Going Off to College

 

For the longest time, Jada had her heart set on going to the West Coast for school. I braced myself for the logistical challenge of moving her in: plane tickets, buying stuff, where to store it over the summer. Then of course she ended up literally down the street, at Drexel University, where she has had a great college experience, and her mother and I have enjoyed seeing her often and not having to worry about the extra difficulties of her being far from home. 

Fast forward to the present, and we are getting ready to ship Aaron off to the great state of Kansas, where he will attend Kansas State University in the fall. And so begins the monumental task of coordinating travel plans, figuring out where to get winter clothes, and navigating a campus and town I’ve never been to (come to think of it, I’ve never even been to Kansas in my life either). 

Of course, I was a sheltered suburban California teenager when I shipped off to Penn and Philadelphia some 34 years ago, and I did alright. I had a severe learning curve to navigate a city setting, overall life survival skills, and a rigorous academic setting. If anything, 18-year-old Aaron is far more ready than I was at the same age. He knows how to cook and do laundry, and I didn’t; he has long navigated a big city on his own, whereas I was driven everywhere and then stumbled around in my own car with only a rudimentary sense of how to get places and where things were in relation to other things. 

Such is the college experience, truly, not just diving into a field of study to prepare yourself for your future career, but making the multi-year transition from kid living at home to adult launching out into the world. As I observe graduation ceremonies around here, I realize I will blink and Jada and Aaron (and then Asher) will be walking across the stage and into the beginning of real adulthood. Whether they stay close to home or are a long plane ride away, it’s their journey and I’m thankful to be along for the ride.