I will plant my seed in you

When I first found out I was tagging along on counselor visits, I immediately envisioned:

Let's face it, you would, too.

I am both pleased and disappointed to tell you that it was nothing like "The Office," which I'm finding to be a big problem with work in general. But that's an entirely different post.Today is all about my adventures shadowing a counselor. Allow me to break it down for you: (editor's note: times are extremely approximate)

4:40 a.m.-- Alarm goes off. I hit snooze.
4:45 a.m.-- Alarm goes off. I hit snooze.
4:50 a.m.-- Alarm goes off. I hit snooze. I begin getting ready.
5:15 a.m.-- Counselor picks me up at the hotel.
5:30 a.m.-- Finally find NPR station.
5:40 a.m.-- Stop at Dunkin Donuts for my usual (vanilla iced coffee).
7:00 a.m.-- We see a rainbow. A full rainbow. A legit half-circle rainbow. I have never seen one before and am amazed. There was even a secondary rainbow. Holy crap. Today will be amazing.
7:30 a.m.-- We get lost.
8:15 a.m.-- We arrive at first school to meet with counselor. She tells us that it is a class of 70 seniors. Their class sizes are still around 30 kids. That's not good. Not likely to get applications from them.
8:45 a.m.-- We get lost on our way to second school. Pass a billboard for the Marines that says, "We don't accept applications. We accept commitments." We decide to use it as our new slogan for the day.
9:00 a.m.-- We realize we actually passed the second school but thought it was an abandoned factory.
9:30 a.m.-- Second meeting with guidance counselor. Counselor describes crazy parents for us. Not likely to get applications from them, but one kid from either of the first two schools will get a free ride because of scholarship program.
9:59 a.m.-- Leave second meeting.
10:00 a.m.-- Use antibacterial handwipes.
10:37 a.m.-- Get lost.
10:54 a.m.-- Arrive at third school. Meet up with two new counselors who will be joining us.
11:15 a.m.-- Meet with ten kids and guidance counselor at small prep school. Basically the best visit ever. Realize the counselor went to the same high school as me (many years apart). Random.
12:09 p.m.-- Kids leave. Counselor stays to answer our questions about high school visits/what to expect.
12:38 p.m.-- Counselor and I discuss teachers we had in common. There actually are some.
1:00 p.m.-- Final visit of the day. It's torrential downpour, so we're soaking by the time we get inside.
1:05 p.m.-- Fifteen students arrive. Not many questions. Lots of staring. One girl asks about marine biology, and we practically tell her to try a different school because we can't give her the chance to hang out with dolphins. One girl brings her résumé . Adorable.
2:00 p.m.-- Leave final visit. Decide to go to Panera.
2:14 p.m.-- It starts raining way more. Panera parking lot is flooded. We eat soup. They have free samples of pumpkin lattes. Mmm.
5:17 p.m.-- Finally get home. Want to collapse. Twelve hour day.
11:10 p.m.-- Finally going to collapse. Friday. Score.