University Tours through the Years

Yesterday I took Camille to Logan for a tour of Utah State University.  I can't quite put my finger on the reason why this has been so much more difficult on me than taking the other three around to universities during their senior years.  It was exciting and fun and we looked forward to the next phase of life, but with this youngest child, I'm wanting to hold back and hang on a little longer.  I suggested that she live at home and commute the first year.  That didn't go over too well.

Kevin, our oldest, received a scholarship from USU when he was a senior so that was the only university he considered attending.  He and I went to several campus events for seniors and were shown around and given the information on housing, meal plans, tuition and campus life.  He attended the Applied Technology College for the few months between high school and his mission and when he returned from Korea, Kevin had no qualms about his decision to attend Utah State.  We moved him into his dorm in August 2005 and he hasn't lived back home since then.  He received his undergraduate degree in May 2009 and started his masters program the next fall.  He receives his graduate degree on May 4, 2012 and we will see where he goes from here.

Danielle had several options open when she was in high school.  We did college tours at Weber State, Utah State, and Southern Utah State.  She auditioned with her clarinet for all of these schools' music directors.  Every one of them wanted her to play in their orchestras and bands and all offered her scholarships to do so, but none were as persistent as Dr. Stoffen at SUU.  He called her every day or two until she finally agreed to choose Cedar City.  She had a full-ride academic scholarship, a housing scholarship, and a music scholarship.  Dani finished her bachelor's degree is three years without incurring one penny of debt.  She ended up changing her major from music to history her junior year, but she still had a music minor when she was finished.  She graduated from SUU on the exact same day and time as Kevin was graduating from USU, so Rob and Bryan went south and Camille and I went north to support our graduates that day.  A month later newly married Dani and Kelly were heading to Baltimore.  Now three years later, Dani will be graduating from Johns Hopkins University with her Masters on May 24, 2012.

Bryan also had several university tours scheduled, but he decided that even though he played several instruments, he didn't want to be in college band or orchestra, so his tours did not include auditions.  He was burned out from the many high school music events he participated in.  Bryan had full academic scholarships offered to him by Brigham Young University, Utah State University, Weber State University, and University of Utah.  He also had an incredible amount of interest from out-of-state universities.  In the end, he opted to attend U of U in Salt Lake.  They required him to attend one quarter before his mission and then place the scholarship on hold until he returned from Hungary.  He attended one more semester at the U when he got home, but his focus had changed during that time, and he has since transferred to WSU where they have a stronger Information Systems and Technology program.  He is working towards his graduation in 2014.

So back to Camille.  She has mulled over her options and considered her siblings experiences.  She originally felt like she had to go some place the other three had not attended so she was leaning towards Utah Valley University, but that fell along the wayside somewhere.  Then she thought perhaps she would follow her sister to SUU in Cedar City, but that didn't see fruition and now she is set on following Kevin to Utah State.  Considering that is where I attended school 30 years ago and am once again enrolled, plus that is where her dad received his degree, I suppose that gives her more reason to want to be an Aggie.  Rob, Kevin and I all have had very positive experiences with USU and living in Logan.

This is such a big decision and becomes all-encompassing during the next chapter of a teen's life.  I wish Camille all the success and happiness she can possibly attain as she prepares to leave home and begin school in just a few short months.  I hope that I am up to losing our youngest child to university life and all that accompanies it.