But this year October is also all about college and senior year. And rain. Lots of rain. Last week we visited the last college on Laurel's list, Lipscomb University in Nashville. It rained the whole way there and most of the time we were there.
Laurel thought she could check this one off her list and that her decision would be easy, with a different college winning out. But she loved it. I loved it, too. So did one of her best friends, although she is a junior and has another year to decide.
Lipscomb's prospective student day was top-notch—I was really impressed. I came away from the day without anything, anything negative to say about it. Well, except for the rain. But that wasn't the college's fault.
Now she's back to filling out college applications and writing essays, as well as studying for the ACT. And then, of course, she has to study for the two college classes she's taking this semester and her regular high school classes. She's kind of mentally exhausted.
Fortunately, there is a little time for fun.
Our support group has such an awesome teen group with around 250 kids ages 13-up. Laurel is on the student council, so she helps plan activities. Here she is at the back-to-school dance with her boyfriend and her best friends. You know. The ones she's been with since she was a teeny little girl. But we're not talking about that right now.
Duncan opted not to go, although, at 13, he could have. Dancing did not sound appealing to him.
Boy Scouts is much more appealing to him. He'd rather tie knots and hike right now, and I'm OK with that. Here he is getting his Life rank in Boy Scouts. If you're not schooled in Scouting, that means he has finished all his ranks but one. All he has left to earn now is his Eagle Scout. We're not in a hurry for that, since he's not quite 14; but I expect he'll have it around age 15.
And speaking of Scouts, we are also busy planning Laurel's American Heritage Girls Stars and Stripes ceremony, which is coming up in November. This is the picture I snapped for her invitations.
And speaking of snapping pictures, Laurel's senior picture photo shoot is coming up this weekend. We're super excited about that! I'm so happy for my sweet girl and all these good things in her life.
Oh, I should talk about school too. Actually, we took fall break all of last week. Or rather, Duncan and I took fall break. Laurel only had one day off from her college classes, and that was the day we went to Lipscomb. It was hard to get back into the swing of things this week. Because, well, we're back where we started: all we really want to do is be outside. And so, Duncan does geometry and then heads outside for a while. Or, while I'm in the shower, leaves me a note like this:
Both the kids are reading Macbeth in my literature classes. I'm taking both my 9th/10th and 11th/12th grade classes to Atlanta to the Shakespeare Tavern at the end of this month to see Macbeth. This is going to be a crazy trip, but lots of fun! I hope it will be a fabulous memory for all of us.
And that's about all that is happening in our small world.
Oh, except for this.
The tarantula molted.
Yep.
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What a fun week! Your post makes me so excited to homeschool older kids (although I'm enjoying every minute of HSing little ones!).
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed at how all encompassing the college application process is in the United States. And grateful that it has (so far at least) been a lot simpler for my kids in our part of the world.
ReplyDeleteThat's great she loved the college she toured. My oldest daughter had her mind set on one school but when she went to the one she ultimately chose it was love at first visit. It was important for me to find her a school were they were partnering with us for her success. Her current college offered a mentor program, she gets weekly email checkups from her dean of her department, career mentoring and so much more than I expected. She thoroughly loves her new college. Hopefully your daughter's choice will garner her the same success.
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