Rebuilding Rob

This past weekend, I met up with Kid 1 and X1 in Rolla, Missouri at the “out of state welcome” and “student orientation” events at Missouri University of Science & Technology – or S&T as it’s called locally.

Kid 1 visited the school last summer, as part of his big “summer college tour” that he and X1 went on. This was the time when I met up with them in Illinois last summer, which I wrote about HERE.

So far, S&T is checking off all of Kid 1’s proverbial boxes. It offers his preferred major – nuclear engineering. SNT both that they are the only university on the East Coast that has an on campus nuclear reactor. I found the whole “East Coast“ boast a bit humorous; as S&T is located west of the Mississippi River – the historical division between the East and the West in the United States.

Rolla is not a “college town” in the traditional sense that one might think of with either Ann Arbor or even East Lansing. In fact, the city reminds me very much of the city where kid 1 currently lives. It’s a decent size suburb – even though it’s not near any major metropolitan areas. They have a lot of your standard retail and fast food franchises. It’s odd because the university’s campus reminds me very much of the college that X2 and I attended 30 years ago. The campus is not massive, in fact, one could walk from one end of campus to the other within a span of about 15 minutes.

Shortly after his college visit trip, Kid 1 applied to S&T, and was accepted within about one week of sending his application. Furthermore, he was offered a fairly substantial scholarship at the time. He, his mother and I are currently looking into other scholarship opportunities, before kid 2 has to face the prospect of taking out student loans.

He is looking into a military program that goes by the acronym NUPOC. Basically, NUPOC would pick up a portion of Kid 1’s tuition. In exchange, he would attend Officer’s Candidate School upon graduation, and serve four years in the military. While, I’m really not too psyched about the prospect of him doing military time, he would be an officer, which means he would not be serving on the front lines, should the US end up going to war or something. From the sound of the camera, the Navy doesn’t like to put freshmen in the new park program – presumably because they want to be sure that the students aren’t going to wash out in their freshman year, and that they are committed to their field of study. However, if kid one was in NUPOC, that would cover the remainder of his college expenses, and I believe, that would make S&T his first choice. X1, and hopefully I, will be taking part in a Teams meeting with a Navy recruiter, just off campus tomorrow.

My big Takeaway of the visit to Missouri S&T was how excited Kid 1 at the end of Saturday’s orientation. Kid 1 is a very hard worker He is obviously very intelligent, but at the same time, he does possess a lot of the attributes of the stereotypical teenager. Like so many of his ilk, he wants to sleep all the time, and it seems like his stomach is never full. But I could see the spark in his eyes as we were talking to the recruiters near the end of the activities on Saturday. I could see how excited he got about winning his free sweatshirt from the day’s teambuilding activities.

Yesterday, I wrote a post about how you’re never fully prepared for becoming a parent. As I was hanging out with Kid 1 this weekend, I was realizing that none of us have any idea how fast childhood goes by. I can literally remember holding kid one on my forearm. I remember him sleeping on my chest as a baby. 17 years and one week has gone by so fast. We humans are simply not equipped to comprehend the passage of time when it comes to having children of our own. For the record, Kid 1 turns 18 at the end of this month.

In my ideal world, Kid 1 would attend the University of Michigan. I know that’s at the top of his list. However, I think he falls just a little bit short with her academic preferences, so to speak. At this point, North Carolina State University is his number two choice. Thus far, they have not offered him anything in the way of scholarships. However, a friend of his did receive a full ride at the school, albeit just before the school year was starting. Kid one actually has Better academic credentials, and his friend did.

I know it’s kind of selfish, but I personally hope that Kid 1 ends up attending S&T. Roller is actually closer to me than Charleston is. In fact, when I went out there this weekend, I was actually able to make the drive out in one day and the drive back on another day. I didn’t need to stop overnight. And then there is a fact that Rolla is just west of St. Louis…

Since Rolla is roughly 90 minutes west of St. Louis, I passed by Busch Stadium on my drive. So, I made a point of attending a tour of Busch Stadium on my way back to Michigan. You can read about that experience HERE. 

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts

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• Teacher Armor and the Saturday Clearing
• The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
• Of Training Wheels and Christmas Lights
• Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)

The article “Go West, Young Man!“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.