Ok Here is my reply to the first post.
My D went to a teeny, tiny Classical LAC (total 120 students) in Lander, Wyoming. Yes the home of the National Outdoor Leadership school. Her college’s attraction for her was that - Outdoor Leadership. That and the socratic teaching method of a 4-yr Great Books program. All located in the Wind River Mountain range. 5-6 hour drive from Denver (the major airport for most students) The other major airport is Salt Lake City but it can be a hit or miss trying to get there in the winter having to cross the mountains. We live in Southern Md. It was pretty much an all day ordeal to get to or from college.
We saw her for 3-4 weeks over Christmas break and for about 2 weeks between the end of Spring Semester and beginning of Fall. Employment was abundant during the summer months in Lander and the surrounding area so she always had a job. She LOVED it! And she got the opportunity to test out what it would be like in the Outdoor industry being a trekking guide and a backpacking and climbing instructor. Of Course I missed her and was an avid FB stalker for pictures but I loved that she was happy and transforming into a confidant young woman able to do a lot on her own and not having me around to catch her if she fell. She had to figure it out on her own.
She always said that she would die behind a desk and that she needed an active career. So I thought I probably would lose her to the Mountain Zone out west. Surprisingly during senior year she came to the conclusion that although she loved the outdoors, she realized that taking people out on the trail or working with teens out there was not what she enjoyed. But she really liked her Wilderness Emergency First Responder training that made her re-think her future after college. So, NOW during this gap year after graduating last May, she is applying to a Post-Bac Pre-med program here in the DC area - yep now she has her eyes set for medicine! And she is home!
So, my adventurer DD who was keen to go far, far away, has flown back to the coop. She said she loved her time in Wyoming and it was something she would do over again but that chapter of her life was over and it was time to move on.
Hope that is a good story for your parents.