The biggest thing about Ann Arbor is The University of Michigan. Our daughter is a freshman this year, and as such we all had to participate in Orientation. It was all fine and good until the time came for her to join the student queue. At that moment it was like sending her off to the Hunger Games. We had our own queue involving money, and a fancy binder, and name tags, so off we went. The day was well planned and well spent. All the key aspects of life on campus were covered in a light-hearted way, and everyone pretended not to notice that you were crying. Lunch was served in the Michigan Union, and it made me feel very important and pampered. We met the nicest couple who had eight children to our puny six, and we got along right away. I have to admit we kept hoping Mea would answer our texts, but she was terribly busy with placement tests and such.
The second day they let us see the kids for a single joint session. I was late arriving, so I missed the best opportunity for exchanging gossip. She looked to be in good shape, and later I found out she was. The second day was only a half, and not as much fun as we quickly lost our student orientation leaders--in our case, Marissa, Ross, and Sarah. They did a great job turning difficult days into victories.
Mea still had the rest of the second day and half of a third to finish. Kurt had to go to work, so I was on my own. I grabbed a quick lunch, shopped a little bit, but mostly I plunked myself down in the Law Quad. What a beautiful space! Quiet, shady, the old buildings are powerfully present without being intimidating. They seem welcoming, glad to work with you. I found lots of empty benches and sat down to work on the idea for this blog.
Orientation was really Mea's big step, but I fell in love with the university as well.
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