I gave tours over the summer (....come to think of it, how did I never run into the players when I gave morning tours back then?...fate must be working against me). Anyway, as football season nears, I thought I'd share this story. It's not often that you get to go on a college tour and meet an NFL quarter along the way.

E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!

6:48am on a Sunday morning

2008-08-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

I'm not a morning person - at all. I struggle to wake up, get going, and be places on time. Once I get wherever I'm going, I struggle to be productive and happy. I've gotten a little better about it lately, but it doesn't mean I enjoy being early for my flight this morning. Oh well. So here I am, in STL waiting for my 7:35am flight...I figure I might as well be productive and tell everyone about why I'm here in the first place and why it's so interesting to me.

I came out to St. Louis (flying out of ABE - Lehigh Valley Int'l Airport) so that I could welcome the incoming students from the metro area into the Lehigh family. It was really nice to spent a few hours yesterday with alums, incoming students and their parents, and a current student for the St. Louis Sendoff - the first here in a long time....if ever. It was a great opportunity for everyone to get together and I hope it's the start of an annual event.

There's a lot of excitement for this all-star group of students (I have to give a quick shout out to Callie, Krissy, Sarah, Chris, Katie, and Jonathan - and of course Mike, our rising sophomore!), possibly the largest group to head off to Lehigh from St. Louis in one class. While I loved meeting the alums in the area and the parents of these outstanding students, I thoroughly enjoyed personally welcoming this group of students to the Lehigh family, of which I'm a part. I've spent a year or more getting to know most of this group and am responsible for their admission, so I have a vested interest in their success at Lehigh. I'm not in this for anything other than to help build a bright and bold future for my alma mater, so with each offer of admission, I look forward to how they will shape Lehigh for years to come. And what a terrific group they are!

In a conversation late in the evening, alum/parent of an incoming student pointed out something that reminded me again of how how much I love Lehigh. Since she knows several of the students, she knows that each of the students in this group is different from each other, from personalities to interests. And yet, she realized that Lehigh somehow manages to be the perfect school for each. I think that's very telling, and something that I hope prospective students, parents, and counselors realize about Lehigh - it suits all types of students and interests.

There really isn't a "typical" Lehigh student - yes, they all seem to have a determination to succeed and willingness to work hard as well as diverse interests and passions they pursue vigorously. But beyond that, Lehigh students are individuals coursing their own unique path, comprised of diverse interests inside and outside of the classroom.

I'll have to leave it at that since we're about to board. Who knew I could be so productive and coherent this early?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

It's August Already?

2008-08-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how it got to this point - that it's nearly 9 months since I last blogged. I guess that speaks volumes of life in admissions. Since my last post, I've joined my staff in evaluating almost 13,000 applications, traveled to St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Rochester and Syracuse, NY, finally took some vacation days, moved, and am back being as busy as ever. No really - how is it August?

So much has happened over all of this time - so much that I am determined to not let that time slip by again without telling you all about it. However, there is one thing that I've been thinking about that I wanted to share with everyone: I saw, in person, His Holiness the Dalai Lama - right here on campus. It was an amazing experience - this incredibly well-known religious leader was there in front of me (ok yes, by many, many yards but still so close!) sharing some of his thoughts on how to "Generate a Good Heart." All I could think was how unbelievable this was and how lucky I was to be associated with Lehigh. I attended the public lecture, as part of his 6 days of teaching at Lehigh, on Sunday, July 13 (again, how has time flown that that is nearly a month ago???). From the minute he took the stage, I was in pure awe. I'll admit - what he said during his time with an arena full of followers and non-followers with open minds - was not the most mind blowing, as I was expecting. But lucky for us, he is extremely likable - he cracks jokes and laughs at himself. I'll never forgot how human he really was. It was fascinating - every detail - from his intonation to how he chose his words (yes, he speaks English) when the interpreter assisted him. I'll cut myself off there.

Coming back in the office on Tuesday (after a day off), my co-workers and I learned that the chair His Holiness sat on during the teachings on all of the other days was one of our small couches in one of our interview rooms. How neat is that? I'm sure at one point or another we have all sat there now. How could we not? Regardless of one's beliefs, HH the Dali Lama provided us with a great opportunity to add to our education. And now, this awe-inspiring teacher will touch many of our prospective students.

Will you sit in "his" chair? If you come to campus for an informal interview, you just might have the chance. Perhaps I date myself a little here with my phrasing, but really, how cool is that?

Ok. I think that's enough for tonight. Need to head out of work so that I can make it home and back in time for the Musikfest concert I'm going to starts tonight. I just hope that the rain doesn't soak me!!!

2007-11-16T09:19:00.001-08:00

Well it's here - already November 16, the big game is tomorrow. In the most played college football game, Lehigh's Mountain Hawks will match up against Lafayette's Leopards. Twenty minutes away, this rivalry is great fun. I do love attending the games - seeing the massive amount of school spirit, participating in a an amazing tradition, and welcoming friends back to campus are incredible experiences. But perhaps what I love most about it, oddly enough, is the day before the game. Today is when the Marching '97 marches around campus for at least half of the day playing all sorts of fight songs. In and out of classrooms (actually with classes in session), the band finally makes their way to the Alumni Memorial Building just before noon each year. The Admissions Office clears as we join members from the Alumni Office, Development Office, and others to share our spirit. There's just nothing like this experience. Everyone is excited about it and you can see it on all of the faces. The band even marches INTO the President's Office and plays for her. What service! Just one tradition I love and wanted to share. I encourage you to imagine what it would be like to be in class where the band bursts in suddenly. There's nothing like it!

To some, it might sound odd. To others, it might sound trite. But to us here at Lehigh, there's nothing else like hearing the Lehigh spirit we all feel. GO LEHIGH! BEAT LAFAYETTE!

2007-09-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

After 3 weeks of travel - to Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Western NY - I quickly realized the quiet allure of the bustling Lehigh Valley has played a trick on prospective students (and probably current students, too). Even though I live there, I forget how easy it is for people to come to the region and campus after seeing farms for miles and not see across the Lehigh River to the rest, which is the significantly larger portion, of the city of Bethlehem. By missing the remainder of the city, it's easy to miss why Bethlehem has been on Money Magazine's Top 100 Places to Live in America. So here are some of my thoughts on the area.

Myth: it is a small town in the middle of nowhere.
Truth: the city has a population of 78,000+. It is in the middle of the Lehigh Valley, PA's 3rd largest metro area (with over 3/4 of a million people!).

Bethlehem is full of history, including the first bookstore in America (The Moravian Bookstore). The South Side (the section of Bethlehem that is on the south side of the Lehigh River) of is home to the former Bethlehem Steel site, the company that provided steel to create the Golden Gate Bridge. A little known fact that I think is really neat (maybe because I'm a fan) is that Billy Joel's song titled "Allentown" was written about the plight of the steel workers in Bethlehem in the '80s. The massive structures that remain completely impress me - I would love to have seen what it all looked like 100 years ago during the Industrial Revolution. Needless to say I'm looking forward to continued rennovation on the South Side as much of the steel mills are removed while at the same time preserved. These new projects along the riverfront are creating a huge transformation that I'm excited to witness. Already we've seen new luxury condos, restaurants, and a new ice skating rink. Our location in the city of Bethlehem is great, too, because of the access to a wide variety of well-liked ethnic restaurants within a few blocks of campus and because of the proximity to several of the area's cultural and musical events and festivals.

Beyond the city's borders are the cities of Allentown and Easton - it is amazing to me that 750,000 people can hide so well. Even as I drive across the Lehigh Valley each day to come to campus, I don't feel that I'm surrounded by such a population which is rapidly growing. I guess that's the "metro-burb" aspect - it's a metro area with more of a suburban feel. It's also surprising to learn every day of the companies that are either headquartered in the region or simply have locations here including Binney and Smith (Crayola), Air Products and Chemicals, Just Born (Peeps!), BBraun (medical device mfr), and Rodale (publisher of Men's Health, Prevention, the new Women's Health, etc.). Have I mentioned the plethora of cultural activities? And sporting events - ooh, that's a good one too. The Phillies Triple A team will be moving to a new stadium in Allentown in 2008.

I think Bethlehem and the entire Lehigh Valley is a great place to live - we have anything and everything without feeling like we do when you drive around. It's also nice to have such great access to NYC and Philly (so close that my friends and I used to do "cheesesteak runs" where we'd head down to get an authentic Philly cheesesteak from our favorite place - obviously Jim's - in Philadelphia) AND the Pocono Mountinas (yes, despite coming from snow country in NY state, I skiied for my first time once I was a student here at Lehigh). There's truly a sense of balance to the areas that are just outside of the region.

The balance of urban, suburban, and rural aspects makes Lehigh's location quite unique. You have to see it to understand - and that means that visiting campus isn't enough. If you visit I strongly encourage you to go out and see the Lehigh Valley has to offer.

Ok - so a quick summary:
- NOT in a small town, NOT in the middle of nowhere
- Tight-knit community that stays on campus on the weekends with all the resources you could need, but without the hassle, in the area
- increasing fun shopping opportunities all over the Lehigh Valley
- Yummy food on AND off campus (let me know if you need any suggestions)
- Yankee fans like me (and I suppose fans of those other teams) can attend games easily thanks to university trips and convenient bus station 2-3 blocks from campus
- great local events and entertainment throughout the year - from Celtic Fest, to Dorney Park, and Godfrey Daniels (music fanatics will love this place!) you'll find anything and everything if you choose to explore off campus
- Philly cheesesteak runs as upperclassmen
- Easy access to Hershey, PA, home of Hershey Park - amusement park w/ delicious tours...yes, delicious. They give you a little free chocolate at the end.

2007-09-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my much anticipated (by me) Lehigh Admissions blog. I hope to continue this throughout the year to provide some additional insight into college admissions, Lehigh University, the Lehigh Valley and more.

I am not only an Assistant Director of Admissions in my third year at Lehigh (quick shout out to the '05 Newbies!) and in my fifth year of college admissions, but I'm also a graduate of Lehigh. I spent my undergraduate time earning a degree in Business and Economics with a major in marketing - Spanish, psychology, and journalism were other areas I pursued. I also studied abroad for seven weeks in Sevilla during a summer.

Outside of the classroom I was involved in a number of student organizations, from Club Tennis and Marketing Club to Residence Hall Association and Student Senate. I found that getting involved was key to my Lehigh experience.

Many people ask why I chose Lehigh back in 1999 - the real question is why I stayed at Lehigh. Involved in high school, I came to college believing I needed to take it easy and thus, did not get involved in many, if any, organizations. Fortunately, my Gryphon (RA) Liz stepped in and prompted me to do something. [It sounds so easy now...] That push was exactly what I needed, so I'm glad Liz identified my problem.

From that point on I took advantage of the variety of opportunities available to students at LU as well as met and got to know the Dean of the College of Business and Economics, the Dean of Athletics, the several members of the Dean of Students staff including the Dean herself, the VP of Student Affairs, and more. It still surprises me how easy it was to get involved and know so many members of the Lehigh community.

So here I am - an Upstate New Yorker (Oswego) turned Pennsylvanian that's trying to spread the word about Lehigh. I hope you find this blog helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future posts.