For the 14th field trip of the year, and my final until the next school year, my colleague and I took students to the Bridgehouse Museum and the Chicago Cultural Center last week. Absolutely recommend the Bridgehouse if you haven’t been before.

Genuinely confused as to why Alaska is represented by a margarita and Missouri by champagne and champagne flutes.

Took a group of student to the National Museum of Mexican Art today. Wasn’t expecting to see a print about Dave Matthews Band’s poop incident.

For field trip #12 we went to the Adler Planetarium today. Also cancelled Thursday’s trip to Northwestern during which our alumni were going to show incoming 9th graders around. Staying cooler and going bowling instead. Two more real trips to go this week.

Field trip #10 and #11 are in the books— yesterday I took students to the Chicago history museum and today we went to the zoo.

For field trip #9 of 2026 I took a group of students to UIC and ran into two recent alumni attending their orientation. Both gave my students the advice to get as involved as possible and try out as much as you can.

Took a crew of students to The Money Museum for a tour and to hear from one of our alumni for the fed today for field trip #8 of 2026.

Are chip bags specifically made for walking tacos a Cleveland thing?

Great weather for finding the Taylor Swift Toy Story billboard.

Chaperoned a field trip during which we walked to the zoo, wandered there, and walked back today. I’m not sure if I’ll ever walk again.

As an alum of Sacramento State’s daycare, I have to say the concept of Sacramento being the best college town in California is a ridiculous statement.

But do they have an e-bike station within an area their e-bikes don't work?

On our way back to Chicago- I’m thoroughly impressed with MSU’s pastry game.

Today’s view:

It's mathematically impossible for anyone to beat me in my school's pool (for pride and I think a 3D printed trophy). By far the best I've done.

Tried something new with one of my first-gen small groups today: Students worked in groups of 4 to research one of Selingo's Dream Schools. They filled out a slide while using Fiske's, Colleges Worth Your Money, & SchooLinks to research their school. We mixed groups & students shared to their peers.

First day of a work-from-home week: creating scattergrams for every UIUC major that had 10+ applicants from our school this year. Finally found a plus to being an ACT state--this data looks so much more organized than before.

It should be illegal to be this cold on election day.

A week ago I was pondering packing up my winter wear for the season 😭

Today I learned some students have started accounts to share what colleges have rejected them.. and it seems so much healthier than the accounts sharing where they'll go.

Tomorrow's workshop on exploring colleges outside of the Ivy League/ Big-10 is at least in part a round of bar trivia.

We need to stop adding things for teens to try to game (and worry about the implications of). initialview.substack.com/p/love-conne...

Pre-law day at Northwestern Law ✅ primarily struck by how much they talked about how Watergate changed legal training and I’m curious to see what changes, if any, this era brings. Also, I really thought their tips on how to prep for law school were great suggestions for all college-bound students.

Finally done with shopping and enjoyed this beauty.

Back in Chicago, after having wrapped up visiting nine colleges in five days. The final campuses we visited were Claremont McKenna and Pitzer. Completely different schools and vibes, but I have students I can thriving at both.

Peak Pitzer.

Visited Harvey Mudd, Scripps, and Redlands over the last two days. Haven’t seen a cloud in awhile. Two more colleges then back to the cold.

Some of this week so far.

How often do folks use "heck" in their Google searches?

The flattening of the growth in Latino applicants is another concern for me (and isn't surprising given some of the stressors being experienced at the moment).