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Matt Moore talks about life on the road working in the world of university admissions
Being in two places at once isn’t exactly easy, but being everywhere at once is the real challenge!
As part of my travel territories, I take on two of the largest travel markets in the world: Asia and The Americas. When I first explain to people where I travel, usually their jaw drops. When I first started this job, mine did too.
My name is Matt Moore, and I travel the globe and get paid to do so. But travelling across the world from place to place doesn’t come without extensive research and planning that goes into each and every trip.
In my years as an admissions counsellor, I have luckily been able to try multiple types of travel to accomplish the travel goals of my university. This has included: recruitment tours and small group travel, as well as independently doing college fairs and schools visits across the globe. Each type has its up and down sides, including cost, flexibility, and the toll it takes on your sanity. It is most helpful to compare your individual style of travel with your school’s needs in order to determine what is best for each situation. This Fall I took a group tour to Asia and India and also did small group travel in Central and South America. In some of these areas it will be the first time the university I work for has been represented so it is great to be going with other schools and counsellors that have more knowledge of those markets. The major upside to traveling with other people is that you are guaranteed to have at least one person to join for meals each day instead of the local English newspaper.
To me each trip begins with a thud, the sound of the stamp being applied to the inside of your passport and signifies the official beginning to any overseas trip. Outside of the country the important thing about connecting with the students is trying to be more that just a human brochure. They can read all about your university on Facebook, Twitter, your website or any brochures you have provided them with, but the real challenge is to give them the experience of being on your campus while they are thousands of miles away. This is where the experience you have as an admission counsellor really makes the difference between a dull presentation of facts to a dynamic and engaging presentation that they will remember!
Traveling outside of the country for months on end is not without it perks, but a lot of times the challenges to one’s personal life and daily routine usually go unmentioned. Just like planning and executing these huge itineraries, it takes skills and effort to make sure that there is as little disruption to life back home as possible. Of course with the use of technology, it has never been easier to stay in touch with what is going on at home. I don’t leave for a trip without my laptop, iPhone and a fresh top up to my Skype account. While it can’t compare with being at home on the east coast of the USA every evening, it is better than going for such a long time without any communication.
This Fall I travelled to three continents, eighteen countries, 28 cities, and on too many flights to bother counting over my two months on the road (and this a rather conservative schedule compared to some of my colleagues). As I stand in line at passport control at the end of the trip, making the realisation that I’m back in the country is almost as shocking of a realisation as standing at baggage claim in Tokyo two months earlier. The experiences you have while on the road and interacting with people from myriad cultures is really what this job is all about. You get a chance to change the lives of students by introducing them to the many opportunities at your university and that is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. As I get my passport back from the CBP agent after being accepted back into my home country, I glance at the empty pages in my passport and I can’t help but wonder where my next trip will take me.
Written by Matt Moore (2011)
Assistant Director of International Admissions
