By the time this post is live, I will be done with recruitment.  I have a weekend of interviews in Houston, where I will talk to 28 high school seniors over two days and pray that I don’t ask one of them the same question twice.  I say this every year, but I seriously do not know where fall went.  As massive of an undertaking every recruitment season feels like, it always seems to disappear before you realize it.  My ’work travel’ email folder only has three confirmations left in it–which is good considering what happened last week in San Luis Obispo: I locked myself out of my hotel room immediately after checking in and, when the front desk attendant asked me which room I was in, I stared at her blankly and admitted I had no idea.

I’m currently sitting at Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, CA after the start of my last week of high school visits.  My time here is very different from Texas and the whole trip has a different tone.  As I was ordering my coffee, the (very hip) cashier asked me if I needed a copy of my receipt because I look “very business-y” (I’m not even in a full suit).  Everything is more relaxed here and things move a little more slowly, including the freeways. (We can go the speed limit, people!  Come on!)  USC is more widely recognized but Los Angeles is a tougher location to make accessible to people who don’t have to lock their doors at night and know everyone in town.

I am in in the office for the first time all month!  I never thought I could miss my cubicle, but sometimes the predictability of two and a half partial walls is all I want.  My cold is subsiding, my bug bites are fading, and life almost feels normal for a week.  It’s great to see the few coworkers that are also in this office this week. We trade stories and marvel at not having seen each other for over a month. Time between trips can often be rushed (depending on how long you actually have), but I tend to leave myself enough time to get just the smallest bit bored before heading back out. (And yes, McKayla Marony is on my desktop and she is very unimpressed with most things I do).

Do you like country music? I like country music (please keep reading).  “Texas Was You” is a song by Jason Aldean about how certain objects or places are accompanied by specific memories.  Since many of my experiences on the road are new ones or routines, I don’t have anywhere else I quickly form certain associations.  Most obviously, Fall means travel.  Football means hotel bars or a rare weekend home.  Texas means humidity and name tags upon name tags upon name tags that I’ll find on suit jackets for the next six months.  There were a few humid days in LA and I couldn’t help but feel like my Fall had creeped into summer life.  Hearing “yes ma’am” and “y’all” without flinching is a cornerstone of my time in Texas.  These are all broad things, but specific memories will pop up that only happen while on the road.

I’ve never run a marathon (or even a 5k, if we’re being honest) but having been through a few travel seasons. I can confidently say the two are not too different. I definitely suffer from the “sophomore slump” where, about midway through my second trip, I realize that I’m not even halfway done and feel like it will never end. I write this on my flight to Houston, which is my longest trip and the midway point for my travel season. This is always the hardest trip for me because it is smack dab in the middle and I don’t know how many more times I can introduce myself while fighting the urge to make up a new personae each day.

Society is pretty uncomfortable with people who do things alone.  People are embarrassed to ask for a table/ticket/reservation for one.  We see people waiting alone and assume that they are lonely, have been stood up or have some other justification for not having company.  When I tell people about events I have gone to on my own they seem shocked and exclaim “could NO ONE go with you!?”  It may have something to do with being an only child, but I have never really let going solo hold me back from doing things I want to do. Being an admission counselor has only emboldened this part of me.

I am on my first of five trips and have to say, gosh it feels good to be back on the road.  Maybe it is the two beds (one for napping/eating/tv watching, one for sleeping), or that my hair gets vacuumed off the floor every day, or maybe it’s just getting out of the office for a bit.  Whatever it is, all of the reasons I love recruiting came flooding back the instant I got a soy milk upgrade at the LAX Starbucks and kept the receipt to be reimbursed.

There is a division in the USC Office of Admission.  It causes heated debate.  It can define travel.  It certainly is something that defines a person.  Are you Hilton or Marriott?  (Or do you walk on the wilder side with ::GASP:: Starwood?)  If you’ve seen Up In The Air, you’re familiar with this scene.  Comparing rewards points programs, your status, and what you plan to do with your points are conversations that happen around every travel season.  Personally, I am a Marriott, Hertz and Southwest gal but will spare you the details of why.  The moral of the story is that once you select your loyalty program you should stick with it to reap the benefits.  Much to my chagrin, I have to use Enterprise in San Antonio because they are $100 cheaper than Hertz for the week (#AdmissionProblems).

Fall always gets a little difficult when trying to plan your life.  My friends will ask, “do you want to see Passion Pit in October?” to which the answer is a resounding YES, but I can’t buy tickets because I’ll likely be on the road.  My mother will ask me if I’m going to be home for Yom Kipper (one of the most important Jewish holidays) and the answer is always a meek “maybe?”  My dad’s birthday is mid-September, so there is always the chance that I will miss it.  Last year, I spent my 27th birthday interviewing high school seniors in Houston.  For three months of the year, your life kind of pauses because you’re either gone or between trips.