Still Waiting

I'm back! Happiness! I'm so glad to report that I've been enjoying my freelance projects. (True to my nature, I worry about doing well. But not enough to lessen the fun.)

One involved calling and interviewing people to write case studies about their environmentally and community-focused and -forward projects. I was reminded how refreshing and rejuvenating it is to talk to people who are passionate about what they are doing. Based on our conversations, I'm all jazzed up to:

• Have our septic system checked


• Walk along the Chippewa River from Barryton to Midland


• Use found wood to make a bench or something


• Dig up our yard and replace everything with native plants

The other project is especially cool because I'm working with my oldest friend (not age-wise, length of friendship-wise) MPS. Personally, I think she's a Renaissance Woman. She's a super smart cookie and keen business person who also has heart and spirit out the wazoo! Plus she's a dedicated and fantastic trainer and competitor in dog agility. (If you're interested, let me know. She has a blog [and 3 dogs]!) And her artistic talents are quietly amazing.

So being able to help and keep up with her is grrreat! And to top it off, through her project I've learned a little bit about something I knew nearly nothing. I LIKE.

Speaking of learning new stuff: CAG is now receiving e-mail and snail mail from universities vying for her interest. (Well, that's my optimistic take on it. Vying for our money might be more accurate.) What a crazy, bit-unsettling and exciting thing, especially considering she has two years more of high school.

I've got the stack right here, let's see ... in the last two weeks she's heard from:

Case Western Reserve (Ohio)

Champlain College (Vermont)
Colgate University (New York)
Colorado State University (Colorado ... duh!)
Depauw University (Indiana)
Kenyon College (Ohio)

Kettering University (Michigan)
Loyola University Chicago (Illinois)

North Central College (Illinois)
Rochester Institute of Technology (New York)

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (Minnesota ... double duh!)
Seton Hall (New Jersey)

Swathmore College (Pennsylvania)

Tulane University (Louisiana)
University of Detroit Mercy (Michigan)

University of Miami (Florida)
University of Rochester (New York)
Wake Forest University (North Carolina)
Washington and Lee University (Virginia)
Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri)

The first thing that comes to my mind with all this is YIKES!! Now that that's out of my system ...

The next thing is that we've gotten little info from Michigan schools. So Catherine, who doesn't want to go out-of-state at this point, is tickled by the "attention" but not interested in any of them.

Another thing (I'm not sure I should actually admit this) is that I haven't heard of many of these schools. Including the one that inspired my post, Kenyon College in Ohio.

Which leads to last thing: If I could choose a school just based on its unique approach that caught my attention, it would be Kenyon College. Their admissions department very cleverly, in my estimation, jumped on the Harry Potter broomstick.

The outside of the envelope (above) asks "Still waiting for your owl?"* And the letter inside continues the allusion by talking about waiting for an invitation to a "place where you can figure out who you want to be, and then become that person."

Wouldn't it be grand if a school could actually DO that? Education helps us in the journey ... a lot. I KNOW that. But it seems to me that "who I want to be" is a moving target. And I'm still waiting...




*If you're not familiar with the story, a barrage of owl message carriers arrive to let Harry Potter know that he's been accepted to Hogwarts School, which changes his life in the most extraordinary (good and bad) ways.