College and Cancer

The trip to Logan yesterday for Krissy's orientation was great. She got her new ID card and registered for all her classes. I love the way this all works. It's so different from when I went to college. I don't recall my parents being very involved at all or that we did much more than show up a couple of days early. While the new students were doing their stuff there were presentations for the parents that attended. We got information from several different areas of the school and had a student/teacher panel. An officer from the school police department talked with us about crime on campus and the availabilty of people to escort students around campus after dark and all that sort of thing. The doctor from the Health & Wellness clinic talked about all the services available there and how to use them. A career counselor explained what was available through his office and I was very impressed. I always thought the career counseling was more for seniors getting ready to graduate and about finding a job. Of course that kind of thinking is probably why I never finished college anyway... I was afraid of talking to the people that I should have been talking to about my education and my future. Another speaker was from the Student Resource Center and explained all their services. Why am I so excited about all this information? Because I can better help my daughter if the need arises since I have good information about what resources are available to her.

She will be living on campus in a dorm. Here's another really great thing - there are units within the dorms that you can request being assigned to that relate either to your personal interests or your educational interests. Krissy is going to be an art major so she chose a group that is called "appreciating the arts." There are other groups for education or medical fields or outdoor interests (hiking, skiing, etc - that would have been my choice). I think it is so cool that she will be living with other freshman who share her major and will be organizing events with those people. School was never like that when I went. We did have activities and events planned by our dorm floor, but we were never grouped by interest.

The school is similar to my college in some ways. It's a small town university and an aggricultural school. They are known for their icecream and we were known for our cheese. Both schools also are homes to the sports underdogs. The school is quite a bit smaller than mine was and by the consensus of the student panel we visited with, it's very very much a community spirited school. The students that attend there are very loyal to their school and all seemed to agree that a big part of their choice to attend there was that they felt strongly when they visited the school that they were wanted there. I think that is what Krissy said about their presentation when they visited her high school, too.

I am so happy with her choice of school. There is something to be said for living in such a conservative state (especially being as liberal as I am) when it comes to the colleges. They do have some issues with parties and alcohol but they are very limited. I think the spring session has gone home for summer break and only a portion of the incoming freshman were there yesterday. In the group of kids I saw exactly one who didn't look straight as an arrow. He had a very very modest mohawk. Talk about looking out of place. I do have to say, on the other hand, that when I visit Seattle I simply LOVE the diversity of the people there. I used to feel sort of threatened by punk looking people, but as my own daughters have gotten older and I have worked with a couple of more extreme looking gals at B&N I feel more artsy about them - freedom of expression I guess.

My other topic today is cancer. Harriett had another appointment today and I am more and more fearful for her. She is down more weight and BP was extremely low again. Her doctor made appointments for her over the next three days to get IV drips to help her bring her BP up. She's also changing her therapy to real chemo because, as she put it, we have GOT to get aggressive on this.

To be honest, I am so tired of all these doctor appointments and visits. I can't even imagine how Harriett must feel. She told me the other day that we do more for her than her own family would be doing if she were around them. I didn't say it at the time, but I should have reminded her that we ARE her family. We are all in this together. Sometimes I wish I knew what is going to happen and other times I am happy that I don't. And, for today anyway, life goes on.