As hard as it can be, believe it or not I do manage to pry myself away from admissions work from time to time and do other things in life. Be it watch a movie, read a book, exercise, or have tea with President Elect Obama, there's a good chunk of my life that's not admissions related, and thus helps keep my sanity. Most recently, for example, I--sorry, what? You don't think I have tea with Obama? Ok fine, but I do drink tea, sometimes while watching him on TV, so there. Anyways, most recently I spent some time in the recording studio with my band to finish our album.
I'll go ahead and get the cheap plug out of the way (but trust me, there's more to this blog than that): My band, Vitium (myspace.com/vitiumband) has been together for about two years now. About a year ago we recorded five songs and finally got together some cash to head back to the studio and record six more to complete our album. I'm excited to hear the final product, because we are working with a great producer. So, even if you think the songs are terrible, at least the quality is going to be top-notch! For example, the last time we recorded, a week after we finished Dave Matthews came through town and went to this studio to record some stuff.
I guess it's the musician in me, but I have always loved recording. I was seventeen when I played on my first album in a recording studio in Dayton, OH. There I was, this little cellist about to record some parts I had written (well, improvised/written, never been much for writing stuff down), and instead of being nervous I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The recording rooms are cool, the equipment is cool, the sound you get is cool, the people are cool, everything is just cool. I usually end up spending 8-13 hours there when I go, and though it can be a bit taxing, it's always fun to just hang out and listen as everything comes together (especially if the studio is designed to be aesthetically pleasing). I was at the studio till 4:30 am the other day recording and hanging out, and it was completely worth the time.
During these marathon studio sessions, with everything being so cool and all, my mind is completely absorbed in music. Well, almost completely. During one of our breaks, a technicians asked the ol' question of, "so do you guys do this full time, or..." This of course led to all of us saying what we do for a living. When I said that I was a college admissions counselor, he sounded a bit intrigued, and next thing I knew I had launched into a long discussion about my job, admissions trends, comparing colleges, and all the usual stuff. It was a good conversation, and it's always interesting to hear someone else's take on applying to college. But I realized that once again college admissions had followed me home, and not in the usual context of having to get work done at home, but in the context of people wanting to know more about what I do. It's one of those fields that most people will have to work with at some point in their life, and so no matter where I go I'm bound to get into a conversation about my work.
Even in the midst of a 12-hour recording session, with music on everyone's mind, college admissions managed to work its way in. Which reminds me of how important it is to so many people, which in turn reminds me of why I like to work in the field.
