From left: Nathaniel (the space man); Alex (the construction magnet); and Serg (the medical tech)
From the series: Life on Dog Hill
You should feel a lot of sympathy for me and my husband right now. We have not one, not two, but three sons applying for full-time college admission. The biggest discussion point for the last week has been, “What major should I select?” After all, colleges want to know what kids plan to be when they grow up.
I don’t know about you, but I had no idea what I wanted to be until my late twenties, and then it took me almost twenty years before I started doing it! Obviously, I’m not very quick out of the gate. My contributions to the college major discussion have been just as open-ended as my entry into adulthood.
“Follow your dreams, if you have any inkling what that might be!” I told each of them in separate discussions. “Don’t follow some prescribed path just because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
My husband’s coaching was a bit more practical. “Get it done and go to work!” he told them with a stern nod of his head.
Three sons with different interests: aerospace engineering, construction and engineering management, and medical technology. I understand why colleges expect applicants to have a solid idea of their career path and I also know there is flexibility within each major — my boys’ chosen paths included. Perhaps the stress I’ve felt over the last week of career discussions is my own doing. Maybe I’m regressing to my own past and the apprehension I felt transitioning from high school to college. I remember feeling jealous (yes, jealous) of friends who knew exactly what they wanted to study in college and what path they saw ahead of them in the future. Me? I was naive and clueless.
After it was all said and done, our three sons appeared happy with their respective choices. As for me, I’ve got to accept that maybe — just maybe — our sons don’t have the trepidation that I had when I was their age. For now anyway, they seem perfectly comfortable answering those tough questions on the college applications. And, that does make a momma happy…
Now to next week’s discussion point: paying for three college tuitions! Donations anyone?
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