<p>The only college labelled apparel that my son bought during the application process was a Michigan sweatshirt. He loved Ann Arbor for the sheer college-ness of it, but decided that a big university wasn't right for him. The sweatshirt became for him a symbol of what's right about the the American college system. It's hard to articulate, but the big midwestern multicultural university seemed so positive and optimistic egalitarian and powerful at the same time. The funny thing is that in Indonesia where we live US college logo clothes are quite popular among local teenagers and Michigan is one of the most often seen names. This among kids that barely make it through 10th grade, which kind of added to the poignancy. Well, there's always grad school.</p>