One Big Basket

Holly and I got up early this fine Saturday morning, arriving fresh-faced and eager on the campus of CSUN to learn all about the campus and exactly why every eligible student in California would want to attend. Having spent 6 hours or so on the campus listening to different people speak and also getting a chance to chat with some of the students as well as scout out the facility...I have to say, it looks to be a great option.

I was at first surprised that Holly would seriously consider applying to a school that has 35,000 students. My little lamb will get lost in that mob! I have come to learn that what appeals to her about this university is the college of arts, media and communication. They have taken the bigger university and chunked it out into 10 different colleges that all fit under one umbrella that is CSUN. In addition to this more tailored approach, this is one heck of a facility; including the specific department of Cinema & Television Arts, which seems to have struck a chord with Holly. Dial it down even further to one of six different degree options and you have a customized, tailored and comprehensive program.

We sat through several of the general sessions which were somewhat informative but lacked any real pizazz. One speaker in particular spouted out great statistics about CSUN, but did so in such a fashion that the Schnoogs leaned over and said, "I think that he is much more impressed with himself than we ever could be." I can not deny the fact that I snickered at that...where does she get that sarcasm?

Once we were cut loose from the rigid programming and moved into finding out more about the CTVA (we quickly learned that to be the acronym for cinema and television arts), things really started to fall in place. The facilities are amazing...anyone even remotely familiar with what a TV sound stage or film editing booth looks like will know that this is some state-of-the-art equipment...the people are friendly and the students seem genuinely pleased with the experience and education that they are receiving. The faculty will naturally brag about their curriculum, but if you can get some students alone and away from their instructor and just drill them with questions, they will give it to you straight (not that I would know anything about brow-beating some nice junior and senior CTVA students, mind you).

During the walking tour of the overall campus, our somewhat naive tour guide replied when someone asked how long it took most students to complete their degree at CSUN, "Oh, there's no pressure to finish...you can take 6 or 7 years if you want." One might imagine how very quickly I pointed out to Holly that there WAS some pressure coming from the source of college funding to finish in 4 years...namely, ME!

As we walked the campus on our own after surveying all of the different workshops and classes, Holly looked around and said, "I can see myself here." Not too bad, given she didn't even want to discuss where she wanted to go just a few short weeks ago. I think that having a clear first choice is great, but having a back-up plan is important too. Nope. Miss I've-made-up-my-mind informed me that she isn't going to apply anywhere else because she is confident that she will get in and if she doesn't, she will go to Moorpark College (a local JC) for a semester and transfer in.

That is one big basket to be putting in all of the college eggs, but for some reason my kid is stubborn.

I have no idea where she gets that.