The College Tour Begins...

Little Lewie knows he will be going to college. Being the child of two college professors/administrators, he has no choice. Although, as a sophomore in high school, he still has some time to decide where he wants to go.

For the longest time, we all thought Lewie might go to the small liberal arts college where I worked for the last 21 years. If I continued working there, his tuition would have been free! Unfortunately, now that I've left my role, we have to look for other economic choices. For example, community college is "free" for Connecticut high school students. He could do his first two years there and then move to a four-year college. He could also be eligible for scholarships. Our plan now is to keep a cautious but open mind.

Two weeks ago, Lewie received his first piece of college mail--a postcard inviting him to become a Bobcat at Quinnipiac University (QU). Let the college tour begin! We laughed because two of my best friends' children are living on QU's campus right now. Being only twenty minutes away from our house, we hope to visit them soon. 

On the other hand, Lewie's older cousin, Sarah, chose to attend Fordham University in the city. At $95,000 per year, attending this college is out of reach for Lewie; however, Sarah earned an academic and a track scholarship, which cover most of the cost.  We are so proud of her!!!

To officially begin "the college tour," we contacted Sarah to see if we could visit her during Lewie's spring break. It might not have been as adventurous as going to Costa Rica last year, but it was an exciting experience. After a quick discussion, we decided that Wednesday, April 16th, worked well with our schedules, and we set out to take the hour-and-twenty-minute drive to the city. It was a frosty day, but the campus was in full bloom with cherry blossom trees, tulips, daffodils, and other budding flowers. The historic buildings in the backdrop made me feel like I was part of a classic movie like the Dead Poets Society. 

Here we are...the only picture of all of us!

While I can't remember all the structures she pointed out during our tour, the two that made the biggest impression were her residence hall (Finlay) and one of her classroom buildings. Her dorm room was one of the coolest rooms we had ever seen! As a triple, it had a bunkbed at the bottom and a spiral staircase to a loft at the top. Her roommates had the bunkbed, and she had the loft! We all climbed the spiral staircase to get her view from the top. We gushed over the setup, but, in secret, we all agreed the loft was a tough place to sleep. The staircase is unforgiving. What if Sarah had to use the bathroom in a hurry, or she woke up groggy? One wrong move, and she could end up with a broken bone or a concussion!

The two boys checking out the loft.

Cautiously coming down the stairs.

The bird's eye view from the loft.

Sarah's classroom building reminded me of a Harry Potter movie—there were dark, medieval hallways, large lecture halls, and candelabra light fixtures. In one empty lecture hall, I couldn't resist getting on the "stage" and pretending like I was conducting my class from the podium. Teaching on that stage—or, ahem, pretend teaching—felt powerful!

After we finished our tour, we promised Sarah dinner at a restaurant of her choice. She selected Enzo's of Arthur Avenue, which offered exquisite Italian food. Since we did a lot of walking, my husband rested his knee in the car while we hoofed it to the restaurant. There at the table, I mostly sat in silence while I listened to Sarah and Lewie talk about college, famous actors she's seen in NY, and just life in general. It was an amazing snapshot in time, for it was just a few years ago when the two of them played Minecraft together as two little kids (ten and seven).  How could they now be talking about college, work, driving, and plans for the future?

After dinner, Sarah had a six-o'clock class to attend, so Lew, Lewie, and I piled into the car to go home before dark. We were so proud to see Sarah in her element; it was the perfect way for Lewie to begin thinking about his next step after high school. Of course, I'm not trying to rush him. I would do anything to make these final high school years last a lifetime.