Daughter graduated from the Community College earlier this month. She had been accepted to four colleges, but narrowed her choices down to 2 colleges - both are local, which would allow her to live at home while going to school.
She needed to make a final decision about where to go to school, so I told her that she needed to make the commute to each school during rush hour to see what she was willing to do. One school has the capability to drive back roads pretty much straight there. No major highways. The other school involves driving on 795 and the Baltimore Beltway. She's not a fan of highway driving. I thought that she was going to choose a school based upon the drive. Not a bad reason to pick a school, but not the best, either.
The school she felt was the best match for her was, of course, the one that involved highway driving.
Time was ticking down on the admissions decision, and she couldn't put things off any longer.
The Friday before the decision was due, I went into work and told her she needed to have made a decision by the time I got home from work.
Later that afternoon, who should appear at the Reference Desk but Daughter, decked out in her University t-shirt that she had picked up at the book store while she was at the school. I was so proud of her! She drove up to the school and back home, knew she could do it, and was ready to make her commitment!
Later that evening over dinner, I was telling husband about her daring drive into work on the highway when daughter stopped me. "Wait," she said. "There's more to the story". It turns out that she has her mother's sense of direction, but not her mother's GPS. On the way back, she took a wrong turn and ended up in Baltimore City. And thus began her scenic tour of the city: The Jones Falls, The Trolley Car Museum, both Whole Foods Stores, the Zoo, and the Inner Harbor. If you're keeping track, she basically went through the entire city, exiting on the South side. She got onto 95 South, back onto the Baltimore Beltway, and came home down 795. For a kid who really doesn't like highway driving, she did a pretty good job!
She did prove to herself that she can handle highway driving. She also proved that she can deal with getting turned around and still get herself home again.
Since this experience, I have moved the GPS over to her car. I typically use the Waze App when I'm driving someplace new. Now there's no more getting lost for her!
She's driven herself back up there three more times since this experience for events, meetings, and orientations. She's feeling more confident that she'll be able to get to classes in a timely manner this fall.
Changes and transitions can be difficult! So proud of her for taking on this particular challenge and crushing it!
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