Hello, I must be going!

With apologies to Phil Collins, whose 1981 solo album of the same name was once a favorite of mine, here’s a first post to get things off the ground.

As I write this, I’m sitting on my bed with a half-packed suitcase beside me. It’s Tuesday night, and early in the morning I’m heading off to Philadelphia. The destination: the national Spring conference of the IECA (Independent Education Counselors Association).
photo credit: bigbirdz

I live up in Montreal, where the college admissions culture is totally different from anywhere in the States. Given that, this is my first chance to meet a whole bunch of free-lance college admissions advisors all at once. And I do mean a bunch; the most recent count had it creeping up on 400.

And, obviously, I’m really excited about that. It means I get to talk to dozens of people, face to face, to listen to their visions of how the admissions world should work and see how a tool like The U of Me will actually make an impact on their practices.

Aside from that, being in Philly means I get to reconnect with the college campus where I came of age, and walk around the first adopted city I ever loved. I’ll admit it took some adjusting for this Jersey boy to get used to being surrounded by Phillies and Flyers fans (ugh, really? The Flyers?). But over the course of my undergrad years there, and two years after that living in Old City, I really got to love the place.

So Philly, here I come! More talk about admissions, and The U of Me itself, is on tap for after I get back. We have lots to talk about.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I have to put some Phil on my mp3 player for the plane ride… Oh, you can’t hurry love. Nohhhh, you’ll just have to wait…