Two amazing days in Ohio

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Ohio and recruit for Skidmore's nationally recognized Opportunity Program. My travel partner was Kate, an academic advisor for the Opportunity Program.

Our connection flight was running late so we were rerouted to Dayton, Ohio via Charlotte, North Carolina. It didn’t make sense to us, but we got to our final destination safely but later than expected. Our travel karma seemed to balance out and our rental car turned out to be a convertible. The weather forecast was perfect convertible weathertoo!

A few hours after checking into our hotel, we were up and on our way to our visit to Meadowdale High School.

Kate in front of Meadowdale HS.

We were scheduled to spend the full day there and while it was a long day, it was one of the most amazing days I have had as a college admissions officer. Cheryl Lincoln, the only counselor at the school, was responsible for over 1100 students (and growing). She still managed to shuffle us off to the appropriate classrooms in addition to all of her other responsibilities. Drastic budget cuts have made the school day shorter but the students there are still eager to absorb everything their dedicated teachers give them. We met with all grade levels and encountered so many great students defying the odds. These are students who are ready to go to college and we hope to be able to help their transition to Skidmore (and other great institutions). My only regret is I didn’t have a chance to take pictures of any of the students on campus.

After a full day, Kate and I took Cheryl and an English teacher out to lunch. It was the least we could do to thank them for giving us an incredible opportunity to talk with so many of their students.

After the late lunch/early dinner, Kate and I drove about 3 hours to Cleveland. We were so emotionally (and physically) drained, we went straight to our rooms and went to bed.

The next morning we visited Cleveland School of the Arts. It is a magnet school and all of their students are incredibly talented. We had a chance to meet with all grade levels and take a tour of the school.

The choir showing us a little of their incredible talent.

I had the opprtunity to speak to the entire freshman class.

We witnessed the school choir practicing, a dance class in progress, and a tour of the photography and art studios. We finished the day with a late lunch with Carol Soljanick and another counselor from the school at an incredible restaurant, Nighttown.

We were even luky enough to drive through Cleveland on the way back to the airport!

The "tribe" had just come back to beat the Tigers.

Back in Saratoga!

I'm back in Saratoga and the energy on campus is amazing! Here is a post about this past Monday, September 10th, our last day together as a group.

We flew to Maui in the morning and arrived just in time to get to H.P Baldwin High School. We met some students interested in leaving the islands for school on the mainland.Steve puts on his game face!

Jennifer loved this student's t-shirt

Maui High School was next on our schedule. We met some enthusiastic students and a great counseling staff!

Picture for the blog behind the blog

We ended our trip together with a visit to Seabury Hall. It has arguably one of the most picturesque campuses in the world, and it was a great ending point to a fantastic trip. After meeting with students, we were invited to the headmaster's house for a home-cooked meal! Thanks to everyone at Seabury Hall for making our visit so special.

Our last group picture (at Seabury Hall)!

Sunday at Hawaii Prep!

Sunday evening we headed over to Hawaii Preparatory Academy for a program open to all students on the big island. We had a larger turnout than we expected and we all met some great prospective students and families!
THANK YOU to Andrew, Cindy and Joanie for hosting us at HPA! Larry is excited to present on St. John's Colleges

Attendees head over to the "college fair tables"

Saturday on the water!

Saturday was our second "free" day since the start of our journey on August 28th. I interviewed another student from Oahu at 8am before boarding our flight to the Big Island, Hawaii. We were so lucky to spend the day in the water. We celebrated the beautiful sunset in the ocean in a group huddle (sorry, no picture available)

Steve tests his luck on the water slide at the hotel

Steve entered the pool with speed
Jennifer had the most fun.

Stephanie was graceful

Larry was silky smooth

Creative Though Matters. Lava rock "Skidmore"

Friday in Hawaii!

We had another early morning on Friday. The "Six Pack" hosted a counselor breakfast at 7am in our hotel. Twenty-six counselors from Oahu attended the breakfast! Thanks again to all of the counselors for coming out to learn more about our schools!
Stephanie is busy at work

The rest of the day was spent visiting Mid-Pacific Institute, Kamehameha School, and Punahou School on the island. (We are still trying to transfer the pictures you sent so we can download them to the blog!)
The incredible view from Kamehameha
A warm greeting at Punahou School
The impressive computer lab at Mid-Pac
The requisite food shot (lunch at Punahou)

We all rushed back to the hotel to interview students from all over Oahu. I was able to sneak in a short surf session (my second session in Oahu) before my interviews.

Ground hog day; September 6th twice

I started Thursday, September 6th, with a trip to the local fish market at 6:30 am. I had fresh tuna and salmon roe over rice, miso soup and chilled tea for breakfast. The whole meal was absolutely amazing and only cost me about $10.00usd. The menu for another restaurant at the fish market
The crowd overflows out the door (even at 6:45am)
Steve looks over the Tokyo subway map! Waiting for our first train in Tokyo
I get in front of the group on the way to the subway station
Buying subway tickets
I met the rest of the group in the lobby to mentally prepare for the LONG day ahead of ourselves. We were about to begin the "ironman triathlon" of the college admissions world. Our first visit was at St. Mary's International School, an all boys school in a residential area of Tokyo. Steve (El Capitan) mapped out our subway route to the morning visit.

Waiting for our first train in Tokyo
Stephanie and I pose during the ascent to our first school visit. We all were sweating profusely by the time we reached St. Mary's.



We met some friends on the way to the school. A sight for sore eyes (in front of St Mary's)


After a productive visit, we were driven to our next school visit! This was a huge relief because this leg of the trip was to be our most difficult on the subway system. Big thanks to Peter!
Mark is big in Japan

We arrived to our next school, American School in Japan, just in time for lunch. I enjoyed a nice bowl of Udon noddles. After a satisfying meal, we met with some great prospective students!



.Bowl of Udon for lunch at ASIJ



We left ASIJ and took several trains back to the hotel just in time to catch the bus back to the airport. A typhoon was scheduled to land in Japan at the same time we were scheduled to leave for Hawaii.

After sitting on the runway for almost two hours, we were able to take off for Hawaii. We landed in Hawaii at 8:40 am on Thursday, September 6th.



We checked into the hotel and gathered ourselves for two more school visits at Iolani school and La Pietra

A much needed lunch at Iolani. Thanks again Todd!
A courtyard at La Pietra

Big in Japan

We left Singapore early in the morning for our flight to Tokyo. I was able to have four bowls of congee in the airline lounge before boarding the 7 hour flight to Japan. We took a bus to the Ginza neighborhood and had a little downtime before meeting for "the meal."View from the bus


Bus ride to the hotel


In a huddle before "the meal"



In true academic form, Larry busts out another incredible poetic verse to celebrate our journey thus far!



Just as "Mr. Larry" finished, the food began to arrive!


Preparing for "the meal"

Kobe beef!Picture with the restaurant owner and his wife.

Jakarta International School

We woke up early to fly to Jakarta for the day. Commuting in Jakarta is quite the experience. There is a mix of small motorcycles, cars, vans and trucks all fending for themselves along the road. It reminds me t of commuting in Thailand (where I'll be later this fall).


We were glad to finally arrive at Jakarta International School . The counseling staff greeted us with a warm welcome and surprised us with a traditional Indonesian meal. It was simply the best overall meal we have had thus far. Thanks again to everyone at JIS for a great visit! See you next year.



Jennifer meets with a prospective student



All of us met great prospective students. I was even able to reconnect with a terrific student I interviewed in Saratoga Springs this past summer!


Pic with a new friend on the JIS campus