Recruiter on the Road: Maysville

Happy Friday, people. I am so sorry to report that I didn't even get to take pictures of my favorite part of the drive to Maysville, Paris Pike, with all of its lovely horse farms! I was on a conference call, multitasking, of course. I'm sorta over programmed.

So I cursed under my breath as I passed up amazing shots. Sigh. Don't worry though, I did get plenty of good stuff.

My "Recruiter on the Road" series was actually inspired by my trip to Maysville last fall. I came for a luncheon and left before the actual See Blue Preview Night began, because I had to be allllll the way across the state in Muhlenberg County really early the next morning.

It was one of those perfect fall days, with just the right amount of sunshine in a bright blue sky with lots of fluffy clouds overhead. I'm driving along with the windows down and pass this stunning barn. And I thought, wow, I should've taken a picture of that! So for the rest of the ride I just brainstormed ideas for what I might do for the next recruitment season. Wanna see my barnspiration?

Unfortunately, yesterday was rainy and overcast and not the beautiful fall sky (well, just lighting in general) I envisioned for this picture. But I love it nonetheless.

Now, please don't get sick of me and my barns. Because you will see lots of 'em over the course of the next five remaining travel weeks, I'm sure. 

I especially love this one, as it gets to the heart of barn advertising in Kentucky. 

And I know I said I missed the best parts. The horses. Fences crafted from Limestone. Green as far as the eye can see. Rolling hills. I had to try and recreate some of the things I passed on the first half hour of the drive. I really am going to have to just drive that way one day for fun just to show you.

I'm beginning to think that people might wonder why this state car is pulled over on the side of the road taking pictures. Like I am a state worker. Well, I am , but you know what I mean. A real state worker. Inspecting things, and stuff. 

My trip to Maysville last fall also made me wonder why everything in Kentucky is called "Lick" something-or-other.

I put the question out there to the experts on Facebook, and someone responded something about the source of salt. Hmmmm. 

So thank you, Maysville, for all of your inspiration. Maysville's big claim to fame is that it's the home of Heather French Henry.

And, of course, the Mason County Royals, who graciously hosted the See Blue Preview Night in their gym. 

I had an interesting dinner time conversation with my waiter Kevin at the Maysville Pizza Hut. Kevin was a Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast (with the 12-sided-dice tattoo to prove it, which he showed me) who wanted to tell me all about his "Contradiction Theory," how it related to Joker from the Batman cartoon, not the movie, and his experience at UK. That's one of the hardest parts of my job, when I meet students who didn't make it at UK.

"Honey, I'm from the corner of poe dunk and you've got a pretty mouth," said Kevin. "When I got to UK, I was like, 'oh, so this is how you all do things.'"

Kevin said that his graduating class was largely unprepared for college, and he felt that students should have to live on their own for a year before they go off to college. He said today's students are so used to having everything spoon fed to them, that when they get to UK and have to do it on their own, they just fail.

It was sad. And put a damper on my inspirational spot. Because I just want students to succeed. And let's be honest, it's not UK's job to prepare them for college. They should be that way when they get here. So who's job is it?