I spent the day on a college campus recently, attending lectures on preparing your daughter for college and encouraging an interest in the sciences. Meanwhile my daughter and 400 other girls ages 11 - 14 were in a series of mini-workshops, introducing them to potential careers. In one class A got to watch the dissection of a real sheep's heart. In another she learned all about ultrasound and got to use the machine on different parts of her body to see inside. A proclaimed it the "most fun day ever!" We have one more day of this conference coming up, and A can't wait.
The girls were fed a pizza lunch during their program, but the parents were set free for 90 minutes to hit nearby restaurants. I wandered over to the cafeteria, where I was surrounded by 18 - 22 year olds, nearly all plugged into some electronic device or another. There were almost no conversations happening among the more than 100 students lounging in chairs, hunched over tables, and draped over couches -- at least no audible conversations. There was probably a lot of IMing and Twittering going on.
I'd packed my own lunch, but after awhile the aroma of bacon got me, and I went and bought a plate with one biscuit and 2 strips of bacon (for $3.00!) to accompany my packed lunch. I settled in with the student newspaper and enjoyed lunch, marveling at how much college has changed since I attended 20 years ago. From the posters hung throughout the building, there were apparently still social events and clubs and causes to rally for. However, the kids around me seemed much more into their own worlds, and the silence was almost unnerving. I'd expect it in the library, but the Student Center building?
The articles I was reading in the student newspaper were compelling. I felt like I was reading the New York Times instead of a college rag. I don't remember my student paper being so well-written, but then again I went to a community college, and this was a private university that admitted only the best of the best. Maybe that's why they were all so quiet. They were all studying to be scientists, engineers, or doctors, so they had a lot on their minds.
When I picked A up after the conference, she was bubbling with enthusiasm. "When can I enroll? I want to go here!" Given that tuition alone was $34,000 a year, it wasn't going to be any time soon. Six years from now she'll be heading to college, and yet the planning has to start years before that. This conference is a good first step, I suppose, but the scariest part is how we'll pay for it.
Will she get a full ride scholarship like her older sister? Unlikely.
Will we be able to afford to send her to a prestigious private university for 4 years like her dad went to? Highly unlikely.
Will she work summer jobs and save and start out at a more affordable community college? That's probably more realistic.
I was relieved to hear during one of the lectures that it is not the college your child starts at that matters, but where they graduate from. It is perfectly acceptable to start at a community college and transfer to a university. The speakers also stressed the importance of parents investing in their own retirement funds ahead of any college funds for children. "You can take out a loan for school, but not for retirement," they cautioned.
With the economy as it is, I've been shy about investing. Stocks and mutual funds seem like high-stakes gambling to me. Watching large, formerly profitable and stable companies, that have been around for generations, collapse into bankruptcy has been sobering. There seem to be no safe investments anymore. Even bonds and CD's are a joke now.
Thankfully we have 6 more years before this clown goes to college (do you like the green sticker she put on her nose?) She has always wanted to be a doctor when she grows up. Given her less than great grades, I felt a bit of a relief that it wasn't likely we'd be paying for med school for her, since she wouldn't get in. However, since starting middle school she has become a lot more focused on her work, and has really strived to get high marks. Maybe she will prove me wrong.
Her latest interest, spurred on by pimples that have appeared across her forehead, is dermatology. She is absolutely fascinated! Whenever there is a splinter to be pulled, a cut to bandage, or a rash on the cat's mouth, she comes running to observe. She loves to look at moles, warts, and birthmarks.
We'll see what the future holds...

