Drowning

Sheesh. I can't seem to get out from under heaps of paperwork since I've come back from break. Just the usual - a ton of papers to grade, progress reports to go out, 3 different classes to prep for each day, AVID tasks to complete, friends' birthdays I want to acknowledge .... I think that MAYBE today I saw the sunlight through all the pulp.

Chaperoning was eye-opening. You couldn't ask for a nicer group of kids. They were very polite, and we never had to worry about them getting into trouble. The "worst" thing that happened was when they started getting goofy at a semi-upscale restaurant where they dipped their fingers into the water glass and then swirled them around the rim to make a piercing sound. I almost disowned them, but if that was the worst, then, whew.

We visited Columbia, NYU, Princeton, UPenn, Swarthmore, Goucher, & Johns Hopkins. The kids got to sit in on classes, take a tour, listen to information sessions, talk to current students and generally get a sense of what was "needed" to get into and be successful in college. I was thoroughly wowed by Swarthmore. Everyone was so involved in life and passionate about everything. They were very ecologically and politically and socially conscious. The campus was gorgeous. Everyone was friendly and helpful AND (the best part), the food was great (they even had daily vegetarian selections). They had very active internship and externship and study abroad programs. What more could you want in a college?