The important decisions made in college

Senior year of college, I had it figured out. I was going to be a big shot attorney.

I was choosing money over passion. But when I got an “A” from the toughest journalism teacher, I knew I had to take a different path. My journalist parents were not thrilled. They knew what I was in for. They knew that I’d be poor. “But Nikka,” they warned, “You’ll be driving a Dodge Neon for the rest of your life!”

But they were wrong. I had to sell my Dodge Neon to go to grad school…for journalism.

~Nikki Schwab, Friendship Heights

We would leave the house around 7:45 a.m., usually with less than a quarter tank in the car. I swear my dad did it on purpose just to get a rise out of me before I arrived at school. The conversation was always the same: his cheesy jokes, our bantering, my radio surfing, and what time I needed to be picked up after practice. Before I went off to college, I got a driver’s license — at 18. What took so long? Sports? Laziness?

My dad called the first week of college to tell me how much he missed our morning drives. Now I, too, realized why I had waited.

~Jacqueline McClure, Friendship Heights

Back to Feb. 28, 2007 Home