Homeschooling into college

Tonight Mackattack babysat for us while we had dinner at Elliot's in Seattle. It was very nice of her, and very overdue for us.

P-Daddy's former college friend and current President of his alma mater (one in the same) was in town to schmooze a Microsoft donor to the annual fund and show his teen aged son some colleges in the area. He gathered some of P-daddy's alums for dinner. The meal was fabulous, as to be expected, and the conversation was easy. Aside from the President's son, we were the youngest at the table. No one had lived here longer than 7 years.

I was kind of teasing P-daddy when I asked him to inquire about Alma Mater's stance on homeschooling and admissions. Most large universities, including some Ivy League schools, have reserved spots for homeschoolers now, but I wasn't expecting much from an 1100-student private college in Michigan.

His friend couldn't hear him very well over the other diners and replied "Homeschooling?" and jabbed a thumb at his teenaged son. "He's homeschooled. Well he was, until boarding school." Turns out the guy (and his sister) go to Interlochen, a fabulous arts school in MI. Normally I am not a fan of boarding school, but Interlochen is wonderful. I had been accepted into Interlochen and had a scholarship, but my Mom hadn't let me go. At this point I was freaking out with the coincidence and affirmation of it all.

As we were leaving the restaurant, the boy took me aside and said "I think it's cool you're homeschooling. I really, really loved it. It's great."

I had to give that boy a hug.