Taking Your Child to College or (How to Give Away All Your Money BEFORE You Die)

Tomorrow my wife Maria and I will bring our daughter, Ally, (and loads of our money) to Harvard where she will begin her freshman year. She has been packing for two weeks and I will need to rent a small semi to get all her things to Boston. I remember my parents sent me to Colgate with a trunk full of jeans and flannel shirts, some toiletries, and a winter coat (which I started wearing in October, I might add).

I’m sure that some of the differences between what I brought to Colgate and what Ally will bring to Harvard are gender-based. But the technical toys and modern conveniences that she has at her disposal are so far removed from my college experience to make me think I went to school during the dark ages. For instance:

  • Ally has a 3G Droid cell phone on which she can surf the internet; I had quarters and waited in line to use the hall phone at Center Stillman Hall;
  • She will have sushi and sashimi at a posh student “eatery”; I ate slop at the SAGA mess hall if I was hungry enough to brave the alpine trek from the Freshman Quadrangle to the bottom of Cardiac Hill and back up again.
  • She has an Apple computer and word-processing software to prepare “documents”; I knew a coed in West Stillman who would type my term paper for money IF I gave her enough lead time. Oh. And I also had all the apples I wanted if I was desperate enough to brave the ice and wind down the mountain and back up again;
  • She has an I-Pod so small she can carry it in her hip pocket; I had a turntable that traveled no farther than the longest extension cord.
  • She will have wi-fi, hi-def and cable television with over 200 channels; my dorm had a rabbit ear-ed black and white TV that played three Syracuse stations.

Then again, my parents paid $5,500/year in tuition, etc.; Maria and I will pay $55,000.00. Why is it that I feel I have been shortchanged twice?

4 thoughts on “Taking Your Child to College or (How to Give Away All Your Money BEFORE You Die)”

  1. LOL–I love the way the numbers change only at the amount of 00o’s–well for your parents they made a good investment and you have intern returned the honor by taking it up another few notches for your daughter. Don’t worry, she will make your investment grow and your retirement will have earned some peace of mind. Best of Luck to her!

    FYI: You know the hippie generation is back–free love, a comforting footnote to the start 🙂
    Cheers
    Sarah

  2. Don, I’m watching our new students move in this week and I’m having some of the same thoughts. The young women are spending days getting their rooms set up. The guys are done in a half hour and then they’re strolling the halls to meet the women. I did not have the benefit of being dropped off by my parents (tough trip from Guam) but the other day a parent told me I was now the new parent for her daughter. My father got my first set of grades from Colgate before I did. Now, you won’t see your daughter’s grades unless she lets you. And you pay the bills! Even with all they have and can do these days, I wouldn’t trade my experiences in Hamilton, New York and the friends I have because of Colgate with anything the new college students have. I wonder if they’ll all have memories as great as ours. Fortunately I’ve forgotten all the bad stuff. I wish your daughter and you and Maria all the best in this chapter of your daughter’s life.

  3. Dondo—Great, great memories, and I’m sure you could go on and on if you kept on thinking about this stuff. I recommend you expand the piece just a little bit, then send it up to the Colgate Maroon–I’m sure they’d print it in the next week or two. For that matter, send a slightly longer version over to Newsday. It’d strike a nerve with everyone on Long Island, no doubt. Keep it up–you’re a great writer! Looking forward to seeing you at the next best ‘Gate opportunity—–

  4. One day she will take care of you. Be nice to her so that your attendant when your old will change your depends more than once a day!

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