First Year College

Our oldest son just completed his first year of college. It was a rough year for him; by rough I mean he ended up getting a few B’s! This wasn’t a common occurrence for him in high school and came as a bit of a wakeup call. He also struggled with what most of us do at 18, direction and purpose. I had to join the Army at 19 to find my direction and purpose!

But he also grew as a young adult tremendously. He quickly realized the academic rigor at a “Tier 1” college is quite different than high school and adjusted his study styles accordingly. He realized the academic path he was going down towards a degree in economics wasn’t for him. He explored other options and decisively changed his major to an area he seems interested in. Lastly, and probably the one we are most proud of, he didn’t fall into any of the pitfalls many college freshman encounter with their newfound freedom. He stayed out of trouble! All in all, it was a very successful first year. Most importantly, I believe he is proud of what he accomplished his first year in college.  

It has been a wonderful experience watching him grow and mature over the year. I’ve always felt that the growth one experiences during the college age years is the most formative in a lifetime. He is starting to think and act, albeit very subtly, like an adult. It’s comforting to know his developmental journey appears to be progressing normally. 

Make no mistake, we got some work to do! There are still vestiges of the goofy teen we dropped off last year! While I am so happy to have him home for the summer, his first week back I’ve already made him get a summer job! He wants to take a car back to campus with him and the only way he will do that is through work. More on summer jobs in a blog coming soon!  

Reflecting on year one, a gnawing question that crept into my consciousness nearly two years ago during the complicated application process keeps resurfacing. Is the expense, stress and other frustrations inherent in college worth it? At the base level, I definitely think the principles a college education provides such as critical thinking, responsibility and discipline are an absolute necessity in today’s world.

But that really isn’t the question that keeps popping into my head. More accurately, is the expense, especially of a private university worth it? Our assumption is that upon graduation, he will be afforded many more opportunities than his mom or I were after completing degrees at “state U”. I suppose what’s gnawing at us is that we’ve been around enough to know, it’s not just that impressive piece of paper hanging on the wall, but rather one’s character and drive which helps determine successfulness. You can’t teach that stuff! I don’t think we’ll be able to definitively answer questions about the value of school until he graduates and strikes out on his own.

Until then, we will just take one day at a time. Support him through the academic ups and downs, give him counsel when he asks and basically enjoy every moment watching him learn and grow into an adult. We understand all too well these moments are fleeting. Not only that, we’ve got another son to get into college within the next two years! We are incredibly proud of our oldest son on many levels in case you couldn’t tell. So far so good after Freshman year!

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