By JACKSON WANG
Co-Executive Editor
While college students spent their spring break either partying in Florida, volunteering in New Orleans, or just relaxing at home, a group of students was traveling around the Northeast with administrators and faculty members from undergraduate admission talking to accepted students about coming to The College of Saint Rose.
I was one of those students traveling to New York City; Long Island; Simsbury, Connecticut; Poughkeepsie; and Syracuse telling prospective students my Saint Rose story, along with seven other current college students who also had interesting journeys in Albany.
We spent five days living like rock stars having one night stays in hotel rooms, meeting different people every day, suiting up at each conference, and of course, eating great food. In the words of Barney Stinson – it was legen…wait for it…dary.
I was lucky to have received the opportunity to go on this trip. I met and worked with people that I did not even know attended Saint Rose, prior to being a part of the admissions team. Many of the students have interesting stories just like me. So for me, it is awesome to see how far they have come to get to where they are today.
Not only was the trip an opportunity to doing a little traveling during spring break, but it was also a chance for me to get comfortable speaking to large groups of people. Before going to speak at these conventions, I was always a little nervous talking to 100 plus people in one room, but after doing five of them, I have gained more confidence in delivering strong speeches.
The most rewarding part of the trip was talking with potential Saint Rose students. Many of these future Saint Rose students reminded me of myself three years earlier – scared, confused, and had questions for the day. So, when students interested in Communications came up and asked me questions, I was more than happy to answer them.
It felt really good to help out potential students, telling them about Saint Rose and the Communications Department. Also, I was very happy to share my story of working on The Chronicle staff, starting off as a staff writer, then moving up to Sports Editor, and finally becoming Co-Executive Editor of the newspaper.
By giving students information about The College, I can see they felt better and more comfortable. For me, it felt great knowing I was able to make life easier for a future college student.
The trip also allowed me to see a side of college I thought I would never look into. After traveling around with the hard working undergraduate admissions staff, I realized how difficult and tiring recruiting students to Saint Rose can be. The lesson learned from it, you have to give a lot to get a lot.
This opportunity to travel around the northeast was tremendous. I was very lucky to be a part of it. I had a good time bonding with Saint Rose staff members and students, as well as meeting a lot of wonderful families.
