College Visits...

Just got back from visiting colleges with some of our students. Things I learned:

* "Are there opportunities for foreign students to obtain scholarships and work study?" is a safe way of inquiring for undocumented students.

* High school students need to be taught hotel behavior for late night arrivals (and hotel patrons need to bend your ear several times that evening and the next morning about such incidents).

* With each subsequent visit, students have more confidence asking a variety of questions about the college programs/resources.

* Young children are not the only age group that will watch the same movie over and over (and over) again ("White Chicks" anyone?).

* Long bus rides are an opportunity to see how you'd fare in a sardine can situation with other stinky sardines with whom you're not necessarily swimming buddies.

* Ear plugs are a must have for sane travel (la la la la la, I can't HEAR you).

* What does not kill you, either drives you to drink (immediately upon return of said field trip) or makes you stronger (or both).

* Hearing about study habits (and perils of having a lack of them) from a college student pulls more weight than hearing it from a teacher/adult. (What? We have to actually study in college? Who knew?)

* Student ideas about emergencies (as in don't knock on our door unless there is one) are vastly different from adult ideas of emergencies. Cases in point: I left my cell phone charger on the bus vs. my roommate got run over by a bus. Or .... The tap water tastes funny vs. my room is flooding from a tap water tragedy.

* Interacting with students for an extended period of time outside of your class setting allows you to have fun with them in a more relaxed setting without the get-your-work-done pressure.