SC = Southern California!!!

Hello! This is Andrew Leahy, one of the Admissions Counselors here at Stonehill. I just returned from an amazing week of recruiting in San Diego County in southern California! This is the first time Stonehill has been to CA to recruit students even though we have several Californians on campus already.

The weather was unbelievable! Plus, my younger brother is stationed at the Naval Base in San Diego so I got to spend some time with him in between recruiting appointments. SD is a lot of fun! We hit up Sea World, the Zoo, a Harbor Tour, the Wild Animal Park…just about everything! As part of my trip, I started a little list of superlatives to highlight some of the best times during my vacation…I mean work…in CA.

And the winners are…
Best Music: Poway HS Marching Band! They were practicing for homecoming as I walked into the school for my visit. Poway – you guys were amazing! Keep up the good work!

Best View: Academy of Our Lady of Peace! Leaving their college fair at night, overlooking all the lights of San Diego was absolutely breathtaking. OLP also wins for “Most Food & Variety of Food at a College Fair”! Every time I turned around there was another student with a tray of brownies, cookies, m&m’s or drinks. Thanks, OLP!

Most Beautiful Location: The Bishop’s School! Bishop’s is in gorgeous La Jolla and the campus is absolutely beautiful. Even the parking garage was pristine!

Best Lunch: Coronado HS! Coronado wins for their awesome quad with volleyball court, picnic tables in beach sand and music during lunch. Lunch never looked like more fun!

Most Questions: Cathedral Catholic HS! Not only did you guys ask a lot of questions, but they were GREAT questions to ask. Thanks for making the visit an exciting one!

Best Goodie Bag: La Jolla Country Day School! It doesn’t take much to keep Admissions Counselors happy and a little bag with a bottle of water, a granola bar, and some candy will do the trick! Plus, there was a Twix inside. I love Twix. Enough said.

Best Local Honey: San Pasqual HS! Okay, actually it’s Hernandez Farms which is about 5 minutes from San Pasqual HS just up the road. Orange blossom honey. I tried it. Bought two containers. Can’t wait to go back and get more.

Most Interesting Curriculum: Canyon Crest Academy! What an awesome integration of math and sciences and the arts. Enjoy it and take advantage of as much as you can Ravens!

Most Posters & Pennants: Rancho Bernardo HS! I don’t know if there’s much more wall space, but I’m sending a Stonehill poster and pennant along!

Thanks to all of you students and Counselors for making my travels out west a success! I hope you will take some time and learn more about Stonehill by visiting our website, coming to campus for a tour if you are out east or asking me questions! My email address is aleahy@stonehill.edu if you need to contact me. Also, two of your fellow Californians are writing blogs on our Admissions page. Check out Marco’s and Kathleen’s journals. To those of you who have already applied – I look forward to reviewing your application! All the best for a successful and fun senior year!