It is all about the match. The campus visit is the reason I've been in college admission for nine years. There is no such thing as a typical campus visit. I meet students who are the first in their family to go to college, students who are looking selectively at private liberal arts colleges, and legacy students who already know a lot about the school. They all wonder the same thing: "Is this the place for me?" And there is no easy answer.

The academic year is getting underway and each fall my daily duties transition from managing the steady-paced flow of prospective students who try to get an early start on their college search by visiting campus on summer vacation. Some bring a slew of family members, others bring a few friends, but either way the outcome is similar: this is the student's first opportunity to be on campus and make an impression. I enjoy the first visit for that sense of connection: "Yes, I could see myself here."

The world of college admission is seasonal, and so my daily activities are, too. The summer allows for time to reflect with our open-house days, when prospective students and their families get an introduction to the campus. The fall involves working closely with prospective students and their parents both on and off campus. I travel to college fairs and visit high schools where I represent the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University and answer questions about academic programs, financial aid, and the application process.

My winter days are consumed by reading applications for admission-yes, we do read every application, devoting about a half-hour to each one-and it is during this season that we make our recommendations to the admission committee. We also have on-campus competitions in the winter for our top academic and performing arts scholarships. Spring is when we send out our financial aid notifications and our admitted students return to visit campus one last time before they make their final decision.

Almost every day is a good day. I promote higher education. It's what I enjoy. But for me, the true reward comes in getting to know our prospective students and then, once they've enrolled, watching first hand as our students grow through their undergraduate experience.

Each fall, I contact the guidance and career center offices to pinpoint dates and times to visit with prospective students at the 20 Twin Cities High Schools in my recruitment territory to discover which new students would be best suited to our school. I also represent CSB/SJU at the National College Fair in Minneapolis, which is a day-and-a-half event at the Convention Center with representatives from over 360 colleges. It's another opportunity for more students to discover that our school might be the right place for them!

The beginning of the academic year always breathes new energy into campus as all of our new students make this school their own. This fresh beginning allows for reflection and excitement as I watch the students I helped select discover their newfound freedoms and responsibilities. Whether a student's personal transformation begins the first day or the first semester, I know that four years later there is guaranteed to be a different person walking through the commencement ceremonies than the one I originally welcomed to our school. But this transformation isn't about the diploma, per se, it is about the exposure to different experiences and people here, and an educational environment full of challenges, growth, support, and learning opportunities.

Growing up in a rural farm family in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, as number three in a family of nine children, Joan Geraets-Krush (MA '99 - Student Development in Post Secondary Education) is used to speaking to a crowd. As the first in her family to earn a master's degree, it is one of her proudest accomplishments. She is in her tenth year working in private college admissions. Her admissions experiences includes working at Dakota Wesleyan University (Mitchell, S.D.), Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisc.) and currently at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University (Collegeville, Minn.) as the assistant director of admissions.