Gratitude About The College Process

The college process is horribly stressful to most parents and most students. Taking the SATs/ACTs, writing college essays and applications, worrying about rejections and… the big elephant in the room…your baby is moving away. Terrible stuff.

But, if this is your family’s biggest challenge, then consider yourself beyond lucky.

If your child is going to college, then things have likely worked out well. Certainly, there are alternatives to college and some sensibly choose other directions.

Things Have Turned Out Well
If you are from suburban Connecticut, particularly places like Shoreline, CT, it is likely that you hoped that your child would be college bound. So, congratulations! Your child did well enough in school, was sufficiently motivated, has good character and so forth to be college bound. This is as easily accomplished as you might think. There are countless families that I’ve counseled in the last few years who are wondering if it makes sense to send their child to college because of poor grades, work habits, and character.

College Is Great

You are sending your child to the young adult version of Disney World. Would you go back to college? Of course! Tremendous freedom. Limited real world responsibility. Great opportunities to learn, meet new people, have new experiences, all in a reasonably controlled environment (at least compared to moving to New York or Boston at 18).

Perspective

Considering all that plagues most families throughout the world, the college process is minor. Any family that has gone through a real challenge like a death in the family or a bitter divorce or extended financial problems knows real problems from contrived ones.

The college process is a problem of abundance. You are very lucky to have such a problem.