​College Reunion

I attended Spelman College, an historically black, all women college.  I loved and cherish my years at Spelman.  The friendships I have with my Spelman sisters have lasted a lifetime.  I have even developed friendships with Spelman sisters that I didn’t even know in college but have met years after graduating from Spelman.  My children know many of my Spelman sisters as their aunts and they have been instrumental in their lives.  Tonight, I am traveling with my daughter to Atlanta.  She is going to with me to my 30th college reunion.  This is a big deal for me as first, I can’t believe that its been 30 years since I graduated from college, and second, I can’t believe that my daughter actually agreed to go with me.

When I mentioned to my daughter that I was thinking about taking her to my reunion, I thought that she would tell me that she didn’t want to be bothered.  Instead, she surprised me by saying that she wouldn’t mind going.  I later discovered that she really wanted to go because she knew that we would be staying with Aunt Cassie (my Spelman sister) and she wanted to play with her dog (my daughter is an animal lover.  I am not).  But hey, if that’s what it takes to get her there, I’ll take it
As much as I try to impress upon my daughter that she should attend Spelman, she keeps telling me how she does not want to go there.  I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.  I remember being her age and my mom telling me about her alma mater, Livingstone College.  She told me that it was an AME Zion school.  Once I heard that, I knew I wasn’t going to apply there.  I was probably wrong, but in my imagination, I saw myself being forced to go to church every day.  No thank you!  The fact that the college was in North Carolina didn’t help either.  I was 16.  I wanted to go to parties, not church.  Anyway, my daughter keeps telling me that she wants to go to a college that is diverse and co-ed.  On the one hand, I don’t blame her.  She attends an all girls Catholic high school (her choice, not mine), and does not have daily interactions with boys other than her brother.  I remember being 16. So, I understand her desire to have a boyfriend and date.  But I keep explaining to her that Morehouse College and Clark/Atlanta University are both literally right across the street from Spelman.  She can take classes at both of those colleges as well as at Spelman.  By attending Spelman, she can have the best of both worlds!  But, she doesn’t get it.

So, tonight we will be flying to Atlanta for our Mother/Daughter weekend.  I hope and pray that she feels the Spelman love so that she will want to join our sisterhood.  I would love to be able to call her my daughter and my Spelman Sister (and hopefully one day, my Soror).

As much as we want to guide our children to do what we think is best for them.  All we can do is offer guidance.  As one of my classmates reminded me, as hard as it is to do, we have to let go and allow them make their own decisions.  Let me tell you, that is sooooooo hard to do.

So, now you know and you can … Consider Yourself Warned!

Did you want your child to attend a particular college?  If so, what happened?