College

As promised... 

I went to a really big state school for undergraduate. They had a strong biochemistry program and tons of research opportunities - exactly what I wanted. It was an urban campus in a city about an hour away from my family. I lived in the dorms for 3 years and then rented a room off-campus for my senior year. I had a fantastic college experience. I found my "niche" - people that became my family away from family. I was independent but was close enough to my parents that I could easily go home for a weekend. 

For grad school, I moved to a different state and ended up in a very small graduate program at a medium-size university. It was in a large city with lots of exciting things that I wanted to do (museums! symphony! musicals! blues and jazz clubs!). Grad school was pretty intense, so there wasn't as much time to explore and meet people as in college. 

What I came away with, that for me, going to a big school with lots things to choose from and a large enough student population where I could find people I had similar interests with, was a good choice. Really small schools might not have worked as well - if I didn't fit in, it would be hard to make friends. There probably wouldn't be as many research labs to choose from.

If I went back to school now (or after retirement)... I don't know, maybe I would study something like folklore? (And travel around the world to collect stories - that would be amazing) Or creative writing? Or maybe I would explore a different branch of science. Or maybe I would try coding. I probably would not go into history or economics.

What are some of the things you wish you had a chance to learn about?

Thinking About College

E and I went to a school presentation on applying to colleges. It was ... OK. Some interesting tid-bits, but nothing ground-braking, nothing super-helpful. It is going to be a confusing and stressful process - they pretty much said that.

I don't get the sense that students get much support from the high school counselors. Too many kids. Too few counselors.

One thing that caught my eye was that an "average" (whatever that means) 4-year college accepts 75% of applicants. That seems really high, right? Well, they said that the super selective schools represent only a very small percentage (like, 3%-5% maybe?) of all universities in the country. That means, >90% of universities are less selective, with most ranging from somewhat selective to not particularly selective at all.* So, they said, a student will find a wonderful school that will be a good fit, no matter what.

On one level, I completely agree - it is all about the best fit for academics, available programs, and the person's interests and talents. But it just rubbed me the wrong way... it was like they were implying that - hey, this is a public school, don't aim too high - but these less-selective schools are a available to the likes of you. 

I want my kids to get a good education and have an amazing college experience. I want them to be successful. I want them to go to universities that have strong programs in the areas of their interest. I want them to be able to continue on with other pursuits, be it music, running, rock climbing or swimming, when they are at college. I want them to have a sense of community there, finding "their tribe", if you will. 

I really want our kids to have all the necessary tools and know-how to get into the schools of their choice (they are thinking about solid universities with rigorous academics and good reputations - but not Ivy League-type competitive).

I don't think that their high school is going to be able to provide those tools or teach them enough about all aspects of the college application process. They might give them an overview, but there will be no true "guiding".

*I don't know where they got their data or how accurate these numbers are.

If you went to a 4-year university, was it a small school or a big school? What did you love about it?

If you could go to college for free now (let's say you have the time) - would you do it? What would you study? <<I will respond to these questions in my next post!>>

Goldilocks Cello

C's been taking cello lessons for a little over a year. She has made a lot of progress and she has good "chemistry" with her teacher - very important when it comes to 1:1 music lessons. Unfortunately, her teacher is moving to another state. So... I am searching for a new cello teacher. And it is proving surprisingly hard.

Her current teacher wasn't able to recommend anyone else. We've got a few names from E's violin teacher and a local luthier. I also have an old list from the middle school orchestra teacher that we got when we were looking for a cello teacher the first time around. That time, we got M's (teacher's) name from 3 separate sources and after exchanging a couple of emails it seemed like a good fit - and it was. We never talked to anyone else.

This time... I don't know, it just seems more tricky compared with my previous experiences of finding violin/piano/cello teachers. 

One person never got back to me.

One person seems nice and kind, but she comes to your home to give the lesson (this may not work all that well for us...), her only open day is when C has swimming, and teaching cello is not her main occupation but more of a side thing. Plus, she does not do any recitals with her students. And she is a Suzuki teacher (that may be perfect for very young kids but not for C). Her hourly rate is reasonable. I am keeping her name as a possibility, but I don't think this would be an ideal match.

Another person that was recommended is a full-time cello teacher and seems pretty intense. My sense is, he is best for older kids who are intensely into music and may be considering careers as professional musicians. He charges substantially more than what we typically pay for private music lessons. I don't think this would be an ideal match, either. 

We need something in the middle.

I still have 4 more people to call... 

So hopefully one of them will be "just right".

Do you or your kids take music lessons? How did you find your teacher?

November Activities

Life right now:

• Monday: cello and piano lessons for the girls
• Tuesday: swimming (C) and orchestra rehearsal (E)
• Wednesday: swimming (C)
• Thursday: violin lesson (E)
• Friday: nothing!!! fun time!!!
• Saturday: rock climbing (H)
• Sunday: Hebrew School (C and H)

Winter sports are starting tomorrow: 

• Winter track (E) every day after school
• Diving (H) at least 3 times a week in the evenings; pre-season has started this week, so she had a couple of practices already - she is loving it so far!

Other activities;

• C is doing Reading Olympics (Wednesdays before school)
• C has band rehearsals before school on Mondays.
• Should I mention work for the grown-ups? Does that count as an activity? Perhaps I need a hobby...

Fun stuff (concerts/plays/adventures): nothing yet but need to look into it

There is definitely room for other stuff... but it is also nice to have relatively light Wednesdays/Thursdays and then free Friday evenings. At least for me - big kids have homework, so not quite as relaxing for them :)

What are some of things things you would like to add/remove from your weekly activities?

November Weekend Report

November already? Doesn't feel like it.

Wait, let me check the calendar - and we are almost half way through November. Yikes.

Our oldest had a concert on Saturday: 

Smetana, "The Moldau" from Má Vlast
Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue
Offenbach, Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld

The orchestra was amazing. It was so much fun to hear them play! All the grandparents and one of the cousins came to visit, so E had a pretty big fan group :) This was the first performance where E played in the first violins section (at the very back... he said he didn't do as well as he had hoped at the auditions last spring). Their conductor was fabulous playing the piano part of the Rhapsody in Blue.

On Sunday, there was a leisurely hike with some other Hebrew School parents. And then some cooking, clean-up, and laundry at home.

Other things:

• H had rock climbing practice
• C had her last soccer game (they lost)
• Kids did some homework and practiced their instruments
• My husband did a lot of yard work and hung a few new window treatments.
• Library (returned + picked up books)
• Movie night with the girls (we watched Love and Monsters). E was not in the mood for it and played Minecraft instead. 
• I read. A lot.

Looking forward to:

• Reading: Tiamat's Wrath (science fiction, book 8 of a 9-book series that I previously gave up on after book 6). Next: Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth (I loved The Good Sister and The Mother-in-Law... )
• Solo walks in the park
• Husband coming back from Boston on Thursday
• Cleaning the windows and organizing spaces around the house (not because I like cleaning or organizing, but I am really looking forward to enjoying the end-result!)

How was your weekend? What are you looking forward to this week?

I Don't Like This x10

It is freakishly warm outside. Like 70's - and it's November! I don't like this.

Our carved pumpkin has rotted and made a huge mess. Yuk. I don't like this.

My hair is getting thinner and thinner, and clumps keep coming out when I shower. I don't like this.

There was a dead deer in our yard. I don't like this.

The election, the state of the country, the precipice our world is heading to... I don't like this.

I am gaining weight around my middle. Not unexpected, but... I don't like this.

My kids are consuming too much candy and processed junk. I don't like this.

My cat is lying around all day, doing nothing. I don't like this. But I wish I could do the same.

Our laundry room is a work-in-progress that looks like a complete disaster right now. I don't like this.

It's been so dry we are worried our fruit trees won't make it. I don't like this.

We Survived (Halloween)

 We don't usually get many trick-or-treaters and this year wasn't any different. My husband sat out on a porch wearing a "scary" overalls/baseball combo, with his ax and a chainsaw propped by the door. I am sure that wasn't the reason why only a couple of groups of kids stopped by...

I took our youngest and her friend around our neighborhood. C was the Ranger from the "Ranger's Apprentice". Our oldest went to a friend's house (they all dressed up as Minions) to eat sugar and watch "The Exorcist". He was pretty grumpy when we came to pick him up because they were only 30 minutes into the movie - but hey, school night, a test the next day, so... a grumpy teen. The middle child also went to a friend's house to party - they dressed up as super-heroes. The initial plan was to take friend's little sister trick-or-treating around the friend's neighborhood, but at some point that plan got changed. So it was just a bunch of teenage girls and H, who is 14, took full advantage of her looks (she looks like a 10-year old). Like I wrote before, I am not a huge fan of teenage trick-or-treaters (leave the candy for the little kids!!!), but oh well. 

There are multiple stashes of candy throughout the house. 

I am kind of over trying to enforce any sort of limitations on candy-eating... 

We didn't watch any scary movies as a family, but we did watch "The Boy and the Heron". It was... weird. Don't get me wrong, I love weird and I liked the movie, but this was just a whole different level of weirdness. I feel like I missed a lot and will have to watch it a couple of times to catch all the details. But seriously, man-eating parakeets? I don't know what kind of mushrooms Miyazaki and his team have been eating. The world they have created was wonderous and had a dream-logic to it, where you just kind of accept things as is while watching it but when thinking back to it - the pieces just fall apart and don't quite fit together. 

How was your Halloween? Did you dress up?