Friday, September 9, 2011

Off to College! (Part 1)


So...the long anticipated day finally arrived, and our-baby-no-more Job, now a "six-foot-two" handsome and very capable young adult, headed off to college!

I have been negligent here, for some time, by not posting the news of his final college choice, which we were sure of way back on May 1st when we had to "sign on the dotted line" per say, and confirm his spot in the...

Carnegie Mellon University
Class of 2015!

We have delighted with him, over the part several months now, in this decision, believing CMU to be a great fit for Job. And while I must gratefully and proudly declare that he had many wonderful options from which to choose (even the awesome Johns Hopkins University, right here practically in our back yard...no really, I'm serious, it's that close...hmmmm...maybe that's why he sent them a "Thanks for the acceptance, but I will not be enrolling" letter!), we are all very happy with his choice, especially because he is so happy with it.

For Job, the choice boiled down to an excellent mechanical engineering department coupled with an excellent visual arts department, and the opportunity to continue his studies in arguably the country's best graduate robotics program. Knowing that he really liked the campus and the city of Pittsburgh from a 6-week summer program stay there last summer didn't hurt either. Not to mention the fact that Carnegie Mellon has squash courts right on campus, and a 30-something percent ethnic diversity figure. It all added up to a win-win formula for Job.

His parents really like the fact that he is only a four-hour drive away. Yessss!!!

This is how Job's CMU acceptance info creatively came in the mail...


...and this was the letter he found inside...


So, of course we drove up for the accepted students' weekend in April. That was so exciting for all of us. This trip it was just Job and I and a good friend high school classmate of his, Elliott Taft, who also had been accepted, and Elliott's mother, Val. Seeing the huge "Welcome Class of 2015" banner was exhilarating!


Job and Elliott stayed on campus, hosted by current CMU students that weekend, while Val and I shared a room and chilled at a nearby Pittsburgh hotel. We did the full round of accepted family giddiness, from posing with the "Congratulations! Welcome!" folders...


...to posing with the CMU Scottie Dog Mascot...


...to enjoying the various student choirs singing at the welcome dinner....


(that's Job down front in the yellow shirt)

...to enjoying touring all the great eatery areas on campus...


..and posing next to random Carnegie Mellon signage!


The guys had a great time and ran into various friends they knew from the CMU summer program the year before, like this young lady...


Everyone was all smiles. If you've never been the parent of a high school senior, diligently and stressfully guiding an almost-but-not-quite-adult teenager through the minimum six-months-long process of identifying colleges of interest, visiting them all (almost), SAT prepping, battling-senioritis-grades-management, endless applicationing, and finally the brutal and agonizing months of admissions-decision-waiting...just wait...or better still, just trust me...those smiles on our faces were WELL EARNED!

We feel so blessed that our son is able to be right where he wants to be for this season of his life. How awesome! I'll post some photos from dorm check-in day later this week (hopefully!).

Meanwhile, here's a link to a neat little Carnegie Mellon bragbook of ideas and innovation:
http://www.cmu.edu/social/brag/bragbook.pdf

Too wonderful!

And one little Carnegie Mellon fun fact: the university's official school colors are PLAID. Yes, that's right, not green and gold, or orange and blue, or burgundy and black, but PLAID! I just love it!

Enjoy it all Job! You've earned it!

Much Love. Take Care.

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