The long and winding road...to college

 I really didn't mean to be cliche with this blog post, but in all honesty, when I thought of something meaningful that was affecting my life right now, I came up with college. Yup, it's that time already. That time of my life where I begin the tedious process of applying to colleges. I figure that since I've traveled so much to visit various places, this blog will become a sort of reflection ground for me and my collegiate excursions. Honestly, I can't complain with the summer happenings related to college. My dad, the genius he is, decided to combine this year's usual Stavins Family driving vacation with a Midwest/Northeast college tour trip, as well. It started off with a trip to Minnesota, to visit Carleton College in Northfield. Ha! Carleton College, you say. I would be apt to agree with your sentiments. It took probably close to 30 minutes off a semi-major interstate to get to the place. I can't deny, however, that the scenery was beautiful. In all due fairness, it reminded me a lot of Illinois. A curvy road (albeit with numerous potholes) wound its way through the countryside, past barns, green fields, and small airstrips.  We got there and were greeted by the petite town of Northfield, complete with a grocery store, some botique shops, a couple hotels, and...yeah, that's probably about it.

In an attempt to not rip on this fine institution, I would like to point out one of the more interesting aspects of the otherwise miniscule campus: a cookie house. Now, some of you might be wondering, what the heck is a cookie house?! Apparently, there was an elderly lady that used to live on a house on campus. Throughout her lifetime, she refused to sell out her land to the university. However, she did something rather extraordinary with her spare time. Any student brave enough to come up and knock on her door, she would make cookies for. Upon her death, she left her house to the college in her will. Carleton College now spends around $10,000 every year keeping the house stocked with as many cookie making materials as hungry college students could possibly use. If you're as flabbergasted as I am by the expense, we're going to be good buddies by the time you're done reading all of my posts.

On the other hand, if you're into theater and media studies, the College recently finished construction of an ~$10 million 'creativity center,' that includes television studios, a full theater, a cinema, and more. Interestingly enough, the building was integrated with the old Northfield High School, which the college purchased to combine an ultramodern media hub with exposed brick, an old clock and bell tower, and locker room bathrooms.

And then there was the air conditioning problem...I know it's Minnesota, and that we're having what everyone considers to be a hotter summer than usual, but not having air conditioning in dorms during a tour really puts off a bad showing. The tour guide went on to boast about their gourmet catered healthy food options, how their intramural sports and quad were all in the same place, and their outdated planetarium. The one thing that did interest me was The Cave. A notorious hang out spot beneath a mansion of a dorm, The Cave has hosted everyone from Kanye West to The All American Rejects over the years.
Honestly, I wasn't as pleased with the tiny college campus as I thought I might be. Carleton was my first look at the 'small liberal arts school.' I still really am into the liberal arts prospect, but 3,000 seems just too small for a college atmosphere. There's always been something in me that wants to explore somewhere new, somewhere big and exciting. Unfortunately, a town of 20,000 and two colleges (Carleton and St. Olaf) in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota just didn't cut it.

And thus, I bid farewell to Northfield and began my travels anew, heading first to St. Paul, MN to tour (informally) the University of St. Thomas, where my uncle taught economics before he passed away. I was more impressed with my incomplete tour of this university than I had been with my complete tour of Carleton, although the academics weren't quite on par with other places I was looking at. Nestled just a few blocks from Macalester College, perched on a hillside above the river, this university of around 8,000, at sunset, was picturesque. The student union was state of the art, as well as the gym (which reminded me a lot of a totally redone Kenney). After watching the soccer players' night practice and reminiscing with a family friend about my uncle's old office, my family and I, without much ado, bid adieu to Minnesota and began our 8 hour journey to the lovely South Bend, IN and the University of Notre Dame. But I suppose if you want to hear about how that went, you'll have to wait for the next post.