UW-Peek

This has been quite the year for adjustment for this momma. I am used to – and appreciate – Carter driving everywhere on his own. Still worry a bit, but it is sooo convenient. Am adjusting to the fact that Junior Prom is coming up and, well, he's a junior so this is the work / decorate year. I had a tough time when I signed him up for his upcoming ACT test, knowing that is the first step toward college.

Today, though, was the "mother" of them all for me. His first official college visit.

We both struggled to get up and on the road by 6 a.m., but we did it. Between fog and lots of rain, we basically hydro-planed our way down to UW-Platteville.... located in the far southwest corner of the state, close to Texas and Mexico, I think.

It did take us just a hair under 3 hours so that wasn't bad. And we got there just in time for the start of the EMS (Engineering, Math & Science) Expo. Staged in two of the academic buildings, it was an open-house style of event with a ton of student demonstrations and hands-on activities for wanna-be engineers.

I didn't realize that there would be all ages groups there, including students that were probably treating it more as a field trip than a college fact-finding mission. Still, that worked out fine for us. When the kids would leave the room, Carter and I would talk to the presenters about their specific area of engineering, how they liked the school, where they came from, why they chose Platteville for engineering over some of the bigger schools that we plan to visit yet (Madison and Minnesota), and more. I dusted off my reporting skills, ha, but then sort of forced Carter into doing the talking / asking. He did fine and felt really good about the visit.

We were both glad that you can enter the college as an engineering major but don't have to define that to a specific area until you are a junior. Meanwhile, all your engineering-related classes will apply to any specific major in that department. He can gets exposure to all 8 or 10 categories before choosing.

I imagine we'll hear similar stories at the other two schools but this was a good starting point. A good first UW-PEEK! The campus is small in comparison and he can decide if that's a good point or bad point for him. Class sizes (student/teacher ration) are small, too, which he considers a good point. The tuition there would be less than the other two, and he probably isn't concerned about that point!

We'll take it one step, one visit, at a time.

Even though I had my internal maternal struggle about setting this ball in motion, it was exciting, too. And, of course, we both feel blessed our son has a good head on his shoulders – even if it was slumped over in sleep while I white-knuckled us back home in the deluge.

The things we do for love.