Rochester Students Are Smarter Than I Am…

By Mike Conklin

The trials and tribulations of travel season are inevitable – delayed flights, missed meals, and wrong turns abound.  Save for Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Sports Talk Radio, life on the road can be tough.  But amidst the high school visits, college fairs, and prospective student interviews there are those brief moments that remind me why I do what I do and why I love to do it.  This weekend, that moment of clarity wasn’t so brief…

As the Admissions Counselor that represents the state of Massachusetts, I decided this year to host a ‘Research Forum’ at the Museum of Science in Boston.  My intent was to highlight the comprehensive research opportunities at the University of Rochester by inviting two current Rochester students to present their undergraduate research to a group of prospective students.  I was excited to engage them in our process, but my excitement was tempered by one thing – I had to spend six hours in a car with two students that I had never met, two days in a row.  Now, my profession requires that I be outgoing, but I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t remove the majority of my social skills with my tie at the end of every workday.  So I was a bit apprehensive about the potentially awkward twelve hours I was about to spend in a car with two complete strangers.

But, as is usually the case, my anxiety was unfounded – I learned more in the first six hours of this past weekend than I have in the last six years of my life combined.  These guys were brilliant – and fun – we discussed everything from the futility of the Buffalo Bills to the discovery of a new planet 20,000 light years away (apparently this planet exhibits earth-like qualities but it doesn’t rotate, so at certain points on the planet there is a perpetual sunrise and a perpetual sunset.  A few theories were developed on how this would impact the evolution of the variety of species inhabiting the planet, and the possible tourist industry that this particular planet could support – not bad for a Neuroscience and BME major).  The short of the story – I had some of the most intellectually stimulating and inspiring conversation I have had in some time.

So this morning, I get to breathe a sigh of relief, grab my Pumpkin Spice Latte, and plan my next trip to Massachusetts.

Mike Conklin
Admissions Counselor