I had a very similar experience deciding between high schools back in the day. One was my true love, one had some specific characteristics I had thought I really really wanted, but was not otherwise alluring, and a third was someone else’s prestige pick that I didn’t like at all. The last one fell off easily for me (though not so much for that someone else).
My coin toss was actually accepting the second school’s offer because it represented what I wanted on paper. And the sinking feeling I had after that told me and everyone around me everything I needed to know. I finished hashing it out by trying to write a letter justifying each choice to a trusted teacher. That clinched it. And the first school was TOTALLY the right choice.
So we made a few emergency calls and rolled back the responses.
Faithful Reader:
You will soon be rewarded for your forebearance on this long and winding journey. Good things come to those who wait. All good things must come to an end. The end is nigh. (Or nearly nigh.)
First, let us ponder the meaning of life. Is there not a deeper significance to be found in the everyday mundanities of a teenage girl’s first major life decision? To be sure, the meaning is deeper than what color of nail polish will look best with which outfit. In the particular instance of my own teenage daughter, who indeed loves nail polish, she has put considerable thought into the matter. She is aware that the ultimate goal is gainful employment.
Having never had employment more important than babysitting, it is possible that she hasn’t yet grasped the meaning of having a real job. Yet, she feels that while many colleges will prepare her for her future, only one place will do that in a way she feels is best suited to her temperament and intellectual needs. She feels that the professors will be engaging enough that she will not expire from boredom as she currently does Monday through Friday from the hours of 7:30 am-2 pm. She believes that the students at this college will interest her enough that she will actually participate in meaningful conversations, rather than wondering who toilet-papered the school mascot. She is certain that she will be employable and job-worthy after attending this college. Her father is fervently hoping this will be the case.
You have indulged me thus far, and I sense you might actually need to do something more important than read drivel on College Confidential, so it is time to release your bated breath (hoho!). Refer, if you will, to a statement I made many moons ago, in post #87: I suspect she will end up in the middle of nowhere. I ask you, Reader, is a cornfield the middle of nowhere? Nay, not to the sparrow perched on a cob! Not to the corn sap beetle, for whom that very cob is the center of the universe! And I suspect, not to the citizens of a nearby college adjacent to that cornfield, who, though they may allegedly sport a red Solo cup on occasion, seem to succeed in their studies nonetheless. Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you to raise a cup also, and welcome the newest resident of Kenyon College, Miss Lindagaf’s D! May she live long and prosper!
@porcupine98 , cornfields rock! And thanks to you all for your nice thoughts. And I really do have to thank all the great people in the CC community for all their insight and wisdom. Honestly, it would have been much rougher without all this free and collective advice! Haha, I feel like I have just accepted an Oscar! :-*
@Lindagaf , I know nothing of cornfields, less still of Kenyon! But I’ve loved following your saga, and your post #263 made me smile. May your daughter live long and prosper.
Congrats to your D, @Lindagaf It’s been a pleasure (and highly educational!) to follow along this journey with your family. Thanks for sharing so much information and experience with those of us who are still taking their first steps.
(KNEW she’d pick it,