Home Sweet Home

It’s hard to believe, but I have actually stayed in the same city for the past two weeks! Now I know this doesn’t sound like a huge achievement, but just to give you an idea of what my life was like, for the past month I haven’t slept in my own bed for more than two nights in a row. So this was a nice relaxing break. I am sure the travel season of an admission counselor sounds exciting, staying in hotels, eating out every night and getting to see a ton of new places. To be honest, it is exciting and I still love my job, but every admission counselor I have met agrees, by the end of travel season eating out or ordering in isn’t appealing in the slightest and all you want is to cook your own meal, even if it is as simple as a salad.

Although it was nice to be home, it did get a little lonely since last weekend was fall break, so students weren’t on campus on Monday or Tuesday. This break is perfectly placed mid semester and gives students a chance to take a trip or just unwind after midterms. Fall break is also when a lot of outdoor trips take place.

This is a perfect chance for me to talk about one of my favorite clubs on campus, POA Pitzer Outdoor Adventures. This club has to do with any outdoor activity. Such as, beach trips, surfing, camping, hiking, kayaking and skiing and snowboarding. POA has a weekly meeting where students can propose trips or listen for trips. As long as two Pitzer students sign up and it is open for other Pitzer students they will reimburse the cost of gas. This last break there were trips to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park CA (this trip had 3 different groups totaling about 40 students), Big Sur CA, Point Reyes CA (I heard they saw a ton of whales), Bryce Canyon UT and San Onofre CA. If you can’t tell I am a bit jealous and am trying to live vicariously through the students in the office.

Tomorrow I am off to Miami and will be attending the Miami International College Fair and the Palmer Trinity College Fair, so if you are going to be attending either of those events please stop by and say hello.

Just a quick reminder before I let you go, the early decision deadline and the Preview Pitzer Days are fast approaching. So if you are planning on applying ED, make sure to give that essay one last spell check before you send it in by Nov 15. Our Preview Pitzer days are on November 7 and 14. You can register for those events by going to our website http://www.pitzer.edu/admission/index.asp and clicking on the link on the right hand side of the page.


And now the newest installment of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CECIL THE SAGEHEN

Where is Cecil this week?

Southwest and Evil Hotdogs

This week led to one of my favorite tourist stops during my travels.  I mean I have been to a lot of cool places that I hadn’t seen before, but the standard tourist attractions weren’t thrilling me as much as I thought they would.  However, this place was great and it posed a challenge.  

Let me introduce you to Cooper’s town.

A sports bar owned by Rock legend Alice Cooper.  The decorations were great, the food was amazing and all the employees were wearing black eyeshadow, just like Alice.  It turns out that Alice isn’t the only owner.  Randy Johnson is also a part owner of Cooper’s Town.  Now I am no friend of Randy, but after seeing the Anthony Bourdain - No Reservation’s episode for the southwest I had to try the hotdog named after him.  

Say hello to Randy Johnson’s Big Unit

This two foot chili cheese hotdog was....well a hotdog, but one of the best that I have ever eaten.  And to top it off it was served to me by the same employee who served Anthony Bourdain in the episode.  Since I had missed lunch, I viewed this hotdog as the Mount Everest of eating challenges.  

Needless to say I came close, but ultimately failed.  

Even though I came close, it did leave me feeling a little too full for the next hour, but it was totally worth it.  

Cecil had a good time too

Now I know you are all on top of your game, but just in case, I figured I would remind you that the voter registration deadline is quickly  approaching for many states (and has already passed for others).  So if you are already 18 make sure you get out and take advantage of your right to vote, regardless of who you are voting for.

Before I leave you, its time for another installment of 

Where in the World is Cecil the Sagehen?

As always, write your answer in the comments section

I am also feeling a bit selfish, so I wanted to give you the opportunity to hear from another member of our admission office.   I mean I know I am important, but I’m not the only one around.  So in the spirit of the upcoming election I am leaving it up to a vote, would you like to hear the next blog entry from another counselor, a student employee or me again? Cast your vote in the comments section.

I also felt bad about my lack of internet, hence slow post time, so I thought I would leave you some fun.

First my cracked windshield.  

I caught a rock on the way from Tucson to Phoenix

Second the cute elephant in my hotel room.

Fun in the midwest

As you probably know, I double majored in Economics and Organizational Studies.  Most of you know what Economics is, but I bet is lot of you haven't heard of OS before.  OS is a major that combines Economics, Political Studies, Sociology and Psychology.  It is a great interdisciplinary major and studies how people interact in groups, whether it is in a fortune 500 company or a non-profit.  It is really cool, since you can apply the concepts as soon as you have learned them, since everyone has been part of an organization before.  A lot of the courses I took had to do with jobs and career paths and they led me to the conclusion that no matter what job you are doing, it is important that you are always learning something new.

Just to prove how great being an Admission Counselor is, my job taught me two new things on Mon.  

1.  Rain storms can show up out of nowhere in St. Louis 

and 2. Bringing an umbrella and jacket only help if you don't leave them in the hotel :)   Isn't it great what you learn on the road. I got a little wet, but it was still warm and I didn't have too far to run to get back to my car.  

Now don't get me wrong.  I am used to being in rainier environments, but it is a true sign that I am a California native, since I always get confused when water randomly starts falling from the sky.  I am proud to say, though, that despite the fact that my home town of San Diego gets next to no rainfall, I at least know how to drive in the rain.

From St. Louis I traveled to Ann Arbor where I ate at Zingerman's Deli, which is rated the best delicatessen outside of NY City.  It truly lived up to its reputation.  I was even given a coupon for a free loaf of bread and got an amazing Challah loaf.  Unfortunately this put my number of carry ons up to three and I had to check my other bag.  This should be a good indication of how good the bread was, since I was willing to check a bag to keep my bread and I always try to travel light. Checking this bag made me a little nervous, since I had to fly through Atlanta to get to Minneapolis and I didn’t get in until 10.  So the last thing I wanted to do was deal with finding my bag on top of getting my rental car and driving to the hotel.  But everything turned out great.  I guess I had done something right and had some good karma on my side, since my bag was the 2nd one off the plane.  

I do have to quickly say that the DTW airport kinda scared me a bit.  They have a really cool fountain and some cool art, 

but the underpass to get to the other terminals was a little bit much for me.

I figured I should leave you with a fun picture.  Hopefully this isn’t stealing too much from John Stewart, but now for your moment of zen.

If you can't tell, Cecil also enjoyed lunch

A  quick reminder the registration is now online for our diversity program, Nov 6-8, and our Preview Pitzer Day, Nov 7 and 14.  The diversity information can be found at, http://www.pitzer.edu/admission/diversity/index.asp  and the on campus day information at, http://www.pitzer.edu/admission/form/rsvp/index.asp.   Take advantage of these great opportunities to visit campus and see what Pitzer is like.