I graduate with a bachelor’s next month, and my younger cousins (10 and 13) will be visiting campus for the ceremony. They’re both bright but have been having academic/social trouble in school. What is the best way to make the experience interesting to them? Should we just play games in the relaxing areas and not force it? Show them the campus? Should I send them home with a shirt? I’m really looking to interest them in any kind of higher education, but I don’t want to bore them.
Thanks
Take these young kids out for pizza. Or something.
They are WAY too young to be looking at colleges with any interest.
Just have fun. Fun. Forget about interesting them in college. If they have fun visiting you, that will be enough.
To be frank…graduation weekend isn’t the best time to show off a college anyway…folks are moving out and there is a lot of other “stuff” going on.
Not sure why you feel it’s important for 10 and 13 year olds who are coming to celebrate your graduation need to do anything different than…celebrate your graduation.
@kwollie My youngest is 13, middle S is 14. The 13 yr old is very interested in ballet, and when she visits she’ll get a quick tour of the dance spaces, but mainly just enjoy seeing her sister’s dorm room and fun places around campus. I remember finding the dorms and neighborhood pizza the coolest when I was that age and visiting my sibling. Her brother is not a super motivated student, but it did really help light a fire under him when he saw photos and videos of a campus that had things he loved… it clicked why it will be worth the trouble to study–so he can have a chance to attend a school like he saw. I think you can have a couple things planned, but just play it by ear. I’m not sure how long your graduation ceremony will be, but if it is some epic long thing with thousands of grads, either let them sit somewhere they can pop in and out, or make sure they have devices.
Pizza is definitely a good idea. I was thinking just a good fun day would be best, I was just trying to remember what it was like to be that age and what I would enjoy the most. The dining hall would probably be a hit.
I’m not trying to get them to consider applying once they can or to go to my school. I really want to send home the message that college is a real option for them in the future, since that isn’t the full expectation for them now.
Ask them if they want to walk around the campus. And everyone likes getting a free t-shirt.
I wouldn’t give them a lecture about their future when they’re on campus, though.
Keep it light and fun. If they can be your guests and swim at the pool (and they’d like that), do something like that. I like your t-shirt idea.
Your goal of leaving them with a sense that college could be a place for them, not just other people, is excellent.
What a nice cousin you are.
I can relate it to a comment I heard from a young colleague from a European college (where you may know college is a very different experience than here, even at the most elite schools, with most kids commuting from home, little in the way of extracurricular entertainment, etc.). My eldest was at that time applying to college, and I described it as a four year experience, living in dorms with young people your age, time to explore interests, etc. He said "that sounds amazing!
So just let them see that wonderful side of college. You don’t need to do too much to show them that-- it will probably be obvious. But the pizza idea is perfect, or maybe a pickup ultimate game if they are into that, just seeing the dorms, the academic buildings, the friendships among all those young folks, etc.
You might want to check that dining hall…at both of my kids’ schools…they were closed for the spring term.
Congratulations on your upcoming graduation.
I echo the above ideas of pizza and/or Frisbee. Find out what other events - like spring concerts, etc., may be going on when they are with you. And find out whether or not the library is open - you can tell them you promised one of your professors you’d show it to them, and if they like it, great, if not, move on.
Not to sound like an old fart, but please consider sunscreen/sunblock if you’ll be enjoying the great outdoors for any extended time.
Sneak in comments like “when I was 13 I never thought I’d go to college, but this turned out way better than I expected”
My 8th grader got dragged around on one of his big brother’s college trips. (Well really the only one before acceptances.) He was a good sport. He actually enjoyed the tours, but generally whipped out a book at the info sessions. Sometimes colleges have museums that align with a kid’s interests, but I wouldn’t drag them to art museums unless that is something they would enjoy elsewhere. My kids did like eating pizza - Caltech had the best! I’d keep it very, very low key.
I believe you may be able to get them interested in college and see it as a possible future. My youngest was dragged on a college visit when she was 12. She really didn’t want to do it. And then she learned that when you are away at college you get to set your own bedtime. And you can choose to eat at any of the food places - which meant pizza every night was a real possibility. She was disappointed to learn that she couldn’t have a pet in her dorm room, but was willing to make that sacrifice. Since then, she has actually talked about going away to college as an awesome thing (even though she now realizes that she has to do a lot of academics)
So my advice would be to give them a “fun” tour - show them the cafeteria food choices and stress that you can pick whatever you want. Show them how you live with friends on your own and can make your own schedule. If you know what they’re in to, you can stress that (ie a quidditch league if one of them is a HP fan). The other thing I think is important is that they’re aware that others like them (whether it’s ethnicity, religion, first gen, etc) go to college.
And a free T-shirt never hurt either!
It is nice of you to think of your cousins, but your graduation day should be about you. I would certainly make sure you eat at a place where they can easily find something they like, and it would be nice to get them a t-shirt/hat (or something like that) and to show them your school if there is time. But other than that let them soak it in – they will see the pride you and your family have in your accomplishment and hopefully they will want that same feeling one day.
When We took our oldest to Duke for a summer program, Younger s was in Middle school. He LOVED going to the student center and seeing all the stuff available ( food options, facilities, places to “play”). He was wowed!!
Nice of you! My dad is a college professor and I spent some time on college campuses as a kid. If you can get into the gym and explore that could be fun. I think they would love the dinning hall, and the student union building + bookstore. And of course eating out at a fun restaurant.
Also! (memories)… we went into empty classrooms that at that time had huge chalkboards, which was a blast. My did took my kids when they were little, and it was a huge dry erase board.
I would show them around campus…your dorm room, the student center (visiting a game room/food places), a lecture hall, book store (have them pick out a t-shirt) and anything else cool that your campus has.
So you are showing them where you live, where you take classes, where you eat…gives them an idea of what college is about.
Too young to look at colleges? Really? My 14 y/o son and 12 y/o daughter have toured several colleges. They love looking at the engineering labs on the tours. They love it when the tour guides interact with them. My daughter still jokes about certain clubs at UVA (Hounds on Grounds and Sweater Vest as T-Shirt). So, it depends on the kid. You know your family and what they like. Cater to their interests. But remember, graduation is primarily about you.