This is the part where my plans and his plans didn't exactly coincide. Being no dummy about long distance travel, I wanted to be out on the road almighty early so we might be able to miss the morning traffic as we crossed hill and dale heading east. My rationale being that they are an hour ahead of us, so by starting early, by the time we reached the next time zone, work and school traffic would be somewhat diminished.
We managed to get out the door just in time to hit all the rush hour traffic all along the way.
So much for my timing versus his timing, but since Thomas was doing the driving, I could enjoy my day in profitable pursuits like flinching when semis got too close to the car, wincing when people cut in front of us or a next lane over semi with whole inches to spare, or when some yo-yo pulled in front of us only to slow to a snail’s pace for our amusement.
Some people shouldn’t be granted driver’s licenses. Ever.
I know I annoyed him. But that is a perk of being a parent instead of a seasoned driving instructor who is so jaded that nothing except a loop-de-loop from the top of I-440 garners any attention at all.
About 150 miles from our goal, Thomas swapped with me so I could drive and he could nap. While the swap did nothing to endear me to the truckers who continued their game of chicken with each other and the small cars that defied their mass, I did all I could to keep well out of the way of them all. I’m not a coward, but I’ve already experience the dubious thrill of being treated to a ping pong session with a semi and I’m not anxious to enjoy a repeat now or ever.
We arrived at our destination late in the afternoon in a nice little town named Buena Vista, Virginia. For whatever reason, the locals call it “boonah veestah” instead of the Bwayna Vistah that I normally associate with that spelling. The campus of SVU is situated atop a prominent hill overlooking the town. It is truly an idyllic setting.
The school itself is a zillion years old and has a charming Victorian hotel for it’s main administration building/men’s dormitory. There was even a bell at the front door that had a rotary ringer like the one of which Harold Hill pretended to be a passionate collector in the movie “The Music Man”. That tickled us both to see.
The main hall is dark red with white trim and is a beautiful beacon of higher education atop the mount.
There is a statue in the front yard of a knight prepared for battle astride a large horse. His shield bears the initials of the school and his horse is ready for the charge. It is a striking symbol of gaining education in the face of what is sometimes stiff opposition, whether physical, financial, inadequate preparedness or society itself which conditionally chooses those who can have opportunity and values them above those who are not so fortunate as to have the doors open to them.
We took a quick couple of photographs in the fading light of late afternoon before setting off to check into the hotel in which we were spending our night.
Thomas at the statue:
After our dinner at a nice restaurant that had seafood and steaks, we returned to tuck in and prepare our tired selves for a full day of activity on the campus Friday, November 12th.
The next morning, we arose and prepared ourselves and checked out of our hotel. There was ice on the car and covering the window. Brrrr! I was truly thankful the heater in the motel room worked as the temperature dropped into the 30’s. I am not a fan of the cold.
We packed up and headed up the hill to the campus and Thomas got us parked near the knight statue again. The main hall administration sections had the offices of financial aid and the office for advisors where we’d meet up with the folks that would help us negotiate the moolah issues and start Thomas on the campus tour.
He toured the dorms, classrooms and the library before we met up again.
A friend from years ago was working in the financial aid office and it was nice to catch up a bit with her. Transcripts were tendered and information regarding the upcoming spring term would be exchanged and discussed. A printout of possible money from the school scholarships, grants and other aid were rendered as well as information regarding work-study programs available.
While there, we attended a lecture forum and ate in the cafeteria. That was good food! Plus, Thomas having access to a majority of his meals in that setting with all of the other students and faculty will be helpful time-wise for him as he attends.
Part of our day including visiting the orchestra rehearsal and the instructor and Thomas spoke briefly before Thomas was asked, “You didn’t bring your horn by any chance, did you?” Since he’d already scheduled an audition with Dr. Del Vecchio for the jazz and pep band programs, he had brought it along. Thomas got to sit in with the orchestra and have an impromptu run through audition with them. They are losing their first trumpeter to December’s graduation and were happy to hear that Thomas plays first trumpet. He did pretty well for sight reading through the music. I was tickled that he got the chance to sit in. It was an unexpected little bonus.
After the orchestra rehearsal, Thomas went to talk to the instructor for the computer science program and found out that he speaks German! That pleased him very much. I think he’s planning to take some German classes since they offer them at SVU as well.
We also made a pit stop at the maintenance building and picked up a job application. They should be able to offer Thomas 15-20 hours a week around his class schedule so that he can earn some money that won’t go against the financial aid he is eligible to receive. Frankly, any hours a week would be a blessing since he currently isn’t working steadily anywhere and still has bills to be paid.
I am truly hoping and praying – keeping a prayer in my heart as well – that this will be a good opportunity for Thomas to enjoy friendships with people his own age and to help him develop himself to become what he needs to be and to prepare to be a husband and father in due time.
We also visited the institute building. It hosts 5 wards from the college population. That should make for more exciting activities for him to enjoy. They apparently have a number of activities going on every week in addition to the classes.
The audition with Dr. Del Vecchio went well and he is looking forward to working with Thomas and seeing about adding some money to the scholarships and grants that he is eligible for at this time. It just feels like all of this is a blessing that is just falling into place and settling into our laps – both for the family as a whole and for Thomas as an individual son of God.
The reference to this being a whirlwind tour is apt, because we left the campus about 4:30 and headed back southwest toward home making our arrival on Saturday morning a bit before or right at 12:30 a.m.
Funny thing about these particular whirlwind travel tours is that the regular household chores still need my attention the next day no matter how tired I am. Kind wish there was some sort of ‘pause’ button that would help make time slow down for the world, but be lengthened for me so that I could catch up on sleep.
Now, we are just down to decisions and preparations for Thomas to make a successful transition from being at home to being on campus to live, study, work and enjoy the experience.
That will be a whirlwind all on its own.
