Greetings from Colorado

Hello! I made it to Colorado Springs safe and sound. We had our orientation meeting tonight and met the other people attending the conference. Should be interesting. I'm looking forward to all of the information and speakers that they have planned for us. After hearing the agenda I suspect that my favorite part will be when we are paired up with a current cadet and attend a class with them and have lunch with them. That is slated for Tuesday. As I mentioned I will be updating about the conference and what I learn since this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity. In the meantime however, I also wanted to remind you of some school details that are more pressing for you...

Tomorrow (Monday) is a late start day! Enjoy sleeping in for the morning!

Also, don't forget that you have an assembly schedule on Wednesday. I will be anxious to hear how the speaker's presentation went - I am sure it will be interesting.

Have a great week!

By the way - I did NOT take this picture, but it is a picture of Pike's Peak which I see out of my hotel window. Check back in tomorrow for more updates and hopefully pictures from my visit to campus.

Heading to Colorado

I am sitting at the airport and will be boarding my flight any moment now, but wanted to touch base one last time before I head out. In case you have forgotten, I am heading to Colorado Springs for a visit to the United States Air Force Academy. I will return to school on Friday. I plan to update my blog from Colorado Springs whenever possible and share some pictures with you. I will also be trying to check my e-mail so if you need anything this week, please let me know.

If any of you are still procrastinating on your college application to OSU - don't forget that tomorrow (December 3rd) is the deadline for submission to be considered for their scholarships. If you are not worried about scholarships, then you still have a little longer until your applications are due.

Have a great week!

Safe!

Barely... just in the knick of time... not a moment too soon... We made it! Tomorrow is December 1st and all of the applications that are due by December 1st that were turned in and required recommendation letters are officially DONE! :-) Yeah! I am so relieved. It took all day to get the last letter done and all of the forms completed and I will be driving the four applications that I didn't get turned in before the end of the day to the post office myself tomorrow, but thank goodness they are done! Hopefully you submitted your electronic components today too and are able to sit back and relax... at least until the next deadline.

Don't forget, I am heading to the US Air Force Academy on Sunday and will not return until Thursday evening. I will be back at school Friday morning. While gone I do plan to blog about my trip and whatever else happens to seem appropriate. If I am able, I will also check my work e-mail from Colorado so you can leave a note and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. I hope you have a nice weekend and a wonderful week!

Cap and Gown Order Reminder

A quick reminder to all seniors... please don't forget that tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day to order your caps, gowns, and announcements without having to pay the $20.00 late charge. Herff Jones will be at WKHS during lunch tomorrow for you to place your order.

Does it seem strange to think that graduation is just 7 months away? Pretty exciting.

Application Overwhelm

Oh my goodness. Wow, have you been busy with college applications - and therefore I am swamped with my portion of the paperwork for all of your applications to each of your colleges. They are moving along. I know some of you are worried about the timing and if everything will be sent on time since so many missed the 10-day window required. I promise I am doing the best I can to turn everything around as quickly as possible. I am confident that all of the applications currently sitting in my office will be mailed by Friday. Don't forget, if you would like to review your application's progress at WKHS you can do this by logging onto PrepHQ. We document when it was received in the office and when it was mailed. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Important Heads Up

I wanted to give you all a heads up about a few upcoming dates that I will NOT be in school and will more than likely not be accessible by e-mail or blog.

This Sunday (December 2nd) I am leaving to spend 5 days at the United States Air Force Academy learning about the service academies, the Air Force, and how to navigate through the nomination/ appointment process with students. I will not be back at school until Friday, December 7th.

A much shorter time away from my office will be tomorrow morning when I will be with the other WKHS counselors at a conference provided by the Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators to learn about Federal and State Financial Aid related issues. I hope to be back at school sometime during 6th period.

If you know that you are going to need anything during the 1st week of December, please come to see me THIS week so that I can help you in advance. Let me know if you have any questions!

A "Black Weekend"

I have heard of "Black Friday" before, but never "Black Saturday." The Dispatch education blog featured a story about black saturday - the day when high school seniors are forced by parents to spend all day working on college applications and get them completed. I laughed when I read the story wondering how many of you were really locked in your rooms stressed out about trying to finish your college applications. Tonight, as I checked my e-mail, I realized the answer was a TON more than I had expected! :-) Hopefully you finished so you could enjoy today or else it was a black weekened with lots of application work.

Remember, if you are applying by December 1st and have not turned in a transcript release form you need to do this IMMEDIATELY tomorrow! You are already beyond the timeframe for turning in the forms to WKHS and in order to process them on time you need to get them in right away. We will do our very best to get them turned back around in time for the December 1st deadline. Please, do NOT put this off any longer!

So, how was the rest of your Thanksgiving? I hope it was relaxing and enjoyable! I had a great time with my niece and nephew. There are so many things I am thankful for each day and Thanksgiving provided plenty of time to reflect on them... included in my list was all of you. (And no, not just those of you who read the blog every night - although I am glad that this is useful...) Each student that I have the opportunity to work with and to walk alongside during your journey through high school is a blessing to me. I enjoy watching as you learn, grow, change, and mature during high school. I am also so thankful for all of you who make me laugh and bring joy to my day. And I am grateful for the "just because" visits when you drop by just to say hi. So, while it is a few days delayed, please know that I am thankful for you.

The only downside of my entire Thanksgiving break is that I was unable to sleep in at all. Wednesday one of my friends called and woke me up. He forgot we didn't have school and was trying to call early before school started. Thursday I was excited to wake up to play with Carly and Cole who had arrived late the previous night. Friday was the day I officially lost my mind... I H.A.T.E. to shop and I really mean HATE!!! My sister and mom always joke that I become a totally different person when we go shopping because I dislike it so much. (I would much rather just have them do all of my shopping for me and pay them for everything they buy.) So, that is why it is even more insane that I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go shopping with my sister and my mom. The reality was, if I didn't go with them when they were available and willing to help me shop, I would be totally on my own to shop for Christmas and I *needed* their help. The good news is that we were pretty successful and I have the majority of my shopping done. :-) We also went to see Sesame Street Live on Friday afternoon - did you know everything can be music? :-) It was cute and my niece enjoyed it. (Cole preferred running around out in the concourse area.) Saturday was more travelling to see family and, sadly, today was helping to pack my sister and her family up to head home.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow and hearing about your Thanksgiving breaks!