And So She Goes

My daughter starts her freshman year in college next week. I’ll move her into her residence hall on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday.

Major milestone.

No cliche in the world sums up the transition of your first born going off to college. Minds broaden; lives change – both hers and mine, but mainly hers. There is no downside to to the days, months and years to come. She’s prepared, smart, filled with common sense, and ready to make this move. More than ready, in fact.

And as much as I’ve prepared myself for the letting go part, the actual doing so may not come as easy as I intended. But it will come, just as she goes.

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Campus Visits

Today found me cruising west on I-94 to the far reaches of Minnesota – Moorhead to be exact. In Moorhead sits a small liberal arts college, Concordia, that held potential as a college of choice for my high school senior. It’s not the first campus visit. It won’t be the last.

While Concordia sits on a nice campus with nice students and a nice admissions counselor named Joe, the college’s offerings didn’t quite leave my high school senior with warm fuzzies all over. Who knows, maybe it was the 200 mile drive (one way). Or perhaps it was the idea of spending four years of a young life tromping around a campus in Moorhead, where winter temperatures dip well below zero. Whatever the issue, the key is feeling the fit.

It’s like a relationship. You either feel the click and the a-ha when walking through the campus tour or you don’t. And if you don’t, you don’t force it.

More campus visits to come and she will find the one that leaves her wanting to return and learn.

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