Hi Rob, She and her roommate arrived last night and both had big grins on their faces. We loosened them up with a big casserole of Lasagna, garlic bread, home made apple pie, etc. and basically found out that both of them were a bit surprised by the intensity of their individual homesickness. Her roommate is from Ohio but couldn't head home because her folks were out of town this weekend. So, we're surrogate parents.
It seems they were suffering from VCR withdrawal as they headed out and rented two movies as soon as dinner was over! Today they're heading over to Madison, WI to the homecoming celebrations there. Lots of my daughter's friends ended up at UW-Madison so it will be a fun reunion, I'm sure.
I highly recommend the over-night stays that many campus' offer now. Our initial screening of schools ranged from about 1000 student private schools to small cities of 20,000 students. Of the three campus' that she liked and attended over-night visitations two of the three were still interesting afterwards. One she ruled out because, even though all appeared to be relatively normal about the school during the week, the campus was partially abandoned on the weekends with kids heading home or where ever.
She ended up picking a school 7 hours away and across three state lines. This surprised us. We thought she would choose one of the UW system campuses. When we quizzed her about it, she said "Well, I figured if I started at a Wisconsin school, I'd probably not transfer out of state if I didn't like it. But if I started out of state and don't like it, I know I can always transfer back here to a school that I like." That was as good a reason as any!
Anyway, so far, so good. They both like their classes. Their dorm is set up as 4 person suites with their own bath facilities. Their other two roommates are good sorts as well. However, there aren't as many freshmen in that building as in others, so they spend quite a bit of time in other dorms.
Food is acceptable as are quantities. So far I've heard no complaints about entertainment. My daughter broke a bone in her foot the second week on campus, so was hindered a bit on the social side. She had just signed up for intramural soccer, so that was put on hold. This school seems to have a pretty well developed IM sports program for those not interested in varsity activities. This was important to her in school selection.
BTW, the sun's now up over Lake Michigan and illuminating the top of the Ash trees in my back yard. They've already turned to gold. I hope as the inventory in my warehouse matures it also turns to gold!!!
Best regards, Tom |
