<p>Because I read and hear about this sort of thing* all the time*</p>
<p>Dear girl in the purple tights, sparkly gold tunic, black facemask (and, last week, wings):</p>
<p>This is the second week in a row that you’ve given me a small candy snack while, apparently, making rounds of the thesis desks with food. Can I just say that you rock? Both times, you’ve made otherwise-pretty-bad days much better, by sheer virtue of surprise and awesome.</p>
<p>Thank you. Small acts of strange and wonderful are part of what makes Reed worthwhile.</p>
<p>EK: are you reading the Reed Livejournal community again ??</p>
<p>I love the tradition of passing out goodies to people at thesis desks. My daughter did a few rounds herself with cookies—it’s a long-standing tradition.</p>
<p>I wanted to go to Reed myself–before my daughter went there. In fact, I made her visit when she was looking at colleges because I’d wanted to go there. Now I wish I’d gone because of the Humanities 110 course; five years out, my daughter still uses the intellectual connections that course forged.</p>
<p>We were amazed by the story an Amherst tour guide told us about why she loved her school:
She really hated science in high school and didn’t want to take any more in college. (Due to Amherst’s open curriculum, she wouldn’t have to). She met with her advisor at the beginning of freshman year and explained that she was done with science. The advisor convinced her that she probably hated it in high school because it was taught so poorly, and to give it a try in college. She signed up for a science class and loved it. She wanted to take more, but was nervous that her weak science background would prevent her from doing well.
Here’s the amazing part: the professor of the first science class urged her to sign up for a second by saying “I will meet with you one-on-one for an hour every week for the entire term to go over anything you feel like you don’t understand.”</p>
<p>Likewise- not my fault he chose my school… The flagship U has changed with each generation- my mother (who didn’t finish and died before son was even born), me, and now ongoing building insures a possible next gen will see a different/same campus. Try climbing the hills again, stay in the dorm for the parents’ part of summer orientation, etc and you will be glad you don’t have to relive the college experience. Remind yourself of the studying for midterms and papers due- and don’t forget that you would have to make the campus full of agemates. I am so glad some of the best parts of the campus are timeless but that enough has changed that it is no longer my campus, but his.</p>
<p>my older D attended both a high school and a college that doesn’t have football.
younger D’s school, many of the womens sports are better attended and higher ranked than mens- although they do have a football team.
they also were both born at the UW hospital ( and even had the same NICU nurse-) so for a brief time, I thought of them wearing purple and gold…</p>
<p>Definitely.
I don’t think I would have gotten into S1’s school but if I could go back in time I would work harder and be a better, braver student.<br>
S’s school had the happiest, most diverse and enthusiastic student bodies we came across in our search. For him, it was love at first sight.
Nothing helps balance the sadness of saying goodbye (and the price of tuition!) more than knowing they are in a place where they are happy socially and academically. The school has a focus on outreach and public service that attracts many altruistic, idealistic students. It’s been a great influence on him. He loves what he’s studying (IR) and is excited about the future. He’s getting more out of college than I ever could have hoped.</p>
??</p>
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