On The Road Again...

Mt. Katahdin

Somewhere on the Maine coast

One great thing about my job is that I get to travel. For work I have been as far south as Washington, D.C. and as far north as Presque Isle, Maine. That is a lot of time spent in the car. That is also a lot of great scenery to take in, cool local spots to check out, great restaurants to hit up, etc. I love travel. ...I can't wait to be on the road again. - Willie Nelson tribute.

Oh wait, I am on the road again. Jeez, it seems like just yesterday we were wrapping up fall travel, looking forward to some structured days in the office, and waiting for the applications to start rolling in. Four months later, after a decent five hour drive, I'm checking in with the blog from the Hampton Inn in Somerset, NJ, which reminds me of a few things.

I really enjoy coming to New Jersey for a variety of reasons, mostly but not exclusively due to memories of past trips. The state that sends the most college students out of state is a hotbed for college recruiters, and it is also the site of my first ever college fair, which was a good time and made me think to myself, 'Hey, I think I could do this for a living.'

During that first year I went down with my boss and was very pleasantly surprised to see that the trees had all bloomed and there was green everywhere. In fact, the area of New Jersey I was in was dramatically different from the stereotypical drive down the turnpike that is pictured in the opening credits of The Sopranos. Where we were was very suburban and very leafy, and the green trees do wonders for the mood. Seeing those trees full is like officially saying goodbye to the long winter. You don't know how bare brown trees affects you until you make a dramatic shift from bare trees to full trees in one afternoon. That happens every year too, and this year was no exception. When I arrive back in Lowell, I know that the trees are soon to be full of green and that is always a nice feeling.

My second year here I stayed in a hotel in New Jersey (which I won't name) off route 1 about 40 minutes outside of NYC. My view outside my window was a junkyard. I'm not making that up. The best part was that there were literally junkyard dogs there. That's right, not just a dog, but a literal pack of junkyard dogs. There must have been 20 of them. I never really thought about junkyard dogs other than in the context of the guy with the name Junkyard Dog of WWF fame from my youth, but they really do exist I guess. Here's proof:

Like I said, you can't make stuff like that up. Side note: I now stay in a hotel that is not adjacent to a junkyard.


Anyway, one other reason I really enjoy coming to New Jersey is to see what the upcoming trends will be. For some reason - I suspect it has to do with the enormous malls and proximity to New York City, but that's just a hypothesis - kids in New Jersey wear what will be trendy everywhere else before kids everywhere else wear it. I know because I have witnessed this trend for the last four years. Hollister, the emo kid look, Growing Up Gotti hairstyles, those short sweater things (I think they're called smocks or something), popped collars, you name it; I swear I witnessed the start of the trend in New Jersey.


The other big reason I like coming to New Jersey is the pizza. I'm serious, the New York and Sicilian style pizza here, with few exceptions, is tremendous. I thoroughly enjoy it.


Finally, my trip to New Jersey is like the start of the next cycle. It is the first chance to meet new prospective students even before we have enrolled last year's class, and that is always pretty exciting. I'm looking forward to it.


The only real negative aspect of the trip for me is that you cannot get here from New England without crossing the Hudson River. That's not a big deal for most people, but I am absolutely terrified of big bridges. There are few bridges bigger than the Tappan Zee and the George Washington. That's the only part of the trip that I don't like. I just drive slow and put my hands at the 10 and 2 position and think about getting to the other side. I never seem to get rid of the nerves though.


I just wanted to add this from an e-mail I got from housing today. This is from the director of housing and I'm pasting it as it came in the e-mail. I hope that's okay. Anyway, here it is: "...all contracts received or postmarked after May 1st will be considered “waitlisted”. Students on the waitlist will not be assigned until everyone on the on-time list (what we call the TBA or to-be-assigned list) is placed. Once we get to our waitlist, everyone will be assigned by their distance away from the university and the time that they got their contract in."


I'm off to bed. I'll try and post something tomorrow too.


Ed