Friday, April 4, 2008

The Search is Over!



My daughter is a high school senior and we've been in the midst of the Great College Search for over a year. It's been stressful, yet exciting. There are many things to consider when choosing a university - security and safety, tuition, financial aid, available majors, tuition, programs for study abroad, tuition, co-ed dormitories, tuition, and room and board costs. There were two schools on DD's A-List -- University of Virginia and Cornell University, and two schools on her B-List -- University of Maryland and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to the aforementioned important considerations (did I include tuition in that list?), I was looking for independent fabric stores in the cities and towns we visited. Yes. I really was.

UNC was the first campus we visited and at that time, I was too inexperienced to look for independent fabric stores in Chapel Hill or Durham. Silly me, I was only interested in my daughter's needs. University of Maryland had G-Street Fabrics about 30 minutes away (or 90 minutes, depending on the horrific Beltway traffic). But Maryland wasn't on the A-List, no matter how much I loved G-Street. My brother lives 30 minutes away from Cornell , and I got too involved in family fun to visit Homespun Boutique, although it sounds like I would have liked it. By the time we got to UVA, I wised up and made a point to visit Les Fabriques in Charlottesville, but I wasn't crazy about it.

Only a truly twisted avid sewist would throw fabric stores into an already dizzying mix of college criteria. My daughter made her decision without even considering the local fabric stores. (Did I bring the wrong baby home from the hospital?) Thanks to a generous partial scholarship (God is good!-- All the time!) it looks like she'll be going to Les Fabriques, I mean University of Virginia!

9 comments:

  1. wow,, how exciting, well, multitasking is always good IMO, lol, a little fabric, a visit to her on campus,, its all good, lol

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  2. awesome! best wishes for DD and you'll probably find some fabric gems in the area.

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  3. Well, I was going to push for College Park. But, it's hard to beat UVA! Congratulations and remember, G St is on the way south :)

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  4. Congratulations - that's a big decision, obviously influenced by many factors!

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  5. Congratulations! I remember this search...I just never thought to add fabric stores into the mix! What was wrong with me???

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  6. Wow, good school! And what a lovely campus. Nice work, Mom. (As the mother of a sophomore who will be looking at colleges soon enough, I know you deserve a lot of the credit here.)

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  7. Elaray, your daughter will be close to my neck of the woods. So when you make your visit, email me and maybe I will be able to make a trek to Charlottesville, about 2 hours away from me, but I love an excuse to go there! I have not been to Les Fabrique in a long time. Congrats on your daughter getting a scholarship, that is most helpful.

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  8. Thats funny! My 18 year old is house hunting in her University town. She emailed me excited about one place because "MOM - there is a Fabricland 2 minutes away"! She is funny!

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  9. Fabulous! Congrats for your daughter.
    and Ha, none of our 4 have gone anywhere where I can find fabric: Terre Haute IN, home of the #1 engineering school in the country but not even a yarn shop in the vicinity. Sault Ste Marie MI, not a chance, Athens GA, not any better. Columbia SC, I've found a wonderful yarn store there, but no fabric other than Joanns.

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