A summer of obsessing

Choosing the school turned out to be easier than I had anticipated. But the anticipation is proving tough on the kid.

Spent the spring obsessing about finding a roommate. She joined the FaceBook page for members of her class, and developed virtual friendships with a bunch of them. Found one she thought she'd like to room with; met her at a local mall and it wasn't exactly love at first sight. Back to obsessing.

Headed south for the school's new students' orientation. Parents in dorms (air conditioned, thankfully!) with the students in different dorms (and not so lucky in the blistering weather).

But luck was with her; she hit it off with the student randomly assigned to be her roomie for the night, and vice versa. They decided to make it official for the full year, figuring the one night shared gave them a far better bet than taking pot luck.

More than that, the trip confirmed that THIS is the college. She met her academic advisor, registered for classes, arranged for her books, selected her computer, dined in the mess hall, bought the requisite tee-shirts.

The virtual friendship with the new roomie blossomed, via FB and a seemingly constant stream of text messages. Took the two of them to an amusement park in early August, and they both had fun; more to the point, the excursion's success augurs well for school-year compatibility between the two.

Of course, she's still obsessing about college. All summer long, she's marked the days down on the calendar, but now that she's down to a dozen she's getting VERY anxious. Which seems about right; I can't imagine it otherwise. My guess is that she'll be happy down there, probably quite happy, but the transition may well have its rough spots.

But there's probably not a better way for her to go ... and go she must, as every parent must recognize.

(Of course, how those parents feel about it is a completely different matter ....)