Angela 3. David A. Bedford

the first of several college visit days on Monday and going to TCU in Fort Worth. Angela was excited. She plied Susan with questions:

      “How did you decide what college to go to? Was it hard to make up your mind? Did your parents put pressure on you to go to a specific school? Was it hard to adjust to being in college?…”

      “Whoa,” said Susan, laughing, “one thing at a time. It was different when I went to college. Mom and Dad were supportive, but they had not gone to college. You didn’t apply to a hundred places like now. I sent off applications to three schools I was interested in and I went to UT-Austin because it was cheap but commands a lot of respect. I’ll go with you to visit TCU but you will have to make up your own mind and live with the decision. Plus, we have to be able to get the financing … scholarships, work, and some loans … that we can afford. The better your grades are now, the easier it will be.”

      “Ok, Mom, but did you have trouble adjusting?”

      “Oh, some, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I decided on some procedures to take control. I went to all my classes and I made sure I slept seven or eight hours every night. After classes I would rewrite notes, read ahead, prepare for classes later that day or the next day. If I had a project, I would start on it the day it was assigned and work on it a little every day. When I had done all that, then I would look up friends, go out, and have fun. That worked really well, because I always stayed current, so no stress there, and when I partied or just chilled, I did not have any studying left to do when I got back to my room.”

      “You partied?” Angela exclaimed, wide eyed.

      “Hey, kid. There are parties and there are parties. It’s a matter of choosing with discernment.”

      Angela felt relaxed about the college search for the time being. After studying that night she was genuinely tired enough to nod off immediately and sleep undisturbed until the morning. The rest of the week passed quickly and soon she was packing up to fly to DFW, the busy airport between Dallas and Fort Worth. Susan set up an overnight stay Sunday for Amy, who along with her friend was delighted about it. After church Sunday, Amy bounced up and down in the car as they drove her to her friend’s house.

      “Now you have to do as you’re told,” Susan instructed.

      “Yes, Mom,” Amy replied.

      “You must go to sleep and not talk late. It’s a school night and I don’t want to hear that you were tired and sleepy in class the next morning.”

      “Oh kaaay,” said Amy, as though it was the most unreasonable request she could have been given.

      When they pulled up to the house, Angela watched as Susan took Amy to the door, had a brief, animated, but friendly conversation with the other mom, hugged Amy, who took off running inside, and came back to the car.

      “She certainly looks happy,” Angela commented.

      “Yeah, I think she’ll have fun.”

      “What are we doing with our car?”

      “Leave it at the airport. We’ll pay for overnight parking since it’s just one night.”

      “Oh!”

      The flight to the DFW airport was quick and uneventful. Susan rented a tiny car and they drove into Fort Worth, with Angela working the GPS on her phone. They planned their route so they could drive south to north through the campus on University Drive and admire all the trees and elegant buildings. On the right they saw a statue of two men walking side by side and then passed a building labeled Library. Then there was a chapel with a tall spire and after that an angular mid-twentieth century structure, all glass and concrete, with a sign proclaiming “College of Fine Arts and College of Communication.” Then they went by a large church on the left and were past the campus.

      “It’s pleasant,” Susan commented.

      “I like it!” Angela agreed.

      “Let’s check in then come back and do a drive-around, what do you say?”

      “Yeah!”

      The hotel was located on a pleasant bend in the Trinity River, with large weeping willows overhanging the banks. They found their room, put some clothes for the next day to hang in the closet, set out what they would be needing in the bathroom, and headed back to the little car to drive around the edge of the university.

      The next morning they got up early and headed to campus. They found the parking lot assigned to the visitors and went into the large Admission building for registration and breakfast. After a friendly welcome by one of the Admission staff, Susan and Angela were assigned to one of several groups led by a student for a tour of the campus. As they headed across the parking lot, Angela marveled at how the student could walk backwards to talk to the group and not run into anything. Apparently they had the route well memorized. The campus was much larger than it appeared when they drove through the middle the previous day. They saw the University Union, the coliseum, the football stadium, many, many residence halls, and various classroom buildings. Angela was especially impressed with one building at the top of a rise, which sat at the other end of a large mall from the union, and housed the Honors College on the bottom floor. There was a small courtyard connecting that building to another, which faced University Drive on the other side. The two comprised the College of Liberal Arts. They crossed University Drive and visited the library and then a collection of buildings that did not match the rest of the campus and housed business, science, math, and engineering.

      On the way back across, they came to what Angela was especially wanting to see: the newly remodeled dance building. She loved the elegant wood trimmings and the new dance floor. She smiled happily and then noticed people were looking at her. She turned red and looked down.

      Two hours before lunch time there were interest sessions. Angela went straight to dance to find out what she could about the program and what she would learn if she majored in it. Then she had time to do a second session with history. During that time the parents had separate sessions to deal with their issues, primarily how they were going to pay if their kid wanted to attend TCU.

      At lunch they were kept busy eating, socializing with other people at their table, and then listening to a student speaker. Angela was impressed with how well she, the speaker, talked: the vocabulary, the humor, and the poise. She wished she could do something like that someday. In the afternoon they had a little free time and in the recreation center Angela found some computers which she could use as guest. She went on her email and had a message from Miles:

      Hi, Angela:

      I hope you are having a good visit. I’d like to hear all about it when you come back. Thinking about you,

      Miles

      He included his cell phone number after his name at the bottom. Angela entered it into her phone. She texted back: That’s sweet. We’ll talk when I get home.

      Then it was time to continue the program. They toured the residence halls, visited academic department offices, and went to the closing reception. Angela and Susan then had time to take it easy going back to the airport, so they decided to go through downtown on surface streets and pick up the airport freeway there. The path took them north on University Drive toward Seventh Street, where they would turn right and go straight downtown, but before they got there, they saw the signs to the museum district. Checking her watch, Susan turned left instead onto Lancaster, where to their right they saw the magnificent Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, then the Kimball Museum, one of the country’s best mid-sized museums of art, and finally the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. They pulled into the lot just to look in briefly. When they came out, they were struck by the panoramic vista of downtown directly ahead. Then they got back in the little car, made their way downtown and to the airport freeway, and were headed home.

      On the plane at first they talked about the visit. Angela wanted to know what her mom had found out about paying for college and Susan wanted to know what Angela thought of the university. Angela said that she would really like to go to TCU and Susan said that in that case, it would really help to get the very