My business partner and the Executive Producer of Family Travel CK, Tricia Fusilero, and her family recently took a trip to the East Coast for a family reunion. On her way she checked out a few colleges with her son who is going to be a sophomore in high school. Here is her take on sneaking some college visits into their family vacation!
Written by Tricia, Executive Producer of #FamilyTravelCK I grew up on the east coast, but for college I wanted to break out of my comfort zone and experience the midwest. It was quite an adjustment as I recall, but at the end of my four years, I married my college sweetheart, and have happily remained a transplant ever since!
Our family vacation was the perfect opportunity to introduce my kids to the concept of attending college away from home. And since we would be passing right by some great colleges during our drive, it seemed like a good idea to stop by and visit a few along the way.
We drove from Chicago to Boston, a thousand long miles, with one stopover in Syracuse, NY. My son is a basketball fanatic, so a visit to Syracuse University was an easy choice. The campus was quiet, but we took a walk around the quad and peeked into the coliseum. The architecture was eclectic and we determined that the hills would be a good physical challenge for a collegiate athlete. We also took a good look at the surrounding neighborhoods and tried to get a sense of what it would be like to attend school in Syracuse. Overall, it was a good introduction to checking out college campuses and nice to just get a feel for a place.
When we arrived in Boston, it was hard to know where to start- the place is anything but quiet! Boston proper and the surrounding area has a stunning number of excellent choices for higher education: Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Boston University, Boston College, Brandeis, Northeastern, and Holy Cross, not to mention several all-women’s colleges such as Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Smith and Simmons. And that’s only a fraction of the schools! Just imagine the energy in the city when school is in session…it’s incredible!
First and foremost, we had to check out Harvard. The hustle and bustle around Harvard Square was electric! There were many shops and restaurants just across from the entrance into the quad at Harvard. There were people hanging out playing chess, snacking on local fare and visiting with one another, no doubt engrossed in highly intellectual conversations. It is, after all, Harvard. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much to see in the quad, but the kids did climb up the massive staircase of the library to pose for the inevitable photo op. It was a great one to add to the family album!
Our final stop on the college circuit was Boston College where we got quite the workout! The campus is divided into tiers, reached only by several sets of staircases. We took our time exploring BC and managed to get into several buildings including the student center, the basketball coliseum and last, but not least, the bookstore! The kids each selected a t-shirt and we also bought a pennant for their room.
All in all, incorporating some college visits into our family vacation went perfectly according to plan- my son fell in love with the idea of going to college on the East Coast. If he gets accepted, things will come full circle as can understand more about my old stomping grounds. Plus, we will have more excuses to visit New England!
