It’s been in the back of my mind that Sticks is heading headlong into his senior year of high school. Being a mommy and not wanting to admit that my kids are getting older (poor Eldest had to unwrap my fingers from him when the Army came to pick him up to report to Basic!), and being a procrastinator to boot, it has been slowly dawning on me that college is looming large, reaching out and grabbing at me when I’m not looking.
For Sticks, this isn’t a dawning notion. It’s squarely in front of him, motivating him to put both feet on the floor and get out of bed every day at the ungodly hour of 5:45 am. There is no question in his mind: he wants that acceptance letter to Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; specifically, to their Jazz Studies program so he can study with Steve Houghton. In thinking things through this weekend I’m actually really impressed with his strategy. He’s getting ready to sit for the AP Chemistry Exam, will be taking AP Physics next year and is ranked 25th in his class of 500 with a strong academic track throughout his high school years.
He’s got the fire for what he wants. But for me, it’s been a slow, smoldering spark that suddenly rose up like a wildfire.
It started when we heard about the tragedy that befell the choral music department last week. Our hearts go out to the friends and family of those lost. Our local news reported it the day it happened, and when we heard the words Indiana University School of Music we all jerked up.
I loaded up the website to see what had happened.
Then I started exploring. Up until now, it had been Sticks and T that had been in the discussions about IU. My role has been more of the facilitator — making sure checks are written for tests, schedules are cleared for college-related activities, travel arrangements for out-of-town gigs are taken care of, and so on. T has been the one who has a) lived in Indiana and b) been involved with the discussions about IU. I have been on the edge of things, by my own choice and state of denial.
It’s a cool place. Sticks will love it there, I think. Then I saw the bill. I know out of state tuition is more, but all I have to say is that my kid better find a way to prove himself an indispensable (and scholarshipped!) member of the undergraduate jazz community at IU, because NINE THOUSAND (yes, that’s THREE ZEROES) dollars a SEMESTER for tuition just gave my blood pressure a 40-point boost. That’s tuition alone. Not books, not extra fees associated with the jazz studies programs, not HOUSING. Just tuition.
We’ve saved some, but not that much. T’s got a cool original 1968 Pink Paisley Telecaster that he always said he’d save for Sticks’ college education. It was appraised about about a semester and a half’s worth, so maybe we can put it on eBay and get some buzz going. I am being facetious now, but there’s an edge of truth under it and we both know it.
Am I just in some kind of alternate reality? Are lots of parents seriously prepared for the cost of college for their kids, and if they happen to have one with lofty goals, how does that fit with whatever the parents have managed to save? We’ve been conservative, but in all seriousness, is anyone really prepared to confront an $18000/year for 4 year tuition bill, when they’re solidly in the middle class with other kids in the family?
We need a benefactor, like in the Victorian stories of the 19th century. The kindly, lonely rich person meets needy, talented poor person and funds their rise. All offers entertained.
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