Tomorrow my daughter and I are off to Oregon for the next stage in the college search. We'll be taking a look at Reed, Lewis & Clark, and Willamette:
A lot of people ask, "Why so far away?" I don't know what my daughter's ultimate decision will be but, as I see it, college is perhaps the one time in your life in which you are free to experiment with who and where you want to be. I didn't pay any attention when my uncle, who had gone to Standford, said "Look out west -- don't just repeat your high school experience!" or when a high school teacher from North Carolina said, "Why don't y'all take a look at Vanderbilt or Chapel Hill -- why are you so parochial in your outlook?" I still regret my obtuseness at seventeen.
Geographical proximity guarantees little. As one friend, whose daughter is also looking into schools in the Pacific Northwest, said, "My son was two hours from home and miserable for four years. If she's happy, then I'm happy -- and that's what phone calls and e-mails are for."
I have no idea what my daughter will make of this week. I had thought that she should apply to these schools and, if she were accepted, go out for a visit. But friends have told us that Reed is such a different kind of place that we should invest in the trip before making the application. She may decide that one of these colleges is the perfect match -- or she may get off the plane and say, "That's a little too far for a regular trip."
I'm not holding my breath either way. Two years ago, in October of his senior year, one of her brothers was set on a small liberal arts college in North Carolina. At the end of April, he sent a deposit to a big university in Chicago. A lot of water will flow under the bridge between this week and next May 1.
Walked today: 3.5 miles.
4 comments:
I went to college far away from home. My parents lived in South Dakota and I went to college in upstate NY. My only wish is that my parents had actually come out to visit me once. My father came out for graduation, but other than that not one visit from anyone in my family. I felt very lonely.
Have a great trip!
Hey! Welcome to Oregon! Looks like the weather is going to behave during your trip. I wish all the visitors to our state (and I am a midwest transplant...) could love it as much as I do. We've been here 20 years as of last month.
Wish I could tell you something about the colleges, but I was WAY past college age when we moved here. Hope you enjoy your visit! If I had known about your trip earlier, maybe we could have arranged to meet for coffee or something... Lisa :-]
My daughter should be looking at colleges and we just can't get her to start. It's almost like she's in denial that it's time to take the next step. Yet, she talks like she's planning to go. I don't know what to do about it. I'd be happy to send her anywhere she wanted to go. It's a time to learn to fly.
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