<p>My daughter has read the Common Book, outlined her paper, and is marking quotes in the book she may wish to use. She has happily connected with her roommate on Facebook, has been brushing up on her piano in her spare time, and is booked solid this week with good-bye gatherings as her HS friends head to college. On the other hand, gathering “stuff” together, catching up on her laundry so she can take clean clothes, or letting me know what else she needs/wants for college are low-to-non-existent priorities for her. How is everyone else doing (parents and students)?</p>
<p>I also want to add that dealing with Otterbein this summer has been as pleasant and straight-forward as we’ve come to expect. The culture of kindness there continues to blow me away. My daughter noticed at the end of July/beginning of August that her awards page had additional scholarship monies; assuming it was a mistake, she e-mailed the FA office to correct them. They promptly replied and advised her that after a review, no mistake had been made. I was stunned (and grateful)…I’ve never heard of a college giving additional scholarships after the May 1 acceptance deadline.</p>
<p>Also in August, my daugher was hospitalized for a week, and in the early days there was some real concern that college was not going to happen. I called FA myself and asked about their deferral policy both on enrollment and scholarships. I thought I was fine when dialing the call, but I broke down a bit when the woman answered, and she very kindly talked me down and assured me that, if necessary, something could be worked out. (Good news…my daughter will be attending as scheduled.)</p>
<p>When I got the tuition bill, I almost choked since it was 3 times higher than I had anticipated. I called the business office, and although I wouldn’t be surprised if they were flooded with calls that day, every question I had was answered with courtesy and the reassurance that I could mail what I thought the payment should be (some of my daughter’s outside scholarships won’t be credited until after first quarter starts)…the business office assured me they don’t have a big rubber stamp saying “deadbeat” for those of us whose bills are “technically underpaid” for first quarter.</p>
<p>Another reason our tuition bill was higher than expected was because we were billed for the Concert Choir trip in advance. I pointed out that while my daughter had pre-registered for Concert Choir (she’ll be attending the September orientation), she had yet to audition, and the response was simply to make the payment once she knew if she had made it in. My daughter e-mailed the chair of the music department, and he promptly answered her questions about the billing (a surprise to the music department) and the trip (France and Switzerland…whoot!), and more to the point, it was clear he remembered who she was.</p>
<p>I can’t begin to say how thankful I am for all the people we’ve dealt with this summer. Every time one of us has had to contact Otterbein, we’ve felt like we’re dealing with neighbors or friends rather than faceless bureaucrats. I find this particularly reassuring, because my daughter has to miss a day of classes in September to return home for additional tests. I was wrangling with the cardiologist about this, because missing classes is the last thing I wanted for my daughter. He asked me where she was attending college and when I told him, he actually told me not to worry about it then. I gave him a puzzled look, and he informed me that he had done his undergrad at Ohio State and knew of Otterbein from his days there. His comment: “Unless their reputation has changed dramatically, your daughter will be able to work things out with her professors; in my day, they were always known as the school where the nice people are.” I think it still is.</p>