Rocket Science

Two weekends ago, I saw the movie Rocket Science at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Madison. Rocket Science is another one of the films that I had heard of at the Sundance Film Festival, but hadn't gotten the chance to catch there. My brother really, really wanted to see this film at the festival, but I don't think we were able to get tickets. And Kelly knows good film. He fashions himself quite the film aficionado. And for the most part he was right on with his picks at the Film Festival. But then again, so was I. But I suppose you can't go too wrong at Sundance.

Anyhow, I have been waiting patiently for the release of Rocket Science ever since last January. It's a great coming-of-age story about a boy with a stuttering problem who joins his high school debate team to try to win over the girl of his dreams, a fiercely determined beauty who is singularly focused on winning the New Jersey debate state championships, no matter what the cost. The film stars Reece Thompson as Hal Hefner, the awkward underclassman who reveals his unparalleled determination and heart. The film won the Dramatic Directing prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and opened in limited release on August 10th. It was written and directed by Jeffrey Blitz, the director of Spellbound.

I loved this film. Although it was a little on the long side, I really enjoyed the characters and plot, and the symbolic ending. It was also fascinating to learn more about the subject of debate. I had no idea that they talked so fast. And I totally fell in love with Hal. He was so cute. I wanted him to succeed so badly. And in the end, I think he did.

Chicago Marathon

This past Sunday, I ran in the 30th annual LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. The unseasonably warm temperatures hovered around ninety degrees most of the day, which obviously made for miserable race conditions. I'm sure many of you have read or seen media coverage over the last few days describing how the race was called around noon due to the dangerous temperatures. The media attention has primarily focused on this decision from the race directors, as well as allegations that there was not enough water available to runners on the course.

It was hot. Was it hot enough to call the race? Probably. When you have 45,000 runners, one of the biggest marathon fields in the world, there simply isn't enough medical attention to go around to all of the athletes who are suffering from various heat related conditions. The race directors had to save their asses to some extent. It is of course very sad, however, that so many people trained for a race that they were not allowed to finish. As for the allegations about a water shortage on the course, I didn't find this to be true at all. I thought there was more than enough water on the course, and so did other runners that I've talked to. But, obviously I cannot speak for the entire field.

It was definitely the toughest marathon I've ever run. And the slowest. Because of a combination of many factors I'm sure, I felt like crap the entire time. It probably wasn't the best decision to attempt a marathon only four weeks after having completed an Ironman triathlon, but I really wanted to finally run Chicago. The course and the spectators were amazing. Spectators lined the streets the entire course for a very Tour de France experience that made me feel like somewhat of a celebrity! Clearly I'm not, and they weren't all out there for me, but it did feel very cool.

My favorite part of the race was having Royce join me on his roller blades for the last eight or nine miles of the race. By mile 17, I was totally struggling, and wondering if I would make it. I was walking at that point, and that's when Royce came in and put a huge smile on my face. He clapped and cheered for me and everyone around me all they way to the finish line. He clapped so hard that his hands were hurting for the next two days. He was amazing. So were my other spectators, most notably Seif, KJ, Karen, and Anne. You guys ROCK!

I ended up finishing in 4:19. I think the race was officially called at noon, but people were still running in by the time I finished. I was in sight of the finish line, literally two minutes away, when an official looking volunteer announced that the race had been called and we could all start walking. It was very confusing, and I thought at first that it was a cruel joke. What do you mean I can just start walking?? I can see the finish line! We all just disregarded his comment and continued running in to the finish line. Apparently at that point, elsewhere on the course, they were pulling people off the course and making them take a bus to the finish line or walk the remainder of the race. My friend Beth was at mile 21 when they forced her to start walking. They literally starting yelling when anyone attempted to jog.

Great job to those who finished or even attempted to finish. It was a brutal day out there, and most of you know that just making it to the starting line is an amazing accomplishment and journey. And now, I'm looking forward to a much needed break from training before gearing up for April's Boston Marathon!!

Chicago River Trip

This past Saturday was Royce's birthday. The Big 2-9. I always did like older men. Anyways, we celebrated on his boat with his parents and his friend, Ben. Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, it was time to take the boat in for the season. This necessitated a trip down (or is it up?) the Chicago River to it's final place of rest during the colder months (R.I.P, Virago). The trip was a very cool experience, as each bridge needed to be lifted so we could pass through. It did take quite a while to pass through about two dozen bridges. Royce had heard it was a three hour journey, but it actually ended up taking more like eight or nine hours!

After about five hours on the boat, needing to get out of the sun and back to the suburbs were I was meeting Karen and her family for a pre-marathon pasta dinner, I hopped off the boat and walked back to my car near the Monroe harbor. I had a great day crusing on the river. The trip was so incredibly scenic just seeing Chicago from a different vantagepoint, and we had a really good time--except for when Royce fell and cracked his head open while bringing the sail down to the main cabin (the wound has since been stapled and all is good). It was nice to spend time with Royce on his birthday, and I love his parents. They are hilarious. I don't know why I was ever so nervous to meet them. I knew everything would be okay when just before I met them for dinner for the first time, Royce told me that his mom wanted him to tell me that she was sharpening her teeth. he he.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh, My!

Here are pictures from our trip to Brookfield Zoo last Wednesday. We had a great time with Karen's nieces, Emma (5) and Allie (3). We all wished that their sister Megan (8) could have also joined us, but she was busy in school! The zoo was beautiful. Just immaculate. We saw giraffes, elephants, bears, and the dolphin show, as well as Karen's pick, the Red River hogs. It was a fantastic day for the zoo and I can't wait to go back!

UW On The Road

Karen talking to a prospective student about admission guidelines at a college fair in Rockford, Illinois

After seven straight days on the road, it’s so nice to finally be back home—in my house, in my bed, in my office. As I mentioned in a previous post, last week I was in the Chicago area with Karen recruiting prospective students at local high schools and various evening college fairs. The work was exhausting and each day we were up by 5:30 a.m. for a run, on the road by 7 a.m., and not back to her sister’s house in Elmhurst (where we were crashing for the week) until after 9 p.m. It was a nice change of pace to meet with high school students outside of the office to tell them more about UW and answer all of their questions. And for the most part the students were bright, attentive, and engaged, but the quality of the high schools, counseling staff, and students did vary drastically.

Most of you might be wondering what is involved in a high school visit or college fair. Each of our office’s 14 admission counselors is assigned a given geographic territory from which we recruit and review applications. Staff member like Karen and myself, whose primary duties within the office fall outside application review, have smaller territories. We each review approximately 600 applications and do a small amount of travel each year.

Each counselor makes high school visits to the top feeder high schools in their territory, which for me, ends up being about ten high schools in Illinois from which we receive more than twenty applications. The purpose of the high school visit is to meet with prospective students, mostly junior and seniors, to present to them an overview of the university and campus, and tell them more about the application process, how we review applications, costs and financial aid, and housing. Attendance, attentiveness, academic quality of the prospects, rigor of course work offered, and the attitudes of the high school counseling staff really runs the gamut. Together, Karen and I made 14 high school visits to high schools such as New Trier, Evanston, Barrington, and Saint Charles North.

A college fair, on the other hand, is typically a two hour engagement during the evening held at a local community college. Throughout the week, Karen and I attended four college fairs in Crystal Lake, Aurora, Elgin, and Rockford. Basically we set up a table with a few of our primary publications and answer questions from students and parents. The attendance and academic quality of the prospects really varies for these, too. Ideally, we want to talk to lots of top students who are taking extremely rigorous high school course loads.

Probably way more than you needed to know.

Let's Go Red!

Pre-game with my water polo girls! (Mary, Marisa, Becca, and Kristin)

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State

Kristin and Karen sporting red from the upper deck

So lots of catching up to do since I've been MIA for an entire week. I will attempt to do updates in chronological order, beginning with the Wisconsin vs. Michigan State football game on September 29th. As I mentioned before, this was the first Badger game that I had been to since the fall of 2002 during my senior year of college. It was fascinating to observe how much things have changed in such a short time. During my time away, the stadium was massively expanded and renovated. It looks great and the expanded sea of red must be more intimidating than ever for the opposing team.

But some things never change. The pre-game tailgating was alive and kicking as always. I had a reunion tailgate party with my college friends Mary, Becca, and Marisa, all of whom played on the water polo team with me at Wisconsin. Everyone was in from across the country--Marisa from Cali, Becca from Colorado, and Mary from Chicago. It was great to catch up with those girls! I hadn't seen most of them since college, and being together again felt as if we had never been apart. The four of us were truly partners in crime during our days on the water polo team at UW. And they're still crazy bitches (and I mean this in the most lovingly way.)

The game itself was very exciting. Karen and I had tickets in the upper deck of section K. While it was sad to not be sitting in the crazy student section for the very first time, I have to admit that it was quite a relief to be able to sit for most of the game without being called an "ass hole". It was Karen's first Wisconsin game, so I had a great time teaching her all of the cheers and introducing her to the fifth quarter. Despite a close game into the fourth quarter, victory ensued for the badgers in the end. The final game score was 37-34. On Wisconsin!

Back Next Week

Hi friends. I apologize for the lack of blogging this week. I'm in Chicago all week recruiting for work, talking with students about UW at area high schools and evening college fairs. It's been a nice change from the office, but very exhausting work. Luckily, Karen and I are working together this week, so it's been great fun thus far. And how could it not be--we've spent pretty much the last two days in a car, driving from high school to high school, chugging diet cokes and eating greasy fast food.

This afternoon we have a little break in our schedule, so we'll be heading to the Brookfield Zoo with Karen's nieces Allie and Emma. I'm so excited! Then tonight, we're heading to a college fair in Rockford, where I will certainly enjoy a little Beef-a-roo for dinner. This weekend, I'll be gearing up for Sunday's Chicago Marathon, which is a race I've been dying to run for years. With 40,000 participants, thousands of spectators, and a big city course, it's bound to be a great time. I'm sorry I'll be away all week, but I promise I'll be back bigger, and better than ever next week. There are already so many stories that I've compiled to share come Monday! Have a great week, and I'll be back as soon as I can.