Katie Begins Her Brisbane Semester

    Yesterday, my daughter Katie arrived in Australia to begin her semester abroad at University of Queensland in Brisbane. We will be communicating primarily via Skype or iChat. After a good nights rest, I am happy to say Katie is quite upbeat about her visit. Yesterday, after a long couple of flights across several time zones, she was a little bit stressed out and punchy. She went to sleep at about 5:30 PM, and slept until about 7:00 AM. She is now out and about, exploring the city and picking up a few needed items. She met a british girl last night while fooling with the lobby computers, which had crappy internet. The British girl invited Katie to join her out and about today, perhaps going to the beach and taking in the scenery and getting a lay of the land. I am hoping the visit will be an all around success for education, experience, and lasting friendships.

    Katie started a blog about her Australia experience here.

Fight On!

It's official. Katie has chosen The University of Southern California for her College career. As soon as we walked in to the campus I could tell it was special.The school spirit was off the charts, and I know Katie likes that a lot. We toured the entire place. The student who was walking us through was really nice and helpful, which was cool. We sat in on a sample lecture on neuroscience, which was fascinating. The professor who was doing the lecture was extremely gifted, and he knew how to keep us interested. I was also happy to know that the classes are not super large. That was one of my concerns, but that is not the case. I am not a huge sports fan, but their little football team is supposed to be pretty good as well! It should prove to be a wonderful life experience for Katie. It's ironic that she is going to L.A., as it is where I grew up. Another benefit of Katie going there is that I get to visit quite a bit. Next up is the orientation sometime this summer. Away we go in to a new phase of life. I am happy for Katie, as well as a bit nervous about this big change. L.A. is a long way away, but she seems excited about going, and I am happy for her and excited for her as well.

The only problem is, being here in South Carolina, I have to be constantly telling people that the USC I am referring to is the other one. The real one (I kid, Gamecock fans). That should be fun.

MBHS ORCHESTRA HOLIDAY CONCERT 2007

Tonight was the 2007 Christmas concert for the Myrtle Beach High School Orchestra. Actually, there are three levels of the orchestra. Sixth grade, Seventh and Eighth Grade, and High School. Every level does its own little set, and then they all play a couple of songs together. This will be the last one for my daughter Katie and her senior friends, because of course they are on their way to bigger and better things.

Katie got accepted by Boston College today. That makes four schools so far (a few more are still not heard from yet);

• Boston College (scholarship info to come)
  
• Tulane (with some scholarship)
• Clemson (With some scholarship)
• College of Charleston Honors College (scholarships not awarded yet)

I can't tell you how proud I am of Katie. She has worked so hard, and has always been self-motivated; nobody is pushing her, but the girl is driven to excellence. She is well balanced as a young adult, and she has a wonderful, compassionate spirit. I think her future will be bright, indeed. She is up for valedictorian if she stays the course. I have every reason to believe that she will.

My niece, Taylor is in the orchestra as well. She is in eighth grade, and she is another brain! This kid is amazing too.

BOSTON

The girls and I are getting ready for a quick trip to Boston. Katie is interested in checking out Boston University, and Boston College. This is the first college exploratory trip (not counting when we were in LA over the Christmas break; We had a superficial scope-out of UCLA) we have embarked on. We'll be there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and we have a lot of things to cram into those days. I have never been to Boston or the Northeast in general, so I am keen to check it all out. I know there is a very vibrant music community up there, but I won't be able to see to much of that on this go-round. All I know is, if Katie does decide to and gets accepted by either of those schools, I'll have to sell a kidney or something! She is a fantastic student, so I'm sure things will work out whatever the case may be.

I'll keep you posted....