<p>We left our boy at Whitman last Saturday at the end of Parents Orientation. Talked to him last night for the first time. We had very little contact this first week--just a couple of quick texts. Wanted to let him get his bearings and all that.</p>
<p>He sounds good! Busy and working hard. Challenging course load--he wouldn't have it any other way--but he's also signed up for some fun clubs/activities, and I hope he follows through on those.</p>
<p>We were really impressed with the college. The president is eloquent and caring. The presentations and events for us were thoughtfully planned. The dorms and food are much nicer than I expected. Most importantly, the very smart students we met were warm and down to earth. </p>
<p>The one sour note in the weekend was the guest speaker whom they've apparently brought in many years in a row to address the incoming class. I guess he was funny, but he pushed a religious agenda, including a lot of throw-away comments that were really sexist. I don't know why a good progressive school would invite this guy repeatedly. But it didn't ruin our time there, by any means.</p>
<p>Thanks to anyone and everyone who answered my questions throughout the research, application, and selection process! bopambo, I especially appreciate your encouragement and guidance. We believe our son has landed at a place where he can really thrive.</p>
<p>And he should get his first care package today. Nothing too luxurious, just odds and ends that he asked for or that I thought might be useful: clothes hamper, extra towels, extra hangers, batteries, book light, alarm clock . . . and a package of goldfish crackers for good measure.</p>
<p>Yikes, I pushed the wrong button and posted an incomplete sentence. Anyway, I also intended to say that I’m glad your son is settling in and that you got a good look at the campus and people, the speaker you mentioned is most definitely an anomaly. I didn’t attend orientation (Dad did the move-in) so I missed him, but I’ve never gotten a hint of a religious agenda or felt anything but disdain for sexism on campus, so I can see why it was jarring. I hope you’ll be able to attend a Parents’ Weekend, we had such a good time going to those. The campus in the Fall is breathtaking, and we met so many great young people and saw them in plays, in musical groups, and playing any number of energetic games on Ankeny Field. After our S decided on his major we had many opportunities to meet the faculty in his department, that was great for me, I learned quite a bit about his chosen field by talking to the professors.</p>
<p>When S was in the process of applying to colleges, Whitman parents on CC answered many of our questions but as their kids graduated, they drifted away. When S was a freshman someone posted a question about scholarships that I didn’t know the answer to, so I contacted the great guy that had been his admissions rep to get the answer and to say that Whitman really could use an admissions presence on CC, he suggested that it might be a good thing for me to do. Once I got over laughing about that, I thought, “well, I love Whitman, and I don’t have any cash to give to the parents’ fund so maybe that can be my contribution”. I’m really thrilled I could share some useful information with you. </p>
<p>I hope that your son has a great and stimulating time this first semester, and I’m SO happy to know another Whitman parent on CC!</p>
<p>I got an email this morning from my son saying he had spent his first Friday night on campus playing Ping-Pong and talking about basketball with a new friend in the dorm–which sounds like a perfect way to wrap up a big week! Today he was off to an outdoors trip with one of his classes.
I like the idea that you might stay on, bopambo! Places and people that are important to our children are important to us, so I can totally get why you feel that connection. And it won’t be five minutes before a new set of high school students are madly researching schools and obsessing over applications (if they’re not already). Maybe we can both answer questions for them.
We will definitely be going for Family Weekend. Very much looking forward to it!
One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier message but feel great about: as our Orientation weekend went on, I cried LESS about letting go of my kid! I think because it was so clear it would be a great place for him. And have done surprisingly well since. It helps that I came back and headed into several very busy weeks of work and other things.</p>
<p>When my son went away to college it was much harder then I imagined it would be, I’d always thought I’d be thrilled to have more time and space for myself, but I was shocked how much I missed him. He, however, did very well without us, Whitman became a happy home base. Now it’s hard to have him leave Whitman, they made us feel so welcome, we certainly enjoyed visiting once a year. He probably has graduate school in his future, but that will be something else entirely. I may start haunting the grad school forums, plenty of research to be done there. My info about Whitman will become less and less current, I guess I was trying to say that I’m really happy that you’re here and will have a whole new set of knowledge to relate.</p>
<p>Is yours taking a geology class by any chance, the outdoor trip made me think of that. Mine took an introductory Geology class first semester of freshman year and that was it, love at first sight, he never wavered. These kids can surprise you.</p>
<p>Nope, Chemistry. I have no idea what he will major in, but tonight I read up on the BBMB program and got excited that it might be up his alley. I need to get a life!</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, I can relate totally. My son is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Canada to Mexico, a 2660 mile hike, and I have now gained, through copious research, a pretty good working knowledge of snowshoes, ultralight backpacking gear, personal locator beacons, trail food, supply drops, forest fires and trail closures, and more, much much more. I wish I was as interested in my own work.</p>
<p>However, I did try to learn more about geology so I’d have a better understanding of his field, but I got stopped at minerals, I just wanted to fall asleep. Too bad he didn’t major in English literature, I would have stuck with it longer. .</p>
<p>Bopambo–try reading “In Suspect Terrain” or “Basin and Range” by John McPhee. Beautifully written non-fiction that extols the wonders of geology. When you have a little insight into how mountains or diamonds are formed, you begin to feel the exquisite poetry all around you…</p>