Traveling with Michelle: College Visits, Days 1 and 2

Shelby and I traveled from Minneapolis to Iowa yesterday, February 18. We left around 12:30, after sleeping in. It was a long drive, but sunny and warm, so the 4 1/2 hours went just fine. We checked into our hotel last night. It seems like an updated 1950s hotel. It is nice, but nothing special. We walked down the road later to a Perkins for dinner. After dinner, we talked, then played Crazy 8s for awhile before falling asleep.

This morning we were up and had breakfast before leaving. They advertised a deluxe, hot breakfast. When we walked in, I saw a waffle machine and felt let down, but then saw the buffet. They had scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, biscuits, and gravy as well as the usual waffle maker, cereals, and breads. They had nice glass glasses for milk and juice and cleared the tables when you were done. Good breakfast, then out the door just after 8:00.

At Coe, walking from the parking lot.

We drove to Coe (about 10 minutes away) and parked. Coe is a small college, about 1400 students. It has it's own grassy campus and updated classic buildings between downtown Cedar Rapids and the freeway. It has an amazing number of programs and majors for such a small college. 100% of students have an internship or research experience before graduation. They seem to have a strong medical field--nursing, pre-med and pre-vet. Every student is assigned to someone to make sure that they adjust well, make friends, and get involved. All students are expected to live on campus all four years. They even have upper-classmen apartments on campus and the fraternities/sororities are located in parts of dorms. We listened to speakers and walked around. Shelby flat-out refused to get her picture taken with the mascot walking around (the Kohawk). We ate in the dining hall and were constantly approached by people all day to see if we needed anything. Shelby talked to the pre-vet, theater, and music people. The theater rep said that they would love to have her do work-study in technical theater (since she has so much high school experience) and wrote down her name so that they could flag her work/study application. She auditioned with her clarinet for a possible music scholarship. All of the students that spoke talked about the close relationship students and faculty have. It seems like a big extended family, very nurturing and close. We visit Iowa State tomorrow. We had an unofficial tour of the St. Paul campus of the U of M last spring (the student view) with a more official reception next month. Shelby has a lot of thinking to do and feels a lot of anxiety about it.

Shelby warming up for her audition. She is saying,
"you're really going to take this picture?"

After her audition, I wanted to walk around campus a bit, get a better feel and some more photos, but Shelby was tired out and we went back to the hotel to rest. Today was a beautiful day--70 degrees (F) and sunny! I wore sandals and a skirt (without leggings) for the first time since last October!