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UC Boulder's equivalent of
North Campus |
In 1992, I graduated from The University of Georgia. My days at The University were nestled in a setting that was filled with tradition and beauty. It is hard for me to imagine the “college experience” without seeing in my mind the images I witnessed at UGA in those early 90’s. I cannot imagine a college education without buildings that reflect Greek revival, antebellum architecture. It is incongruent in my mind to see a college experience outside of the rolling hills of North Georgia. I try to put myself into a position that is, regrettably, not all that far off, where I will be packing my son or daughter off for a post high school education. What do I want for their experience? How much of what I knew to be a college education will influence what I will want for them? If the time comes and they want to step outside of those boundaries, will I fear that decision?
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| Tuscan Architecture |
Today, I toured the campus of University of Colorado Boulder. What an impressive campus this was! There are 18,000+ students on this campus that backs up to the Flat Iron Mountain Range. At this beautiful campus, students can major in over 150 possible majors. The architecture of all buildings on campus is modeled after what would be seen in Tuscany. What makes this educational experience a little different is that students take only one class at a time for an intense three and a half week period. During that time, students are encouraged to dive deeply into the topic that the course covers without the distractions of other courses. Some classes involve traveling to a different country; some classes encourage students to seek out the professional community to gain insights that cannot be gleaned in a classroom setting. Students have access to a college town of 100,000 citizens that was recently deemed the smartest city in America, due to the number of bachelor, master and doctoral degrees per capita. Students also enjoy one of the largest recreational playgrounds with some of the most beautiful scenery in the form of the Rocky Mountains. This indeed was an eye-opening exposure to a different educational experience than the one I grew up knowing, yet I could easily see myself thoroughly enjoying four years at University of Colorado Boulder.
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| Farrand Field |
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| Open field in the middle of campus |
Stepping outside of what I grew up knowing has allowed me to see both the value in a diverse education that is outside of the context of the Southeast and on the other hand, it allowed me to deeply appreciate the memories and the training of my four years at UGA. This brings me to the point of this blog entry. Many factors go into college decisions- proximity, cost, opportunity of majors, greek life, football tradition, and others. None of these reasons eclipse the real reason that we invest in 529 plans and buy extra long dorm sheet. We do it to offer the opportunity for our most precious part of us to grow and develop into adults at a still young and tender time of life. This can happen only in an environment that challenges a college student to explore and master a discipline and to discover who they are and of what they are made. That is the objective with the college search. Keep on visiting colleges and asking the question, “Is this a place that will foster this type of growth in my student?” Students, have the foresight to look beyond what is popular in the college decision for the fit that is going to bring out the very best in who you want to be.
I look forward to what tomorrow brings from the National Association for College Admission Counselors Conference. You can rest assured that I will share with you the things I learn.
From Denver,
Mike Kulp
