Breathe.

I'm about 4 weeks into helping Robbie navigating a major university website to make sure we have all our i's dotted and t's crossed for this kid of ours to go away to school in the fall. Sometimes I cannot figure it out and end up calling for support which leads to my calls being transferred to another department.  Everyone is very helpful and friendly so that has made it a little easier but this day in age there has got to be a simpler way to do all of this.  I'm starting to feel that a paperless system is not really the best.

I thought signing up for the tour last month was tedious.  Since then I've received 3 different passwords and pin numbers for various things, completed that darn FAFSA again, sat with Robbie to sign up for housing after figuring out the top 6 places he would prefer to live on campus and unsuccessfully signed up for the Academic Transitions Program only to find out that he cannot complete this until after he is finished with his current semester.  ha ha! 

Our next step is to meet with someone in the financial aid department so we can discuss the ins and outs of student loans as it has been decided that we will have Robbie take out a loan for his sophomore year.  We want him to take some ownership of his education and hope he will in turn strive to continue to do well since he is paying for part of his education.  That's the deal if he wants to go away next semester.  If he does well his first year away then we won't likely make him take out another loan for his final two years.  We'll just have to see how it all goes.

Robbie seems pretty determined right now which makes me a proud mama.  He is getting a B in Anatomy which is pretty good!  He is hoping to take Anatomy 2 over the summer which we think is a really good idea since he'll just be coming off of part 1 and should have everything still fresh in his brain. 

He has decided to try to room with one of the pals he's known since 1st grade.  I guess if it doesn't work out then he can switch roommates the second semester.  Some say that rooming with friends you've known for a long time does not always work out but maybe it will.  His friend is currently on a football scholarship at a smaller college (like 3,000 students) in KY and doesn't like it there at all so he is wanting to transfer. 

I'm really excited for Robbie to have the opportunity to move away to such a fun school that's also not terribly far from home. I know he will have so much fun and make tons of new friends since he is an outgoing young man.  And because he will be just a hop, skip and jump down the highway I'm sure to be whipping up fresh batches of cookies for him as a bribe to let me come visit him.  Maybe an offer for a free meal won't hurt either.