For thousands of college students, today is the first day of school. Fall classes begin at the University of Washington, its branch campuses in Bothell and Tacoma, and at Western Washington University in Bellingham.
My son started last week. Let’s see, where is he? Oh that’s right, east of the mountains.
He’s not as far east as he was a year ago. In August 2005, he started at the University of Montana in Missoula. The weekend before last, he settled in at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.
Years ago, an editor who’s also a friend voiced a complaint. His target? Columnists. He wanted us to tell the truth.
Recognizing the universal in the personal, he had no problem with first-person writing. What bothered him was the rosy picture we’re apt to paint. He didn’t think it was honest for columnists to share only positive personal experiences.
If you’ve read this column for long, you know I have a keen interest in education. I’ve written about campus visits, SAT prep classes and graduations. In all that, you’ve likely caught a whiff of an education snob.
Let’s amend that. These days, I’m a reformed education snob.
As a high school senior, my son was accepted into the William O. Douglas Honors College at Central, but he tossed that envelope into recycling and went on his way – to a bigger, out-of-state university. In the application process, Central was little more than his backup school.
In August 2005, I wrote a nice, motherly column about moving him to Montana. Maybe I jinxed him with my advice: “Enjoy every minute.”
Oops. I didn’t mean enjoy every minute. I meant, uh, enjoy your studies. And if you have time, enjoy a few minutes here and there.
In a column last fall, I shared my college freshman’s hitchhiking adventure from Missoula to Bozeman, Mont. My son had described the chance to see some metal band as “a rock ‘n’ roll emergency.” The trouble was, his many rock ‘n’ roll adventures added up to an academic emergency.
Having once dismissed the Ellensburg university, I now sing its praises.
The latest rankings in U.S. News &World Report put Central into the top 10 public master’s degree-granting institutions in the West. There’s a new student union and recreation center. Since 2000, enrollment at Central has jumped 25 percent to more than 9,000 on the Ellensburg campus.
My son isn’t in the honors school, but Central did open its doors to a kid who has great promise and a creative spark. At an orientation in July, I was impressed by the availability of faculty members. I was pleased to hear about new majors, and to see building going on all over campus.
Several weeks after our visit, I was amazed to get a call at work from Robert Trumpy, director of student health, counseling and wellness services at the Ellensburg university. He’d met my son at orientation and wanted to know if I had any concerns.
His call was more communication than I ever received from the University of Montana or from Santa Clara University, my daughter’s alma mater. Every student may not need personal attention, but it’s nice to know someone on campus is aware of your child.
I guess I’m still an education snob. I’m delighted to share that my daughter is on the dean’s list at Seattle University School of Law. She’d be the first to tell you I’m no less proud of her brother.
It can be a long road, getting through school. It took me five years to finish a bachelor’s degree at the UW. Just being accepted there now is much harder than it was 30 years ago.
Detours aren’t all bad. There may be as much to learn along the way as in the classroom.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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