The Road Less Traveled, Part 1

October 9, 2009

Getting to know the country is one of the best things about working in secondary boarding school admissions. Not only have I visited hundreds of schools across the nation but I also have seen a lot of the country itself. While much of my travel takes me to major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, or traditional boarding school locales like New Canaan or Greenwich, CT, I also have the opportunity once or twice a year to reach out to less populated areas where boarding school remains a mystery. Often my responsibility is to “open up” the region. As Dean of Admission, I will make the first trip to identify helpful school and alumni contacts. Other members of the admission office will follow up in subsequent years. This model of balancing the Dean’s efforts among high demand, traditional markets as well as new markets is an effective recruitment strategy.

Personally, it is fulfilling as well. As one of four children all a year apart and the only girl, I was generally seated between my parents in the front seat of the station wagon for our regular Sunday drives and annual family camping vacations. Unbeknownst to me, this seat would prove advantageous to my future. From as young as four or five years old, I was the official map holder. My father would come to an intersection on the way to some national or state park and ask with utmost confidence, “Which way do we go, Janey?” and after studying the map, I would tell him which way to go. He rarely questioned my authority, although I am sure I took our family on more than a few detours. I learned a lot in that front seat of the car. I learned about the country’s road system and how to read a map. I also developed an invaluable sense of direction and the confidence to make an informed but quick decision. I also learned that I loved to travel and to navigate. To this day, I drive with a map on my lap to verify the accuracy of the GPS. (I view the device as more of a consultant than an authority.) In my opinion, every child should take his or her turn navigating the family car. It is a skill they will use for the rest of their lives. In addition, it also makes them safer new drivers.

So it may not surprise you that one of my most favorite recruiting trips is to Big Sky country. No trip offers better vistas and more interesting candidates than the annual visit to Montana and Wyoming, and I have been known to wrestle my younger staff members for the privilege. You may wonder why Andover would allocate resources to recruit in some of the most sparsely populated states in the country. Good question. One response is that making Andover accessible to the nation means getting the message out to the nation. The Internet is a great resource for students to find educational opportunities, but so few students know about boarding school—and so many who do have outdated impressions about boarding schools—that an informational session in their local area is often the catalyst they need to take the initiative to explore this unique option. Secondly, Andover’s commitment to “youth from every quarter” creates a learning community of students from different backgrounds and perspectives that is often referred to by our Dean of Students, Paul Murphy ’84, as the “sixth course.” Living with peers who challenge one’s understanding of the world is one of the most valuable experiences that Andover affords. Students from rural areas play an important role in broadening their peers’ perspectives. One of my colleagues in the admission office, who also serves as a ninth grade house counselor, shared a great story about the value of having a student from Montana in her dorm. When some of the girls were bemoaning the somewhat limited shopping options in the town of Andover, this bright young lady added some much needed perspective by sharing that her family often had to drive what some might consider great distances for everyday activities. She told fascinating tales of the necessity of carrying bear spray on hikes in her neighborhood and the beauty of camping in the backcountry outside her town. Hers was a fresh point of view: sometimes not everything is at our fingertips, and that can be a good thing. Finally, one of our peer schools, St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, has a longstanding recruitment program in Montana that creates a good base for our own recruitment efforts.

So after speaking at a wonderful parent and alumni reception in Chicago on Sunday, I crept quietly out of an alumnus’ home at the crack of dawn and headed for the airport en route to Missoula, the home of the Grizzlies, bear spray, and fresh prospects.