Where in the world is... "Admissions Nicole?"

Being A Tourist in My Own Hometown!

I am employed by UW-Parkside as an Admission Counselor for ten months out each year.  During the quieter months of June and July, I am fortunate to be able to enjoy more time with our 2 1/2 year old daughter, Gia.

Now that she is a toddler we've taken full advantage of what's available in the Kenosha/Racine area.  My good friend Stephanie, (we were roommates a long time ago at UW-P), has a daughter the same age as Gia, so we've gone many places in the area together. (Her daughter, Elsa is the cute little blondie in the pictures).

It's great when you can get in the car and within 5-15 minutes be in one of hundreds of attractions in the area - many of them at little or no admission fee.  In my first month home we've visited the Kenosha Marina, rode the trolley, Kenosha lakefront playground and play-fountains at HarborPark, Kenosha Harbor MarketPlace, Kenosha YMCA (KYF). Jelly Belly Tour and Store, what I call Kenosha's Museum Campus (Kenosha History Center, Kenosha Public Museum, Dinosaur Discovery Museum and Civil War Museum), and finally, Tenuta's Deli (we shop here regularly but it's also considered an attraction - gotta love Ralph's fresh deli counter and when the weather's nice you can grab some great sandwiches and dine al fresco!). 

Racine is our neighbor to the north and so far we've visited Racine beautiful downtown Main Street and just yesterday, my UW-P roommates from almost 10 years ago; Stephanie and her daughter Elsa, Wendy and her children Justin and Katelynn and Michele and her 9 month old Keifer, all went to The Racine Zoo.   It was like a UW-P alumni reunion!  The kids had a blast. One upcoming Racine event we'd like to hit next is The Great Midwest Dragonboat Race.  We hope to stop in to cheer on the Parkside team, "The Parkside Paddlers!"

Still on our to-do list:  Rasberry Pickin' at Thompsons, Strawberry Fest at Apple Holler, a parade or two, Bristol Renaissance Faire, Six Flags Great America and Gurnee Mills (I know, those last two are in Illinois, but they are still within 20 minutes of the Kenosha/Racine area!).

We've also had some nights out where we called the sitters and with our friends, visited the area's cafe's, jazz clubs and diverse restaurants - and still have not hit them all. 

So when parents and students always ask me - "What is there to do in the area?!"  I can truly speak from experience. So much to do and too little time.  All I have to say is, our family is very fortunate to live in such a beautiful, vibrant and fun place!

If you are coming to the Kenosha/Racine area, check these websites out:

Kenosha Visitors & Convention Bureau
Racine Visitors & Convention Bureau

See you around in Kenosha/Racine area this summer!

~ Nicole

Parks, Soybeans and Winding Down.

Greetings from Janesville - "The City of Parks!"  As I sit in my hotel in Janesville, it is the night before my last official "tour" that I have been on since early September - the daily tour of high school visits throughout southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.  Tomorrow is my last day for fall high school visits as I end in Milton, Brodhead and Albany.  (all three schools have consistently sent outstanding students over the last few years!)

I haven't posted any pictures lately because my camera has been "under the weather" and the weather itself has been pretty gray and gloomy, which makes for not-so-glamourous pics from the road. 

BUT... I have visited some new places and met lots of new faces.  For the first time we added to our visit roster high schools in Monona, Waunakee, McFarland, Verona, and Waterloo.  I am excited to make repeat visits to these schools again in the spring.

This week I visited the city of Janesville and surrounding areas.  I always love Janesville, because I have family here and it is always fun to meet up with them when I can.  Last night when I got into town I met up with my cousin Mary Kay, for dinner.  Today, Janesville turned it out!  Way to go Janesville!  I had 2 students at Craig High School who were already admitted, and Parker High School had 14 students waiting for me - we ran out of room in their guidance conference area because the group was so large!  I also had a great visit with a senior at Evansville High School today as well who is interested in our Theatre Arts program.  By the way, did you know Evansville is "The Soybean Capital of Wisconsin?"  Neither did I, until today!  I've been visiting there since 2000, and noticed the new sign they posted as you enter their town.  Another little Wisconsin travel trivia fact for ya!

Be sure to look for my next posting - another college planning tip, coming in a few days!

See you on the road,

~ Nicole

PS: Just wanted to say "Hi" to my cousin Tom and his wife Pam.  Tom is a professor of Business Management (Finance) at the University of Idaho.  We hosted our annual family reunion at our house this past weekend during his visit from out west.

Haunted Happenings, A Homecoming, and Life in the O.C.

This week was definitely a unique one for sure!  Not only was it Halloween Week, but I had a recruiting visit at my alma mater, and I had a valuable and fun opportunity to speak at an assembly with the freshmen at Oak Creek High School.

Monday was "a homecoming" as I traveled to Libertyville, Illinois - for a visit to my alma mater, Libertyville High School.  I had a great visit with Ole Stevens, the LHS College Coordinator and two students.  One student came learn more about our great Pre-Health Programs and the other student was undecided, but found some new interests in a couple majors he never knew existed, like Sport and Fitness Management!  It is  always fun to visit LHS, meet with current students and to see the changes over the years.  I'll always be a Ranger, but I started as a Wildcat at LHS.

If you were near campus Tuesday night, you may have heard blood curdling screams.  No, it's not finals - it was UW-Parkside Haunted Tunnels!  This event has become a Halloween tradition on campus and seems to grow larger each year.  The event is a "one-night only" haunted house that takes place through a labyrinth of maintenance tunnels that exist beneath Parkside.  Admission is free with donation of 1 canned food item per person, and all donations go to a local food pantry.  Over the last several years I have been assisting on behind the scenes operations for a charity-based haunted attraction that friends of ours run.  The attraction was on hiatus this year, so I brought costumes on loan and my makeup case, to assist the PAB students in becoming ghouls.  The tunnels consisted of several student clubs, each section with a different horror theme.  PAB recreated an 1980's horror prom scene.  The girls dresses were hilarious and "very 80's."  The Residence Hall Association reenacted the SAW movie, Black Student Union had a chainsaws, Parkside Adult Student Alliance and Parkside Asian Organization both created a dark mazes with ghouls and WIPZ radio did an elaborate indoor and outdoor zombie apocalypse scene.  The students had an extremely small budget and only a few hours to create the attraction. It was amazing how much hard work was put in to transform the tunnels.  Other Parkside staff and I were standing at the exit watching the "finale" laughing - it was a riot to watch our students and local community kids run out of the building screaming as they encountered WIPZ's zombies - many ran screaming all the way into the parking lots!

On Halloween we had a special family event, we took our 1 1/2 year old daughter trick or treating for the first time.  She was a cow and our our dog Tootie was a bumble bee.  She wasn't fond of her cow costume so after a couple of houses, and her saying "All Done?" about 100 times, we came back home.  On Halloween she enjoyed the costume parade at her daycare much more, perhaps because Mommy pushed her the whole way in her stroller!

Thursday I got to visit the O.C. - as in Oak Creek.  They had testing amongst the upperclassmen so they gathered the freshmen together and had a couple presenters from various post-high school options to speak.  I was there to represent the 4-year institutions and to discuss how to prepare academically for college.   There was also a representative from the military, and an administrator for curriculum at OCHS who spoke as well.  It was a fun morning of interaction with the students.  Though we represented different institutions, we all echoed the same message:  "Don't settle, push yourself academically."  I was impressed with the students who came down after the presentation to ask one on one questions.

After the presentations I had a few minutes to visit with the person who was my Admissions Counselor when I entered UW-Parkside, Jennifer Farnsworth!  While Jennifer worked at Parkside in Admissions, she also went on to get her Master's Degree, and now is an outstanding Guidance Counselor at OCHS - but I'll always know her as my guide to Parkside!    

Tonight I'm off to Indian Trail High School in Kenosha for a Student/Parent Forum on planning for college and tomorrow I'm doing a similar program on campus for Parkside's Women in Science Day (for local female students and their mothers).  Saturday ends the week for me with our second Experience Day Open House. These types of programs so important for families and I always look forward to participating in them.

If you want to see more pictures from LHS, The Haunted Tunnels and Oak Creek High School, check out my "Halloween Week 2007" album!

See you on the road,

~ Nicole

PS: Good luck to Men's Basketball tonight as our Rangers play UWM!  Go get 'em guys!  Lookout UW-M, here comes the GREEN MACHINE!

Recruitin' Like a Rockstar

Ok - this is a long one, because I've been so busy!  The recruiting circuits this time of year are similar to a band on tour (without the sex, drugs and rock and roll)!

October has been a whirlwind and I cannot believe that it is almost over.  October is our busiest month as far as high school visits and fairs go.  Most college fairs take place over this month so, all of us counselors in the Admissions Office, have been busy both days and nights.

Mid-month UW-Parkside hosted the Wisconsin Education Fair.  This was the largest fair (attendance-wise), in over the three years we have hosted it.  I was site-coordinator, but it could not have been done without all of the assistance from the UW-Parkside facilities management team, our Athletic Director and Athletic Facility Manager and I cannot forget our entire Admissions Staff and our Director Matt Jensen.  Most of all, we cannot forget to thank you, the students - as well as your guidance counselors for coordinating things so you could spend the morning with us.  Everyone worked together to pull off an outstanding event.

Recently I attended the Illinois College Expo (ICE Fair) at The College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois.  Dr. Scott Thomson, Chair of our Biological Sciences Department joined me at the UW-P booth.  Biology at UW-Parkside has a nationally-known reputation  because we offer our students undergraduate research, internships with major pharma companies like Abbott Labs, and our placement out of our Pre-Health, (13 - pre health professional programs), has been 91% over the last few years for students placing into medical and professional schools! If you wonder what kind of research you could do as a Biology major at UW-P, visit our UW-P Biology Page and check out each faculty members' areas of study and click on their websites.  Both Dr. Thomson and I were extremely busy and Dr. Thomson had a great time meeting with all of the students.  Many students were pleasantly surprised to see a faculty member at our table and those who were interested in Biology especially excited to visit him!

The busy booth action continued as I was next off to Chicago for the National College Fair at Navy Pier.  The fair starts early and we bring lots of materials, so I went down Friday afternoon for our booth set-up and stayed overnight.  I usually stay in modest hotels, but that night I was able to book under a special discount contract that our state has with The W Lakeshore.  This is the hotel where "celebrities" stay when they are in town.  It was very swank, and ultra-hip - I felt like a rockstar. The best part was the view from my room that overlooked North Avenue Beach. I watched the fireworks from my room at night, and the sunrise over the lake in the morning - it was breathtaking. The folks at The W have a great sense of humor, and I'd find quirky little funny things all around my room that made me smile.  I took pictures of it all, not only for my blog, but to show my husband because I want our place to look like The W!  Check out the pictures in the album. Ok, ok, enough about the hotel - how was the National Fair? 

Amazing!

There were hundreds of schools from all over the country and the world and several thousand students. I was so thankful that my boss Matt came down to help me, because this fair is an extremely busy one.  Matt and I held it down and tag-teamed.  We had a constant stream of 2-4 families at our table at a time.  We went home with a big stack of contacts and some great memories of meeting some amazing students from all over Chicago area.   

While we were there I had a nice surprise too - some special visitors came by.  My father is on the Board of Trustees in Green Oaks, IL so my parents were in town that weekend at the Chicago Area Chamber of Commerce Convention.  The night before they had a dinner cruise, and I actually saw the yacht they were on from my bedroom window!  Their visit was nice surprise and they got to see what I do.  My dad got a kick out of speaking with the Air Force (he was in the Army Air Corps).  The representative he spoke with was based in Montana, the same place where my father went to college and was stationed.  My Dad and the Air Force Rep hit it off and since he's a Vet, they gave him all kinds of USAF swag.  He was like a big kid and I think he had more fun than the students!  When the traffic at our table calmed down a bit, I was able to take break to visit with them.

This week, I traveled in the Jefferson County and Walworth County region.  I had an overnight in Fort Atkinson so that evening I drove into Whitewater to have dinner with a UW-P alum, Luis Benevoglienti.  Luis graduated from UW-P and went onto grad school, he now is a residence hall director at UW-Whitewater!  It was fun catching up with him. 

The next morning I had a great visit with students at Johnson Creek High School.  Between my stops in the area I had some time, so I took some pictures along the way in Lake Mills and Aztalan (near Lake Mills).  Aztalan is a sacred site and important place in understanding Native American Culture.  It was once a mecca for the Native civilization, but mysteriously the site was abandoned.  It was a beautiful day and the site was very peaceful, however I was saddened to see permanent outdoor grills near the sacred mounds.  Information about Aztalan can be found here:  Aztalan Informational Website

On my return home to UW-Parkside that afternoon I took a drive through Petrified Springs Park (or what the students call "Pet's Park").  There were many camera-worthy shots so I included a couple in my October album.

Finally, this weekend is the first weekend in a few weeks that I have both Saturday and Sunday off - so I'm looking forward to spending it with Chris and Gianna.  Already tonight, as soon as I got home, Gianna was playing with my shoes!

In a couple of days, check out my blog... I'll be posting my next College Planning Tip and it has to do with an affliction that inhibits high school seniors this time of year... can you guess what it is?  Be afraid... very afraid.  I will give you some tips about how you can be immune from this deadly condition!

See you on the road,

~ Nicole
 

Two Nicole's Hit the Road!

Where was I the end of this week?

Clues: A country town with a smiling barn and another city with a temple!

On Friday, September 28th I had scheduled Waterford, Mukwonago, Palmyra-Eagle, and Muskego High Schools.  Nikki Kulas, a UW-Parkside sophomore majoring in Theatre Arts is a 2006 alumna of Mukwonago.  She had no classes scheduled for that day, so I had asked her if she'd like to join me for a day of high school visits, and she jumped at the chance. Two Nicole's hitting the road could only mean one thing - trouble!

I picked her up at University Apartments at 7:15a.m., and we made our way to Waterford where we met with several students.  We then went to Nikki's alma mater, Mukwonago - where she seemed to know everyone!  We had a great discussion with the students we met there.  We went on to Palmyra-Eagle and then had a break before going to Muskego. We decided to stop for lunch back in Mukwonago at the Elegant Farmer. 

This place is like a magnet.  It seems every time I come to this town on business, I find myself grabbing lunch at the Elegant Farmer - I'm sure it has nothing to do with the apple pies baked in a paper bag, or the local farm-fresh produce.  I grabbed a little baby pumpkin for our 1 1/2 year old daughter, and Nikki grabbed a ride on a huge rocking horse - we saw more adults than kids on those things!).  We then made our way to our last stop at Muskego High School.  At Muskego, we met with a few more students. One of them was a girl who had visited Parkside with her boyfriend this past August, and I had given them a tour of campus.  She informed me that she was in the process of applying to Parkside.  You can see pictures from my tour with Nikki, in the "September 2007" album.

Today (Saturday), I had the pleasure of attending a college fair at The Bethlehem Temple in Kenosha for a Youth Conference.  There were students of all ages, many with their parents. Some students very young, but it was fun to see them become interested in college at such an early age.  Many were fascinated in the animation video loop I had running on my laptop from our digital arts program.  The younger ones said, "Can I really do that in college?"  The spark in their eyes was a delight to see!  I had some college planning sheets with me for students in junior high and just entering high school, and I made sure they each received one.   

Tomorrow (Sunday) is a welcomed day of rest with my family and then it's another busy week, but one that I'm looking forward to.  Keep checking back as things will really get busy as October gets into high gear - and look for my next, "Knowledge for College Tip #2" coming mid-week.

See you on the road,

~ Nicole

PS: As a person that bleeds Ranger Green and Cubbies blue, I have to say... YAY Rangers Men & Womens Soccer Teams for Wins this weekend and YAY CUBS!  Way to go last night winning the Division!

 

Homecoming, Cubs Fans & Lighthouses.

Where have I been so far this week?

Clues:  A city where Hillary Clinton went to high school, a town famous for drag racing, another town famous for it's landmark lighthouse, and a couple high schools that REALLY get into wacky homecoming spirit fashion!

My first week of high school visits was a fruitful one!  I had students everywhere I went, and for many schools it was homecoming week.

Shoreland Lutheran welcomed me to visit with a table set up in their cafeteria during lunches.  It was homecoming so everything was decorated in a tiki theme and students were dressed for pajama day.  I saw many students, several of which I've been speaking with since their sophomore year so it was nice to see them again.  Now they are seniors and are in the process of applying to Parkside.  It seems like yesterday they were sophomores!

Next was Union Grove and Mr. Hansen had a great group of students who all were Seniors. All had taken their ACT and were already in the process of applying for admission.  We had a great discussion about majors and life on campus.

That night, I had a college fair at Maine East in Park Ridge, Illinois and a student came up to me in a UW-P sweatshirt!  Her brother is a UW-P Baseball player and now she's considering Parkside.  I also met a parent who attended Parkside before we had residence halls - he had some fun stories of UWP "back in the day!" 

I've been traveling with my camera in case I see something interesting during my travels that I can capture to post onto my blogs.  Already into my first week, I haven't been disappointed!

This morning I pulled into Westosha Central in Salem, Wisconsin and was greeted by students dressed in wild and crazy outfits.  This could only mean one thing - it's homecoming week at Westosha High School!  They turned out a large crowd of students for me and a few who were dressed in blue also turned out to be fellow Chicago Cubs fans (I'm a Parkside Rangers fan first, but I'm also a die hard Cubs fan too). 

Later today I visited Prairie School in Wind Point, Wisconsin (north Racine).  Prairie School is a gorgeous school situated on a beautiful winding road that goes along the Lake Michigan shoreline.  I arrived early, and it was such a beautiful day.  I decided to take the road a mile north to the Wind Point Lighthouse - and to my surprise found that it is currently getting a face-lift! 

You can see the pictures of my adventures from today in my album. 

See you on the road,

~ Nicole