<p>How much have fortunate “unknowns” played a role in your s & d’s college process? My son got hit by one this a.m. During the past 2 months he has developed an interest in a topic totally off-subject to his school coursework. I have kind of worried about the time spent online but have not said anything. Turns out that his growing knowledge in this area helped him this morning when he took a major IB oral English exam on William Blake. The November election sent my humanist son to websites where kids were debating the pros and cons of the Bible; he was trying to figure out what was going on in the states. When he had to interpret a Blake poem this morning, he had the parables down pat. “You see, I know what I’m doing…learning…” he said. “I did really well.”</p>
<p>So great. Another example as to how the home computer has improved lives. (And heaven knows, we need more.) But of course, it is your son’s own incentive to pursue knowledge which you must be very proud to see. That is nice to hear.</p>
<p>Yes, this is a kid who makes his own way up hill and down but I think with serendipitous events–they make me think again about if it is such a good idea to try and control events too much. In looking at colleges, the right email sent at the right time can swing a decision…but who knows when that is? A chance meeting with a friend can change where you go as you dash madly after the fed ex truck to get that last minute application in before the deadline.</p>
<p>My S was amazed when he had to write the NCTE spontaneous written essay that he had just two days before been studying in US history about the Brown vs the Board of Education decision . . . one of two topics given. Can’t recall the other topic, but he was not at all intrigued by it. Don’t know if getting the NCTE award will have any impact on his admission to college, but I do think stuff like this happens in life, and for me, it keeps it exciting.</p>
<p>I so agree with you, overseas. And I think of it often as I read these threads. So many of us seem to think that we can control much of our life…from extensive lists to scheduled information sessions and tours of colleges to clever app. topics. I am guilty also! But, from what I have seen from the experiences of my college kids, so many times their lives are most profoundly affected by chance. Whether it was a cloudy dreary day when they attended the information session at the campus that I thought was the perfect “fit”, or the quick comment about a school from someone who has influence (for random reasons) on the kids, or even the sorority sister who graduates, gets a job in HR with an up and coming company, and remembers that your kid enjoyed fixing her computer once so calls to find out if he is interested in interning for the Co. (yes, it happened), we just never know what is around the corner. Going to a school for possible “connections” is the comment I see on this board so often that really causes me to pause and then smile…for all we know, our big connection might be the brother-in-law of the mailman–if we would just stop looking so hard.</p>