"College" orientation

Ace and I spent two days at THE university for orientation.

To translate for some of you who have not done this recently or at all, this means that I sat in a lot of meetings with a three ring binder full of information on my lap, and she ran around with fun orientation leaders playing group building games and learning to sing the school song. 

[and learning the expectations for students and scheduling her classes...]

Here's what I observed.  There were a lot of students spending a lot of time texting their parents asking "what should I do" questions when they were at sessions where they had to make decisions. 

And a lot of parents deciding what sessions the students should go to and "what they should do." 

UM??  Are these kids really ready to navigate THE university on their own.

Thankfully I learned that Ace is prepared (and willing) to set her own path at THE university.  She figured out her own schedule and even took the initiative to meet with a department outside of her own to find out if a particular math class will be better for her skills than the standard program class. 

[I'd like to put in a #multilinearcalculus here, but that might be more irony than this post can handle, so instead I'll just use #theoreticalmathematics]

One young man even skipped the student housing meeting to sit with his parents at the parent housing meeting.  There is a chance that I secretly walked past him to read his name tag, in the unlikely and terrifying event that Ace calls texts me to let me know that she's working on a group project with "mama's boy." 

Now, we're not throwing Ace into the lion's den on her own.  We've spent a lot of years preparing her for this.  If she really needs our help we'll be glad to help/advise/encourage/cheer in any way she needs, but if she doesn't know if she should pick a scarlet t-shirt or a gray t-shirt at orientation we may not have done our jobs well for the past 17 years.  

When I found Ace on the morning of the second day of orientation she told me that she had found her people at dinner the night before.  Kids who were a little bit nervous about what's ahead but excited for the challenges and opportunities that THE university will provide for them.  

Here's to well prepared children!  Here's hoping that the rest step up to the plate quickly!