Sands of Time

Okay, I was looking at the date for my last post and I realized that I have been living in warpspeed. I have been incredibly stressed recently. Possibly because I have been struggling with school and I am about to make my very first C in my whole life! Last semester I had an A average in Physics and now I am going to have a C. I am not thinking clearly at all. I just got back from visiting colleges with my Dad. First we visited Austin College in Sherman, Texas. I loved it, despite the lackluster surroundings of Sherman. Rien! The pre-med adviser greeted me wearing blue-jeans and a sweatshirt. He was very laid back and from what I gathered, really cared for his students. The campus has a real strong sense of community and there is a bond between all of the students and faculty. The students are often invited over for dinner and call their professors by their first name. The community service station had coloring book pictures on the windows. (I know that was a random statement but I love coloring books!) The second college I visited was terrible! I visited Knox College. On paper, I thought this college would be my number one pick, but in person, it was cold and the tour guide was a wreck. I felt so sorry for him and I thought to myself if I went here I would be in a living nightmare. The college lets the students vote on rules and policies along with the curriculum and teachers who get fired. His major he had been working on was deleted by the students and now he was reorienting himself in other fields! The whole campus is student-run and the curriculum is based on mini research projects throughout the year.

The last college was Wheaton. I did not really take hold of the three chapel services a week idea and my Dad did not appreciate the attitude experienced after visiting the financial aid office that if you do not have enough money to go there, just forget it. Oh well. It was too formalized if that even makes sense. If I had to make a comparison between the other two and Wheaton, I would say that it was friendlier than Knox and had a sense of mission but lacked coloring pages posted on the wall and a working relationship with the teachers. But, when I interviewed the French prof, he thought that since I spoke clean French that my Dad also spoke French fluently. I shook my head and said no, I just have a really good teacher that loves the language and teaching.

On the last day my dad and I visited Chicago! I love Chicago.

All in all, my Dad and I had a wonderful bonding experience and like my airplane bathroom phobia, I did not have to make extra stops, only the meal stops were made. At least now I no what I want in a college and a rule of thumb for looking at other colleges.