There are SO many things to consider while looking at this issue. I thought it might help me, as well as maybe someone else out there, to lay out each of the options that we are considering (and I'm sure we don't have every angle covered, believe me) and the pros and cons of each of them.
In this post I'll lay out for you what we see as our Ms 17 yo's options. If you have something constructive to add to our discernment process, I'd love to hear it. If you are going to anonymously blast me for something I've written here, then please consider if it will truly add to the discussion or not. Thanks!
I realize that this is a somewhat volatile, and sometimes defensive, issue. For instance, when my daughter made mention that she wasn't going to college (because she hates talking about this with people), I was told that it was a shame, that they'd really like to see her do something with her life. We'll get to that one later! I've also heard people say the name of the nearest junior college as if going there was the same as being condemned to a life sentence in prison.
With that in mind, I'm going to lay it all out here - our thoughts, considerations and opinions - on these five options:
1. Going away to a four year private college.
2. Staying at home and commuting to a private four year college
3. Staying at home and going to the nearest junior college
4. Taking a year off for volunteer work and discernment time
5. Going straight into the working world
I'm not sure yet if these will all be individual posts or not, we'll see where the Spirit leads me. Again, please feel free to join in with your thoughts - I'd love to hear from people who have been here already. Maybe there is something we haven't thought of yet; like the fact that for some families, this might be a no-brainer. For us and our individual set of circumstances, however, it isn't!
Hopefully you'll join me as I explore this topic and sort things out in the coming days (and hopefully not weeks!).
