By Associated Press, 05/30/01

NORTH SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- When Emilie Dubois was placed on the lengthy waiting list for a Virginia college, it weighed on her. So she placed a load on her shoulders -- a sandwich-board, actually -- and traveled 13 hours to make her pitch.

Emilie Dubois of Providence, R.I. (AP Photo)

It must have worked. After walking around the College of William and Mary's campus for three days, carting around her message, Dubois was accepted to the college.

"I can't believe things turned out as they did," Dubois told The Providence Journal. "It's a fairy-tale ending."

Dubois, 17, of North Smithfield, was among about 800 other students placed on the waiting list for admission to the college.

Earlier this month, she took a train south to the campus and strapped on a sandwich-board that read: "Wait Listed! Hi! You probably are wondering what I'm doing; Ask me. I love this school, and I'm here to remind admissions how thrilled I'd be to attend!"

On the back was another message quoting Albert Einstein: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

Dubois walked into the president's office, but wasn't able to talk to him. But she did chat with admissions officers, and then spent the rest of her time handing out fliers across campus.

She also met the school's track coach, who put in a good word for her. Dubois has been captain of the varsity volleyball and cross-country squads at North Smithfield High School and wants to join the track team in college.

As a backup plan, Dubois had sent a deposit to Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. But now she's headed much farther south this fall.

"It seems pretty surreal that it actually happened," she said. "I feel like it should be some type of movie."