College

My daughter came in a few weeks ago and knew her class ranking. Her classmates have been discussing where they sit against one semester of high school. This information is idle chat now, but will become vital information around 2010.

My senior guys' Bible study prayers mention either praise for the college they got accepted to or petitions that God would show them where they need to be for the next four years of their lives.

My first discussion with two juniors last night involved their senior year class schedule and discussions of where they were headed once they graduate. They were all over the map.

I don't recall too much discussion of colleges and/or universities when I was in high school. Maybe because it was pretty much the default position of everybody I knew--we were all figuring on going to college, with a few guys headed to the military and one or two planning on opening their own businesses or working for their fathers mixed in. But, by-and-large, we were headed to college.

And, in Alabama, there were two major choices: Auburn or Alabama. Loyalties had more to do with football than with which college was stronger in which area (Auburn was dominant in engineering and veterinary sciences, Alabama bigger on business and law school). If you were planning on knocking out some prerequisites at a local community college and save money by living at home, U.A.B. was a big player (big on medicine/pharmacology). A few friends went to some neighboring colleges, like Samford (excellent liberal arts school & pricey, but strong Southern Baptist ties for the khaki/bow-head crowd) or Montevallo (good for teachers). If you were really adventurous, there was South Alabama, which offered no Friday classes and a 20-minute ride to the beach, as well as Mardi Gras days off.

I only knew of two or three folks in my class that went "off" to school: Ron went to Georgia, and Julie went to Tulane.

Anyway, it all started by taking the ACT in the spring of your junior year. Once the results came back you could then begin charting a plan. Either you did well enough to get into AU or UA and got your automatic acceptance letter (which I got mine in May of my junior year, nullifying any and all motivation for learning for my 1983-1984 school year) from the school you wanted, or you began making the alternate plans.

It seemed so easy at the time. I only considered Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi and Troy State (now Troy) in addition to Auburn. The only real reason they hit the radar was that you got to send your ACT score to three schools and after Auburn, I penciled in those two for reasons that I can best describe as cool football helmet logos. Troy State got a "send" (at $10 extra) after their college day presentation at my school in which they gave us a slew of bumper stickers and a hot girl told me and my friends how great the school was.

But I never thought outside the box on that.

I never even really considered the other schools, although they apparently thought sending ACT scores indicated more interest because they actually called my house several times to "see if I had any questions before deciding." But when people asked me where I was considering, I listed all four. They'd respond by asking why I was going so far away to school. Keep in mind it was about 4 hours away to Hattiesburg. 3 to Starkville. Maybe. Troy was an hour. Auburn 2.

And that's what I like about where these teens are in the Dallas area. Alabama was definitely more parochial. You stayed close. But when I listen to area kids discuss colleges, man, the world is their oyster. Last night I heard discussions of service acadamies, schools on the west coast, New England schools, parent alma maters in various states...

...and I thought it was a very good thing.

I mean, here in Dallas, there are some quality schools in the area--but almost every school is 3 to 5 hours away. From Birmingham, you could get to Clemson, South Carolina in 5 hours...but it felt further because you were in three states during travel. Where we live, you could drive 9 hours west and never leave the state, or 12 south. So, staying close to home could mean Lubbock (4.5 hours).

So, I like the fact they have more options.

I like the fact they take it seriously enough to pray for God's will and are open to wherever He might lead them. I also like that they ask questions about how to discern God's will.

I like the fact that they are worried about what their parents will say when they talk about "U-Dub" (Washington) or Pepperdine or West Point or an arts school in New York.

Even if there's a little pressure of being overwhelmed at times.

They think more freely.

They think "bigger" than I did. Maybe because they're smarter than I am and have those kinds of options.

They don't have the apprehensions about going far away and starting their own lives.

They get to dream.

And I get to live vicariously through them.