It feels good to be back home after a week on the road. Covering seven counties and hundreds of miles is a tiring yet fulfilling experience, but I'm always ready to return home at the end of the week.It's a shame the week ended with rain. A weird weather system drifted in off of the coast late this week. Wet, windy weather always makes following directions on unfamiliar roads much more complicated. Today had its highlights though, and there are two things in particular I'd like to share.
First, barbecue. The admissions representatives from Louisburg College recommended Johnny's Barbecue, an apparent hometown favorite, for lunch. The reps from UNC-Wilmington, Marshall University, UNC-Pembroke, and I almost didn't make it there. We followed a Garmin GPS's instructions and ended up on a dead end road in a neighborhood at a vacant lot. A very nice man who lived in the neighborhood directed us to the real location of the restaurant. The food was worth it! I had a barbecue sandwich with cole slaw, hush puppies and sweet tea. It had all the characteristics of a quintessential North Carolina lunch.
More importantly, during my final visit of the week at Warren County High School I saw one of Carolina's own recent alumni in action. Jennifer Fisher, who is a college adviser for a couple of schools in Warren County, had been responsible for organizing the college fair and preparing students to meet the representatives. She is part of a national program based in the Admissions Office at UNC-Chapel Hill called the National College Advising Corps. The corps places recent graduates from colleges around the country in under served high schools in order to encourage more students to consider applying to and attending college. Ms. Fisher did a great job preparing the students for the fair. In just my short hour at the school, I could see the impact she is having on her students. I'm so glad I could be there to see the progress she is making first-hand. Check out the pictures. I snapped a quick photo of my table display and convinced Ms. Fisher to slow down for 20 seconds for a shot of us together.I hope you've enjoyed learning more about the typical experiences admissions counselors have on the road. I'm off to enjoy my brief weekend. I'll be out on the road again next week, so look for me if you are from Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Rockingham or Stokes counties. Stop by my table and say hi!
Over and out,
Laurie
