TRAVEL SEASON IS OVER...thank our Good God for that, because I do not know how many more travel stories I could have handled. Yes, I know, I should have been cataloging them all through this fabulous thing called the inter-net, however, when you are on the road, and working from 7:45am until approximately 10:00pm and the only place you can find to enjoy adult company is the Chili's by the Galleria Mall in Brentwood, blogging is the last thing on your mind.
So, tonight I will only recap trip #1--Eastern Tennessee. The wonderful liberal arts college for whom I work does this crazy thing and for the last 20 yearsish, classes have begun on Labor Day. That is correct, not after Labor Day, ON it. I have asked the historian and librarian for this tradition's origins, yet no answer that has been supplied has satisfied, yet I digress. Starting on Labor Day means that often, high schools have already begun their fall semesters two to three weeks before we have any students on our campus. There is a pro, and a con to this: PRO, it means that I do not have my students in my office every day asking questions, conversating, and helping. CON, it means that I do not have my students in my office every day asking questions, conversating and helping. My main responsibility in the office is to make sure that campus visits and tours run smoothly, which is tricky if I am on the road, and have NO STUDENT WORKERS! This year was a completely different story.
Due to previous years' traffic at college fairs in East Tennessee, I had elected to only attend one fair (a two-parter) and then complete my wonderful private visits. This could all be done in approximately 36 hours, which meant needing to only have one hotel stay. Saving money=check. I left home early on Wednesday morning, arrived at my first visit about 10 minutes early, and while there broke into an awkward sweat. Not the kind you get when you are nervous, but the kind you get when you are sick. Mark was just getting over his small bout with the whooping cough (correct, he got it, he is such a go-getter!). After I finished that visit, I had another, and another. When I finally arrived at my hotel, I unpacked my small, but efficient bag (thank you Bethany Meredith), and realized that the seasoned admissions traveler that I was had left her clothes for the second day hanging on the door knob next to the ironing board! This meant a trip to the store....(puter is puttering out....finish tomorrow, but don't worry, I have still the Chattanooga Key Flush, the Hyatt Hive outbreak, the Florence Flu school closures, Nashville Nights, Midwest Mayhem, and a Walk in Memphis...)
