College Visit...Again?

That's right, folks.  You thought I was done with college visits once Number Four was admitted to BYU, but no!  I had the super fun experience of doing it all over again with, quite honestly, my favorite kid with whom to visit colleges:  Markie Boy.

Sooooo many memories came flooding back as we made the short drive down to Columbus.  Why, you may ask?

Because Mark is amazing.  He has turned the proverbial lemon into sugar-soaked lemonade.

Take fourteen or so years of dreaming of becoming a professional musician.  Lessons for years.  Practicing hours a day.  Camps.  Recitals.  Auditions.  Performances.

Then take one permanent canine tooth, watch it grow sideways above his other permanent teeth, and see his dreams of becoming a musician spin down the dentist's spit basin.

What to do?

Thankfully, some Kennedy parent along the way INSISTED that every Kennedy child not only major in what they want to major in during college, but also major in a foreign language.  After all, we may as well get our money's worth, especially when we could have bought a house for the money we paid to The University of Michigan for tuition.

So Russian.  A degree in Russian Language and Literature as well.  But let's face it--Master's degrees in liberal arts are like parsley flakes:  nice to have in the spice cabinet, but don't do much for anyone or anything.

So, enter that same insistent parent who says, "Hey Mark, why don't you try business?  You have a mind for what appeals to people, especially the millennial generation.  You know, marketing."

And like every good Kennedy boy, he listens without a word of complaint, nor an eye roll (take note, Kennedy girls).

And to everyone's surprise except the Boy's himself, he gets interviews at business schools.  First phone interviews, and from those, two in-person interviews (so far).  As Mark says, we shouldn't be surprised.  He's always been good at doing a lot of crazy, unexpected things.  True dat.

So, Ohio State was calling.  Literally.  As difficult as it may have been in days past to cross that state line and head deep into Buckeye country, there were a lot of good memories from visiting and auditioning there almost eight years ago.  Same car, same peeps, but a whole heck of a lot less stress.

No worries about warming up.  No worries about excerpts.  No do-or-die halls of stress.  Just Mark, ready to be himself and answer questions about the amazing life he has already lived.  He couldn't eat much more than eggs at my favorite breakfast joint, First Watch, but he was proudly sporting the scarlet and grey of the school that might be his for the next two years, and which might launch him into a world that would provide infinite possibilities.

He was almost late for the start time, because I insisted on pulling over in front of the infamous Horseshoe for a picture!

Oh, and that Russian degree?  VERY interesting for those who hear he's interested in International Business.

Unlike those college visits of years past, I wasn't needed to accompany him everywhere.  To hold his coat.  To help him find a practice room.  To keep him on schedule, and to help him maintain Zen.  Nope.  I yeeted out of there and relived another moment in time.

Twenty years ago this year, I played the organ for the groundbreaking of the Columbus Ohio temple.  And a year later, and eight months pregnant with Glo, I played the organ for one of the dedicatory sessions.  I mean, why not ask a woman who can't even sport pantyhose and who isn't allowed to use the bathroom inside of the temple because people will be sitting in there during the session to play the organ?  I'm glad I accepted the challenge and drank nothing for the twelve hours prior to playing so that I could sit at the feet of the prophet and an apostle.  And here I was, twenty years later, on the other end of raising my kids and living through a lifetime of experiences, sitting in the exact same celestial room where it all happened.



I don't actually have a picture from the day nineteen years ago, but it goes without saying, stress levels were probably off the charts for me and my brain.  A tight schedule, getting the kids to a babysitter we hardly knew (since everyone in our ward was at the session), and stress about being so pregnant.  However, I DO have a picture of me in the blue maternity dress I wore that day, with a cutie little baby who was there with me the whole time, but who was now part of the world <3. (And sorry about the quality--this is a picture of a picture...)

Yep, those good old college visits.  Hopefully there will be a few more over the next few years, and then, Greenie willing, maybe I'll get to start over with the next generation.