I Like Everything Except the People.
Dylan’s college tour ended with Roanoke College as a finalist. My dad had done some consulting for the college years ago, but we didn’t know much about it until they sent Dylan a letter with the offer of a $22,000 scholarship. Dylan thought it was a scam – some kind of Publishers Clearinghouse thing for colleges. But no: they were really offering him half-tuition and he’d never even visited.
Dylan and I were pleasantly surprised when we went to visit Roanoke. They have an innovative new curriculum that weaves together different subject areas and creates creatively themed classes. Their choir program is top-notch and the music director is wonderful. When Dylan went for a final visit, he was unfortunately paired with someone whose dorm-mates were planning a wild, drunken time for Dylan – on a Tuesday night. Dylan politely asked to leave before spending the night, and eventually chose Belmont.
As an aside, Roanoke shredded their tuition costs during the year that Shane applied. Instead of giving giant random awards, Roanoke now has lower cost tuition supplemented by reasonable award offers for prospective students. They’re the only college in our purview that slashed their tuition; I think it’s a good way to trend.
Shane and I visited Roanoke several times during his search. It’s relatively close to home (compared to Wisconsin) and the innovative curriculum is still alluring. Shane loved the professors and the campus is gorgeous. The Open House went well; even the mid-pandemic tour went well.
When Shane was invited into Roanoke’s Honors Program, we were all surprised. We didn’t know they had an Honors Program! So we visited campus (again) to do an Honors Luncheon – which was a great experience. The program provided an opportunity for him to take more challenging classes, and the student panel included five students who would all be good friends for Shane.
Then Shane attended some classes and events just for students. Meanwhile, I got a smoothie at the local cafe and sat on a bench, allowing the atmosphere to surround and inform me. Students chatted at the tables just outside the cafe. They wandered past me on the campus bench. And they talked loudly enough for me to catch snippets of their conversations.
Apparently, there was a party the prior night – a Thursday. Everyone was drunk last night and hungover today. Some drama had occurred. Someone was still missing in action deep into Friday afternoon.
In spite of the Honors Program, the time I spent alone on campus made me feel like this place might not be such a good fit for my stone-cold-sober, rule-following son.
Shane reappeared before dinnertime, ready to head home. We’d had a full day and given Roanoke our complete consideration. It wasn’t going to be Shane’s choice, and one statement he made summed up his reasoning.
He said, “I like everything about Roanoke. I like the professors and the campus and the classes. I like everything except the people.” (He meant “students,” but I don’t want to misquote.)
“What about the Honors students?” I asked.
“They were good,” he said. “But there aren’t that many of them.”
In other words, with the exception of a handful of Honors students, Roanoke students weren’t “his people.” They were classic college students: partiers, athletes, sorority girls – which is fine.
Roanoke just wasn’t right for Shane.