Just so you can see how chaotic recruitment can often be, I thought I would share the bare-bones of my itinerary for this Spring 2018’s 2-month journey, which I planned and prepped for in just 3 weeks leading up to today at that!
It started at 5:00 AM today, or I guess yesterday now, (what is time?) driving to JFK airport in my rental car for my 9:45 AM 12-hour flight to Doha (after watching the Eagles beat the Patriots in the Superbowl! Woo!!) And now here I sit in Doha, waiting for my connection to Kathmandu which will be another 4.5 hours flying…from there on, here’s the gist:
NEPAL | KATHMANDU
Tuesday, February 6: Land in Kathmandu, find brochures that never arrived to the hotel, and finish editing a presentation
Wednesday, February 7: Presentation at Education USA to prospective students
Thursday, February 8: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Friday, February 9: Full day of high school visits and presentations as well as agent partner meetings
Saturday, February 10: Early AM flight to Chandigarh, India arriving in the afternoon
INDIA | CHANDIGARH
Sunday, February 11: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP)
Monday, February 12: AM 5 hour car right to Delhi airport, followed by a flight to Kolkata (since the Chandigarh airport will be closed…sarcastic yay..)
INDIA | KOLKATA
Tuesday, February 13: Full day of a high school mini-fair (IDP)
Wednesday, February 14: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP)
Thursday, February 15: Flight back to Delhi
INDIA | NEW DELHI
Friday, February 16: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Saturday, February 17: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP)
Sunday, February 18: Flight to Ahmedabad
INDIA | AHMEDABAD
Monday, February 19: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Tuesday, February 20: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP)
Wednesday, February 21: Flight to Bangalore
INDIA | BANGALORE
Wednesday, February 21: Afternoon agent meetings after AM flight
Thursday, February 22: Full day of a high school mini-fair (IDP)
Friday, February 23: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP), directly followed by an evening flight to Chennai
INDIA | CHENNAI
Saturday, February 24: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP), directly followed by an evening flight to Hyderabad
INDIA | HYDERABAD
Sunday, February 25: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP)
Monday, February 26: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Tuesday, February 27: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Wednesday, February 28: Flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka
SRI LANKA | COLOMBO
Thursday, March 1: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students, and an afternoon presentation at Education USA
Friday, March 2: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students, and local high school visits
Saturday, March 3 – Tuesday March 6: My first free days in 25 days! Woo! And it coincidentally overlaps my birthday, which is even better – I have an awesome 4-day excursion booked to get the most out of these free days (nearly the only free time that I’ll have in the whole 2 months really) and I can’t wait! Blog post about this vaca time to come!
Wednesday, March 7: 1:00 AM flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
VIETNAM | HO CHI MINH CITY
Wednesday, March 7: Afternoon email catch-up
Thursday, March 8: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Friday, March 9: Full day of meetings with agent partners and prospective students
Saturday, March 10: Full day of high school visits and meetings (Capstone Vietnam)
Sunday, March 11: Full day of a study abroad fair (Capstone Vietnam)
Monday, March 12: Flight to Nha Trang
VIETNAM | NHA TRANG
Tuesday, March 13: Full day of high school visits and a study abroad fair (Capstone Vietnam)
Wednesday, March 14: Flight to Da Nang
VIETNAM | DA NANG
Wednesday, March 14: Afternoon cultural trip (organized by Capstone) – Something fun! I love it when fair organizers do things like this. It’s a nice mental break amidst the non-stop schedules!
Thursday, March 15: Full day of high school visits and a study abroad fair (Capstone Vietnam), followed by an evening flight to Shanghai
CHINA | SHANGHAI
Friday, March 16: Arrive to Shanghai in the morning, and catch up on e-mails in the afternoon
Saturday, March 17: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP), directly followed by an evening train ride to Nanjing
CHINA | NANJING
Sunday, March 18: Full day of a study abroad fair (IDP)
Monday, March 19: Full day of a university visit and presentation, followed by an evening train ride back to Shanghai
CHINA | SHANGHAI
Tuesday, March 20: Full day of a high school visit and presentation and a meeting with an agent partner
Wednesday, March 21: Full day of a university visit and presentation
Thursday, March 22: Morning Education USA visit followed by a flight to Chongqing
CHINA | CHONGQING
Friday, March 23: Full day of a university visit and presentation
Saturday, March 24: Day without meetings – probably spent catching up on emails and sending more follow-up email campaigns
Sunday, March 25: Morning flight to Beijing, followed by a train right to Cangzhou
CHINA | CANGZHOU
Monday, March 26: Full day of a university visit and presentation, followed by a train ride back to Beijing
CHINA | BEIJING
Tuesday, March 27: Full day of a university visit and presentation
Wednesday, March 28: Full day of agent/partner meetings, an Education USA visit, and an alumni dinner
Thursday, March 29: Full day of a university visit and presentation
Friday, March 30: 1:00 AM flight returning home to JFK!
So, it may be a long trip, but my hope is that it will be a productive one! Now, it’s time to pop an Airborne and catch my connection flight to get this started. It’s a whirl-wind, and often after those full days I’ll squeeze in a visit to whatever nearby cultural site I can if there is time and if I’m not exhausted. But nearly always, whether it’s before a meeting, during lunch, at the airport, on an airplane, or after checking into a hotel, I’m catching up on emails, sending follow-up emails and campaigns to students and partners, and prepping for upcoming presentations. It may seem like a lot, but I honestly love it (when I’m not so tired that cartoons on the hotel tv make me cry for no reason). The constant fast-paced schedule makes me feel alive, and the incredibly interactions with strangers and fellow recruiters and partners and students along the way remind me why I do what I do.
Speaking of flights, before I go, Here are the total estimated miles I will spend on airplanes this trip……
