[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] Okay [faint].
[speaker001:] Well, did you go to college?
[speaker002:] Yes, I did.
[speaker001:] And where did you go?
[speaker002:] I went to a small liberal arts college in Virginia.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh, it was Sweeper College of about seven hundred and fifty students. I had gone to a small school growing up, uh, and a lot of my friends went to univert-, University of Michigan but my parents were retiring in South Carolina when I graduated and, uh, were looking for a southern school
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and, uh, also U of M seemed overwhelming in size and, uh, what about you?
[speaker001:] I went to the University of Minnesota.
[speaker002:] Oh, so you're from the Midwest, too.
[speaker001:] I am, uh-huh. Where do you live now?
[speaker002:] Uh, I live in Texas now. Where are you?
[speaker001:] Well, I'm in Texas. I'm in Austin.
[speaker002:] Oh, uh, my brother's in Austin. Uh, he lives Lakeway. He, uh, had moved, uh, we're in Plano.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And,
[speaker001:] I'm familiar with Plano. I visited once or twice.
[speaker002:] Oh, Austin is so pretty. I
[speaker001:] Oh, I love it.
[speaker002:] really like it [very faint].
[speaker001:] I love it. I really do.
[speaker002:] And your daughter is going to be a sophomore.
[speaker001:] That's correct. I have two daughters, but my oldest will be, will be a sophomore.
[speaker002:] Is, uh, because you live in Austin, is she thinking about the University of Texas?
[speaker001:] She has her heart set on U T.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And, uh, you know, having gone to the University of Minnesota, I know what a big university is like. And, uh, one thing that I did this summer, which I thought might benefit both my daughters is, my youngest daughter got involved in band, and Baylor has a band camp.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] So she went for a week, and it was overnight, and they lived in the dorms. And I thought this would expose both of them to what it's, you know, like on a coll-, a smaller college campus. And, uh, my oldest one just wasn't impressed at all with the idea of a small school. So, uh, I, I, I still think the exposure was good.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] The reason I ask if you went to college is I thought, well, you know, what were your selection criteria. Did you base it on what you wanted to major in or what you would feel comfortable with or what you could afford or, you know, there's all of these areas to look at in making the decision.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Those, and those were several, uh, that we did consider. Uh, my parents, uh, certainly didn't push but wanted me to look in the south and because I had been in a small school, they suggested that I probably, I, when I say small, my graduating class had eighteen in it.
[speaker001:] Oh, wow.
[speaker002:] And so they suggested that I might want a smaller school because I was used to a lot of one-on-one
[speaker001:] Oh, definitely.
[speaker002:] uh, or small group situations. And I did pick it because at the time I was interested in majoring in biology and
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I also wanted to spend one year studying in Europe. Uh, I had had an A F S student from Germany live with us our senior year
[speaker001:] Oh, how exciting.
[speaker002:] and we just thought that would be a wonderful thing and I ended up majoring in French. One of the reasons I picked the school was because they had a strong science department. They also had a strong language department and I'd always loved working with children. Uh, and I found that I couldn't fit everything in, but because I had had a fair amount of French going in
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I was able to do my year's study in France and able to take a lot of the other courses that interested me. Uh, and so
[speaker001:] Oh, that was,
[speaker002:] that was some of, but
[speaker001:] That worked out very well for you.
[speaker002:] several of the things you mentioned were the things that, uh, our son has talked a lot about Texas A and M. He, but he thinks he wants to be a writer and I don't think that,
[speaker001:] Well, then he should come to U T.
[speaker002:] Yes [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Uh, and really his, his graduating class will probably be in the neighborhood of eight hundred and fifty to a thousand.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh, and so he's used to a bigger size
[speaker001:] Large classes.
[speaker002:] and because my brother is there, uh, he would have family, close by. So there, there are advantages. Uh, but I also, because I had so many friends who did go from our small school to University of Michigan, which was so large and they really felt, uh, like they were numbers.
[speaker001:] Oh, I went from a large high school to a u-, large university and I
[speaker002:] You still,
[speaker001:] definitely felt like
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I was a number. Uh, I mean, it is a different feeling. But that was, that was my only option. I, I mean, I just really couldn't look at anything else. That was the one and only thing I could really afford other than a jun-, you know, a junior college, which I didn't want to do. So that's how, you know, my decision was made. But, uh,
[speaker002:] Well, th-, that's certainly, uh, especially today with the cost of college. I mean that is a, a major, uh, consideration and I do feel fortunate that Texas has so many good schools. And
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] even though Baylor, uh, and when you mentioned that, we, we have friends who have children there who just love it. And for a private school it is not as expensive as most are and it is a smaller size and, uh, I do feel like there are a lot of options. It's, it's, but [throat clearing], I had been hoping some schools I know give, uh, oh, even this year, Jay had an aptitude test, uh,
[speaker001:] What, what does, he hopes to be a writer.
[speaker002:] Yes, he thinks that's what he'd like to do, but he's really strong in math and science, too, and
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] we keep encouraging him to keep an open mind. Does your daughter know what she'd like to do?
[speaker001:] Oh, she, she has, uh, you know, interests that are just, you know, going in all directions.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, [lipsmack] what she talks about a lot is theater which I think is [LAUGHTER], okay Bethany, let's be real [LAUGHTER]. Uh, [lipsmack] she really is, is pretty unfocussed at this point. And, I don't know, she's taken a lot of French, and she may end up doing something with that. And I am a single mom, so I've been, and I made the mistake of dropping out of college to get married. So I'm trying to have my children not make the same mistake. And I'm, you know, showing them if you're strong in math and science, kiddos, this is one area where women can make some decent money.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] You know. I mean, I'm kind of really putting the practical application, you know, and, and saying, yet, do something that you enjoy.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] By all means, go get that piece of paper, you know. Do you just have one son?
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] I see. Well, it sounds like he's got some really, you know, good strong ideas of what he wants to do.
[speaker002:] Well, he, but he has even, now that he's in high school, uh, and, of course, there's, there is still time, but he's beginning to feel that, as much as he enjoys writing, he wonders if he can make a living at it. You know, it's, the, it's,