Day One
Our first visit was at North Cedar High School in
Stanwood, Iowa, a small town along Highway 30.
I learned from Mallory that one should look for a flag pole to determine
where the entrance to a school is located.
She also told me that she hoped we would not get skunked, which means
that no students come to meet with us.
When we checked in at the office, we were told that we would be meeting
with students in the choir room. As we
were setting up in the choir room, Mallory and I got a chance to meet the choir
director and talk with him. Melanie, a
Wartburg music education graduate who teaches at the Wartburg College Band Camp
every year, also stopped in to welcome fellow Wartburg people to the school.
Mallory and I ended up meeting with two students at North
Cedar. One of the boys Mallory had
already met, and the other one was his friend.
Both of the them were interested in athletics at Wartburg. She started out the visit by showing the two
Iowa Private College Week (IPCW) videos that had been made this year and the
year before – “Call Me Maybe” and “Cups.”
She used the videos to take the students on a virtual tour of campus by
pointing out different aspects of campus and the people in it. This reminded me of the anticipatory set
portion of a lesson plan, during which teachers get their students interested
in the material that will be discussed that day. Mallory talked about the admissions process,
financial aid, including Scholarship Days, and the aspects of Wartburg that
make it special, like May Term and Wartburg West. Her nickname could probably be the Energizer
Bunny, as she is very enthusiastic and just keeps going and going and
going… I could tell the two boys were
very interested in Wartburg, especially the one that Mallory had already
met. I actually saw him at the
Scholarship Day last Sunday. Before we
left, Mallory made sure to update the information the school had on Wartburg.
Once we were done with the high school visit at North
Cedar, Mallory and I hurried to the rental vehicle and headed west to Kirkwood
in Cedar Rapids, which was about a thirty minute drive. Natalie, another Admissions Counselor at
Wartburg, handles transfer students, but the other counselors in the office
were supposed to try and visit the community colleges in their territories if
they got the chance. While we were in
the car, Mallory and I talked about how the visit went, reflecting upon what
she does when meeting with students. My
high school only allowed Admissions Counselors to set up a table outside the
lunchroom either before school or during lunch, so the concept of students
leaving class to personally meet with someone like Mallory was new to me. We also talked about Admissions work in
general, including how she ended up in this career.
When Mallory and I finally made it to Kirkwood, we spend
around five minutes trying to find a parking spot that was not too far away
from the entrance to the school. After
driving around the parking lot multiple times, we eventually found a spot,
grabbed the suitcase with our materials, and headed inside. We met the lady who works in the academic
advising office and had been the one communicating with Mallory about the
visit. She walked us over to Cedar Hall,
which has a centralized location where students hang out between classes and we
would be setting up our table. I had
never been to Kirkwood’s campus before, so this was another new experience for
me. Mallory showed me how she organizes
the table during visits, and we waited for students to come over to talk with
us.
During the forty minutes that we were at Kirkwood, we met
with two students. One was an Iraqi war
veteran who was interested in studying social psychology. Kirkwood had already promised him a job once
he obtained his degree, so he was in the process of finding a college to
transfer to for his bachelor’s degree. He
was already planning on continuing his studies at the graduate level. Mallory talked to him about having an
individualized major that combined both sociology and psychology. He would be able to meet with professors in
both academic areas to create a course plan that included classes that he would
need to be accepted into a social psychology graduate program.
While Mallory talked with the war veteran, I met with an
international student who was interested in many different areas of study,
including business, pre-law, and environmental science. He was really interested in studying
abroad. I talked with the student about
Wartburg’s May Term and all the different places that Wartburg students have had
the opportunity to travel to during that one month. I was able to mention the experience I had in
England and Wales this past May Term for Castles and Cathedrals, along with my
friend Morgan’s trip to France, Dani’s semester in Costa Rica, and Christina’s
time in Israel.
By the time we were able to leave Kirkwood, Mallory and I
both knew that we would have to hurry to make our next appointment. The last visit of the day was at
Calamus-Wheatland High School in Wheatland, Iowa. Wheatland is located east of Stanwood, which
meant that we would be driving back the way we came from North Cedar High
School. During the drive to
Calamus-Wheatland, Mallory and I talked about college fairs and what she would
do the next time she was at Kirkwood.
Mallory and I learned at Calamus-Wheatland that sometimes
the flag pole rule does not always work – the school had two flag poles. We ended up meeting with one student – a boy
who was interested in baseball and history.
Similar to the visit earlier that day, Mallory played the two IPCW
videos and talked with him about the admissions process and financial aid. I answered a couple questions he had about
Wartburg, but I was sad when he was no interested in talking about being a
history major. Mallory and I agreed
after the visit that he was very difficult to read.
On our way back to Waverly, after we passed through
Stanwood for the third time that day, Mallory and I stopped at Noodles and
Company in Cedar Rapids for lunch, which was my first time eating there. The Wisconsin Mac and Cheese was great,
especially since I added parmesan-crusted chicken. Overall, it was a great day, and I gained
firsthand travel experience.
Day Two
I went out on the road again with Mallory the following day
– Thursday, October 17. The second day
traveling with Mallory was just as fun as the first one. Since it ended up being Outfly that day and I
was on Outfly Committee, I was up at 2:00 a.m. to help decorate the Student
Center. While I only had two and a half
hours a sleep that night, I was alert and ready to leave for another days of
visits when Mallory picked me up at 7:00 a.m.
We stopped at Kwik Star to get gas, coffee (I got French Vanilla
cappuccino), and something to eat for breakfast before heading out on the road.
We only had two visits scheduled that day. The first one was Monticello High School in
Monticello, Iowa. Mallory and I had
about ten minutes to set up in the back of the office, which the guidance
counselor had decorated with everything from a cat rug to bean bag chairs that
students could borrow during homeroom time.
We met with one student, who was interested (if I remember correctly)
biology, specifically pre-physical therapy.
The visit was very similar to the ones we had done the previous day. I did get to talk to the student about Outfly
and the fun associated with it.
After our time in Monticello, Mallory and I headed to
Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in Peosta, Iowa, which is located just
west of Dubuque. We were scheduled to be
there at our table, which was located in the area where the students eat lunch
and hang out between classes, for two hours.
We talked to a couple students while we were at NICC, but Mallory and I
agreed that if she were to come back, she should only be there between 11:30
a.m. and 12:30 p.m. It was during that
hour that most of the students came in to eat.
While we were sitting at the table, Mallory and I continued our ongoing
conversation on our lives and student affairs.
On our way back to Waverly, Mallory and I stopped at the
Shopko in Dyersville so she could get a leather jacket that she had wanted to
get for some time. We also grabbed burritos
for lunch at Pancheros in Waterloo, which was another place I had never eaten
at before. I was very tired by the time
we arrived back at Wartburg, and I remember taking a three hour nap that
evening. In the end, I appreciated the
chance to go out again on the road with Mallory.
Reflection
Throughout my time on the road with Mallory those two
days, I learned more about what it is like to travel to different high schools
and community colleges and meet with students interested in Wartburg. Mallory really loves what she does, so it was
a great experience getting to tag along with her. I also developed skills that relate to the
Wartburg Teacher Education Model.
One skill that was repeatedly utilized during our high
school and community college visits is Communication. While we were meeting with students, Mallory
and I had to answer their questions and articulate why Wartburg would be a
great place for them to continue their education. This communication took a couple different
forms – verbal, nonverbal, and written.
We talked with several students during our travels those two days, and
we needed to have strong verbal communication skills in order to connect with
the students. The way we presented
ourselves, including how interested we were in meeting with the students and
being at their school, was also very important.
Finally, we gave the students we met with various pieces of information
about Wartburg, like viewbooks, brochures, and packets. We needed to connect the information we were
presenting to the student with what we were giving them to take home, as most
of what we discussed with them was found in our materials.
This travel experience further exposed me to working with
Diverse Learners. Mallory and I met with a range of students,
from those in their senior year of high school to someone working to obtain an
associate’s degree at a community college after being in the military. Talking with the Iraqi war veteran about the
opportunities for him at Wartburg once he is done at Kirkwood was a unique
experience for both Mallory and I. He is
in a different stage of his life compared to most of the students at Wartburg. I also had the chance to connect with an
international student, who brings different experiences/situations to the
conversation. Ultimately, all the
students are the same in regards to wanting to earn a bachelor’s degree. However, one needs to understand how working
with a high school senior will be different than a transfer student, especially
if he/she is from another country or was in the military.
Reflection and
Professional Development is another section of the Wartburg Teacher
Education Knowledge Base that I focused on during my time with Mallory. While we were driving to the different visits
and during our time at NICC, we talked a lot about the students we met with and
the techniques that Mallory utilizes, like using the IPCW videos to introduce
students to Wartburg. We discussed what
led her down this career path and why I am considering entering into the field
of student affairs. By the end of the
second day, I realized how much I had learned while I was with Mallory.
The final competency that could be applied to this
experience is Collaboration, Ethics, and
Relationships. I worked directly
with Mallory on the visits, answering students’ questions and providing a
positive image of Wartburg to everyone we met with during those two days. I was able to give a current student
prospective to the students and tell them about my personal experiences when
discussing opportunities open to them at Wartburg. I was building a professional relationship
with the students I met with, along with Mallory through our conversations and
time on the road together.
I know this is a REALLY long post, but it is just one of
the several experiences I have had with traveling for the Admissions Office
over the past month. Be watching this
blog for more posts about my travel!
