After I posted photos of the University of Florida this summer on my Facebook wall, a friend of mine who is a Notre Dame fan, commented, “What in the world are you doing in the Swamp?” If you don’t keep up with college football, you might not understand that what she meant was, "What are you doing at UF’s stadium?" Keep reading to find out.
One of the hats that I love wearing a Darlington is that of college advisor. To help me best serve my advisees, Darlington’s College Guidance Office sent me on a whirlwind adventure earlier this month called The Sweet Tea Tour, which is organized by SACAC (the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling).
I met a fun group of college advisors, independent college consultants and teachers at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville to start our tour and we visited 14 Floridian colleges in five days! Each was unique and had signature programs that simply blew me away. I went on the tour to learn more about these colleges and so I could share my experience with my advisees. However, I must admit that in addition to taking notes for my students, I was already making college plans for my 9-year-old son, Ezra.
Not only did we learn about merit scholarships, early admissions, and the application process, but we also got private tutorials for school chants -- FSU’s tomahawk chop, UF’s Gator chomp, UNF’s Osprey swoop, and the list goes on. Every college hosted either wonderful luncheons or dinners and I was humbled by their hospitality. Our tour guides were students, and each of them spoke with pride and passions about their respective institution. They gave us the good, the bad and the ugly, which is exactly what we wanted to hear.
On our first day, we toured UNF and Jacksonville University, where we saw three beautiful foxes just hanging out by the golf course. My tour guide, an Aviation Management and Flight Operations major, spoke very highly of the aviation program. I hope to see him piloting one my flights one day! One of UNF’s dorms, where we stayed, had a lazy river and pool -- boy, college dorms have really come around since I graduated from Rutgers University in 1998! Additionally, their B.M. in Jazz Studies is internationally known.
On our second day, our group leaders, Ivey Harrison ('99) and Caroline Farmer Morris, asked us to wake up early be on the bus by 7 a.m. Flagler College’s reception in St. Augustine an hour later made it totally worth it. I imagined myself being Henry Morrison Flagler’s special guest at his Ponce de León Hotel in the late 1800s.
On the same day, we visited Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where I was blown away by the flight simulators and the intense training pilots undergo. Did you know that in today’s airlines, one in four pilots is an Embry-Riddle graduate? After two hours of aeronautical talk, we hopped on the bus again to visit Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college in Daytona Beach, founded by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. We toured Dr. Bethune’s house discovered that although she was highly educated and well known, she enjoyed the simplicities of life.
Our second day’s itinerary was concluded at Stetson University. I was approached by an admissions officer who asked, “Do you know Joe Montgomery? He graduated from Stetson!” Everywhere I went, there was some connection to Darlington. It was amazing. After all the wonderful food I had already eaten on the tour, it was time for me to go for a run. The students at Stetson said, “Just follow the Mad Hatter trail and you won’t get lost.” That didn't make sense to me until I saw prints of Stetson’s mascot on the sidewalk for two miles.
On our third day, after breakfast at Stetson, we hopped on the bus again and headed for Rollins College. I was very impressed, not only by the tremendous amount of financial help their students get, but also by the beauty of their campus. Our tour guide took us into a theater named after the late actress Annie Russel, where her ghost has a reserved seat. Rollins’ music program was the icing on the cake. We were serenaded by a violinist, a pianist and a passion-filled opera singer who made me shed a few tears.
Our third day’s agenda continued in Orlando where we visited UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. We sat in Dr. David Black’s classroom, where we learned about winery techniques, major wine regions, wine tasting and evaluation. After such an enriching lesson, I was thankful the walk to the bus was only two minutes long.
Our third day culminated at the University of Tampa. This college tour was very different from all the others. We were not asked to walk around in the heat, but instead were given a tour from the Vaughn’s Center’s ninth floor. The view of the campus, the historic Tampa Bay Hotel and the City of Tampa was spectacular. The glass walls brought the city to us. We spent the night at the wonderful Urso Hall, where the word dormitory has been completely redefined. Our rooms had their own bathrooms, kitchenettes, and sinks!
On the fourth day we beat Tampa Bay’s rush hour traffic by heading for Eckerd College at 7 a.m. The minute we walked on campus, I smelled the Gulf of Mexico. This small college is on a waterfront of St. Petersburg, providing many opportunities for their Marine and Environmental Science programs. We also found out that you can have a pet in your dorm at Eckerd! We learned about Eckerd’s Search and Rescue program and did impromptu acting with Gavin Hawk, Associate Professor of Theater. The impromptu session turned into a roasting session for Sweet Tea Tour participants who had been late to the bus.
Our next stop after St. Petersburg was Sarasota. New College of Florida’s bay front campus was once the home of circus magnate Charles Ringling. This college offers a lot of hands-on research opportunities. Who would have thought the sensory habits of manatees could be so interesting? There was an interesting-looking tree next to College Hall, the former Ringling mansion, that got my attention. I did not expect to hear, “Thomas Edison gave that tree to Charles Ringling to welcome him to Sarasota.”
After Sarasota, we were back to business and headed for Lakeland to visit Florida Southern College. This beautiful campus contains the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. We were challenged to an Instagram photo competition. Our cameras and iPhones were hard at work capturing images.
After one more night at UT, we said goodbye to the bay and got on the road for Gainesville bright and early. The heat was overwhelming, but so was their welcome. It was impossible to explore University of Florida’s huge campus in a matter of two hours, so our tour guides made it a point to take us to a few of the most important spots on campus. My favorite was “the Swamp.” As we sat at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, we were all in awe of the sheer size of the place. The bright orange was captivating and I could not help to picture the fans doing Gator chomps and Tim Tebow taking a knee to pray in the middle of the field. We all posed next to the massive Gator statute in front the field and fought over a turn to take a picture of Tebow’s sidewalk plaque. At President’s House reception, Jamal Sowell, Special Assistant to the President of the University, addressed us. Mr. Sowell served as student body president when he was an undergraduate student at UF. It was certainly pleasant to hear from a UF alum with a success story.
We culminated the Sweet Tea Tour at Florida State University. This is where the phrase “saving the best for last” made a lot of sense to me. During my visit at FSU, I posted a new status on Facebook: "Ezra, you will be a ‘Nole.” This massive university has found a way to make a big institution seem like a small college. Their first-year programs and support system make college education a possibility for all who are willing. We all posed in front of the Wescott Building with our FSU hats and fans as we learned how to do the tomahawk chop.
I am thankful for the opportunity that Sam Moss, Ivy Brewer and Madge Crawford in Darlington’s College Guidance Office gave me to visit these colleges. It was a sweet tour, indeed.
