Today I took our oldest, Christopher, to my old stomping grounds - the University of South Florida, for an official prospective student tour. I followed just a step behind as he took in the enormity of this campus and let him ask all the questions and come to his own conclusions.
He loved it!
He is pre-med and will enter as a freshman "with credits" because he attends a charter high school that offers him both his high school diploma and his AA degree upon graduation next year. It is full time dual enrollment. He is so ahead of the game, and yet as we walked the campus and then toured the dorms, all I could do is live in the past.
I loved my college experience. It was a time that enabled me to come out of my shell and shine for the first time. So much of me is still there. I went there for my B.A. and then later for my master's and then a second master's degree...right now I'm applying to a specialized doctoral program there. I just don't know when to quit when it comes to school.
I struggled, lived, loved, and almost died on that campus. I got engaged while there. I cancelled a wedding while there. I ran for Student Senate and was elected there. I studied into the wee hours every night at the library because I couldn't study in my dorm there. I found my roommate bloody from a suicide attempt while there. And I found my voice for the first time there.
And now my son wants to go there too. If he does, wonderful. If he doesn't, wonderful. It's his turn.
So I will continue to walk just a step behind him as he travels. It's not a bad view.