Thursday, August 1, 2013

College Visits and Life Regrets

Yesterday, I accompanied my daughter, Shelby, on our first official college visit/tour. We visited the University of Louisville.

Louisville is my hometown, where I was born and raised. And, while we now live in a suburb just a few minutes south of Louisville, we still consider ourselves Louisvillians and go there all the time for everything.

Shelby is about to start her senior year in high school. College will be here before we know it. She plans on living on campus so I'm pretty happy that she is considering U of L - it's super close to home but she will still get the full college experience of living on a large, metropolitan campus.

The tour started out with a video showing various students talking about what they wanted to get out of their college experience. Of course, it was a promotional video made by the school so the kids in the video were very eager and excited about college life. It was maybe even a tad corny. But, it still got to me.

5 minutes into the visit and I was literally fighting back tears.

morgueFile

Just looking at my daughter and thinking about how she will soon be embarking on her future. How it seems like just yesterday she was a little girl, sitting in my lap, dependent on me for everything. Now, she has the entire world, her future, right at her fingertips.

It is very exciting - both exciting and heartbreaking to me.

But, that's our jobs as parents. Taking care of our kids as they grow up; nurturing, loving, and teaching them. Preparing them to go out on their own. And, you better believe it goes by in the blink of an eye!

The college tour was very impressive - it is a great school! Having only commuted to our local community college myself, I don't really know about living away at college. There were tons of activities, programs, and wonderful opportunities to get involved with. It is a very diverse campus, which Shelby loves. I just know that U of L would be a place where Shelby could thrive and grow and come into her own as a young adult. 

The visit made me think about my own life and how I wish I would have went away to college. Don't get me wrong...I'm very happy with the way my life has turned out and I am very blessed. But, if I had to say I had one regret in life, it would be not living away at college. Even though I'm happy and content now, I feel like this is one life regret I will always have...something that I really missed out on.

What about you? Did you go away to college? Is there something in your life that you feel you missed out on?...

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, I do not look forward to the day of sending my kids away to college. It will be a tough step as a parent. I lived away as a college student before I got married, and I really loved it. It was such a great time to learn and grow as an individual. Some of my best memories. I'm sure your daughter will have a fantastic time!

Tammi @ My Organized Chaos said...

awe - that must be so hard on a parent, not looking forward to it at all. be strong mama, and be proud!!

Texas Type A Mom said...

I can't even imagine being at that stage. I'd like to think I'll be ready when the time comes, but I know it's going to be a hard adjustment.

Colette S said...

Time with our kids do flash by quickly!
Glad you got to share this first visit with your daughter.

A big regret is not going to college. Not because I didn't want to, but because i didn't have the support financially or otherwise and now I'm still fighting to go.

sherry said...

I too am not looking forward to that day. My sone will be a sophmore this year so its getting close.

Nikki said...

My son is 5 and he told me the other day he doesn't want to be 5 anymore, he wants to be 19 LOL....I'm not looking forward to that day at all

April Yedinak said...

Hey! I went to UofL and it is where my oldest (who is a HS freshman) wants to go. We live in Larue County, so it will be quite a drive each day, but I am concerned about her living on campus. She wants to, I panic when I think about it. My regret is that I did not finish college. I ran out of grant money and in my youth and ignorance refused loans, thinking I could make the money to go back to school.

susan1215 said...

My son is leaving for college in 10 days. The college is only 45 minutes away so thankfully he can come home when he wants to. I'm excited for him but I will miss him too.