As I sit here, on top of my suitcase, trying to squash it into the realms of zipper-ability, I'm starting to think I may have over packed a little. But I can't leave that one shirt, and I'll need all those dresses, and those shoes will be helpful and...well... you get the idea. It's starting to hit me how soon I will be leaving for the East Coast. I am looking forward to every single aspect of this trip, even the 2:45 AM call time. Being this excited, I'll probably wake up around then anyway.
I did my best to get a lot of sleep last night knowing it might be my last time to rest for quite a while. I returned from a week-long leadership camp yesterday, and seeing as I'm about to leave again, I'm hoping to spend a lot of time with my family today. I like to think they'll miss me.
From what I have read of the other groups' blogs, I think the most important thing for me is to keep a very open mind for the coming college tours. No matter how much I like to think that I've got it all figured out, I'm sure the visits will be eye-opening and they may completely re-align my priorities. If anything, I'm looking forward to a better understanding of what's out there for me and what different colleges have to offer. I've been spending my free time reading about my class and the program and I'm having a hard time refraining from spewing random facts to everyone around me.
As the clock ticks down, I get more and more excited. However, seeing as the clock is also ticking down on the amount of sleep I'll get tonight, I think it's about time to go to bed.
Clara,
ReplyDeleteYou’re one of the few ILCers who actually mentioned makings sure that you’re well rested prior to your trip. Finally there’s one of you that is listening to me.
There’s a good reason why we offer these site visits. With more than 3600 colleges and universities here in the U.S., if they were all the same then there’d be no reason to even check out any school other than the one down the street from you.
But there are differences, Clara, and you know this. Keeping an open mind to these differences is so important. Even if you don’t like any of the schools you’ll be visiting, you’ll learn from these visits. You’ll learn more about what kind of questions to ask, what kinds of things are important to you and even what kinds of things you don’t like to see in a school. These are important. If you visited any of these schools predisposed one way or the other, that’d be a waste of everyone’s time and resources.
And let’s not forget that since this isn’t “college camp” where you’re off to have a good time for yourself, this is a job where you’re supposed to be soaking up information so you can bring it back to those District students who could not be there with you.