A birthday party and a campus visit

As our time here is winding down, we’ve been checking things off from our “To-Do” list – doctor appointments, dentist appointments, and Casey had a spa day.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She looks like a new dog!

We’re still not sure of our destination when we leave here next week – we’ll spend several days in Kentucky, and then a week or so with Nicolas in Charleston.  He survived the torrential rain without any trouble, and it looks like our route will be clear to get there.  From there, we’ll stay in northern Florida for November and December, and then head further south after the holidays. 

Las weekend, we celebrated Bryce’s birthday with my family. 

 

My mom made his favorite dinner – ham – and I made a cake . . .

 and Jaxon brought bat cupcakes for the party.

 

Jaxon also thought that Bryce needed a birthday hat . . . and in case he didn’t have one, he brought his for Bryce to wear!

 

 

It was a fun day with the whole family – we had a good dinner, played some cards, and Tom got his “baby fix” with Graysen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend, we headed to the west side of the state for one more college visit – Grand Valley State University.

In addition to the undergraduate program that Bryce is looking at, GVSU also has a Physical Therapy doctoral program, and we wanted to check that out, too.

 

The Open House was very well attended, with hundreds of high school students and their parents.

We started with continental breakfast and a presentation by Admissions, followed by an information fair with the various colleges and departments.  We got some good information on both Athletic Training and Physical Therapy.

The morning ended with student-led tours.  It was a beautiful day for walking around campus, but pretty quiet for a Saturday – either all the students had gone home for the weekend, or they were still sleeping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The campus is in a beautiful location west of Grand Rapids, and has a lot of open space around some very beautiful, brand-new buildings.

 

 

Almost 90% of students live on-campus, and there are multiple housing options for students to choose from – including traditional dorms, suite-style dorms, and apartments – and many of them are new. 

It almost feels like a huge apartment complex more than a college.  In comparison, there aren’t many classroom buildings.  Many of the colleges are building their academic buildings in downtown Grand Rapids.  So, the students live out on the main campus, but go to many of their classes downtown.

It was a pretty campus, but it just didn’t have the “college feel” that Bryce is looking for . . . and it just isn’t Michigan State!

Another college visit for Bryce . . . Spartan Country!

Go figure . . . every other day of the year, he’s in a Michigan State T-shirt, and today he doesn’t wear one!  He said he didn’t want to appear too anxious!

Bryce has been a diehard Sparty fan for quite a few years, and yesterday was his opportunity to visit the campus to see if he’d be comfortable making it his home for 4 years.

In my undergraduate years at the University of Detroit, my friends and I were always a little resentful of all the attention given to the “Big 2” colleges – Michigan State and the University of Michigan.  Our little private University, without a football team, barely existed in comparison!

So, I’ve never been much of a fan of either of them . . .

Living just outside Ann Arbor for 15 years, we became familiar with U of M and grew to appreciate the University Hospital, but I still wasn’t crazy about how the campus was intermingled with the city.  It just seemed too big and chaotic for me – I prefer a small, personal campus, and the boys do, too.

Never having been to MSU, I was expecting it to be similar to U of M, and was pleasantly surprised on arrival to find out just how wrong I was!

Our Admissions Presentation and Tour wasn’t until 1pm, be we also had appointments with a Career Counselor in Criminal Justice, and an Academic Advisor in Kinesiology/Athletic Training.  We parked by the football stadium and made our way across campus for our first appointment.

It’s definitely a big place, and it’s easy to get turned around when you’re not familiar, but with a little help from a kind stranger we found our way to our appointment.  It certainly is a beautiful campus, and I was shocked to see a river running through the center of campus, too.  Our tour guide later told us that the students go tubing and kayaking on the river in the spring and summer, and ice skating in the winter!

Both of our meetings were interesting and informative, and we all learned a great deal about the academic and professional options in the fields Bryce is considering – a very beneficial morning!

 

After our meetings, we grabbed a quick pizza in the food court (just $5.99 for a 14” pepperoni pizza, and it was really good – definitely better than Little Caesars or Dominos!), and made our way to the Student Union for the Admissions Presentation and Tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The presentation covered all of the basic information – test scores, transcripts, deadlines . . . and when that was over, the participants were split into 2 groups for our campus tours with student ambassadors.

The girls were very friendly and personable, and enjoyed sharing their own MSU experiences with future students, and well as the history of the University.

MSU was founded in 1855 as a Federal Land Grant University (where federal lands are granted to a state with the intent of establishing a college, making higher education available to the masses).  It started out as an Agricultural College, and today still remains a leader in Agriculture and Animal Science, along with a full menu of undergraduate degree programs.

 

It was a beautiful day for a walking tour, and we saw museums, dorms, dining halls, classrooms, lecture halls, the library, and the athletic complex as we criss-crossed our way around campus.

We toured one of the older dorms, but I understand that there are several newer ones, and more under construction.  They’ve all been updated with new furniture, though, and are hardwired for internet access.

 

 

The dining halls are pretty impressive – somebody referred to them as an upscale Golden Corral . . . and that was pretty accurate!  Definitely an important feature for the parents of a boy!!

 

Bryce is going to have to put his “Baja Bug” dream on hold for a few years, though . . . no cars for freshman!  Very few students have cars, actually, with the vehicle of choice being the bicycle.

In addition to all of the walking paths (miles and miles of them . . . I can’t remember how many miles they said, but it was a big number!), there are also designated bike paths . . . and you had better be careful when crossing them . . . the bike riders move FAST!

 

 

We finished our tour with a walk along the Red Cedar River,

 

and then went back to the Student Union to try some of the ice cream made on-site at the Dairy Store.

We each tried a different “Big 10” football-themed flavor, and they were all good!  YUM!

It was a great day, and I know my previous prejudices were overcome.  Michigan State has a beautiful campus, and the university offers many great resources for students, and I can definitely picture Bryce in this environment . . . I think he’d be really happy here!

 

Now he just needs to get accepted!!

Campus Visit

Last fall, when Nicolas was taking a College and Career Planning class, he researched a bunch of engineering programs, and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology ended up in his Top 3.

I had forgotten about it being in Rapid City until last weekend, so when I remembered, we decided to stay an extra day and requested a campus visit for Monday.  We filled out the online request form, but weren’t sure if we were going to get an appointment.  We didn’t hear anything on Monday morning, but decided to go on over there and see if they could fit us in.

As we arrived on campus, we felt like we were back at home – they use the same M for their logo as the University of Michigan!

We walked into the admissions office, and Nicolas’ name was on a list of prospective students being welcomed to campus . . . so I guess they got our request!

We talked to the Admissions Secretary and she clarified which departments Nicolas was interested in visiting.  While she made the arrangements, we walked through the Geology Museum.

In addition to Engineering, the school has a very strong Science program, including geology and paleontology.  Much of the fossils in the Badlands have been discovered by students from the School of Mines.

Some of the discoveries are not as glamorous as others!

We were still in the Museum when one of the girls from the Admissions Office came to get us for Nicolas’ first appointment.  He had appointments with Professors from Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, the University Provost, and a campus tour.

Everyone we met with was very nice, and the atmosphere of the small university was really apparent.  Both of the professors were very generous with their time, showing us around and answering everybody’s questions.  It was very clear that they want the incoming students to be confident in the college they choose, and they want every student to be successful.

We toured the campus with a Student Ambassador and two other families.

We saw the dorms, the Student Center, the cafeteria and Snack Shop, and the fitness center and pool.  The school has been around for over 125 years, but most of the buildings, especially the student buildings, are all new.

One unique aspect of this school is something they call CAMP – Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Production.  This is an extracurricular activity that all students are encouraged to join (at no cost to the student) beginning right in the Freshman year.

There are multiple teams – including Formula I, Baja, Aero, High Mileage Vehicle, Electric Snowmobile, and several others – each team works as a Corporation and includes students from all areas of the University.

They work on their project vehicle all year, and at the end of the year they compete against other colleges from around the country.  Several of their teams have done quite well in these competitions, proving to themselves and others that this small school from South Dakota can go up against any major engineering school and at least hold their own, or even win!

In fact, they are particularly proud of the times they have out-performed the University of Michigan!

We ended up spending over 4 hours on our campus visit, and we were all really comfortable with the campus and impressed with the school.  I think a small school like this would be a really good choice for Nicolas, and he likes the Black Hills area!  It’s definitely one he’ll keep on the list!