Catherine

Comments:

• SCAD was a school my now art-school-dropout considered. We completed the difficult task of selecting colleges during the pandemic, when no in-person school tours were occurring and many schools had no in-person classes. Many dorms were closed as well, complicating the "off to college" experience. I felt the process was a crapshoot for my twins, despite my own work in higher education and years of preparation. We endured further complications, like the government revising FASFA (no more "discount" on family contribution for having multiple students in college at the same time), and the University of California ending consideration of standardized test scores in admissions decisions (diminishing my teens' chances, with good SATs but a negative impact on their GPAs after my spouse's unexpected death in their second year of high school.) Further research may indicate many irrational decisions were made in those selection years. Over the coming generation we'll see what impact, if any, that lack of rationality created, though the passage of time and the piling on of additional variables could mask effects on this cohort of young adults of the pandemic and institutional decisions on school closures. I repeatedly told the kids not to worry, just try for a good choice, and do their best. That their choice could be changed later (at a cost of course, to them and to me.) That nearly all accredited institutions of higher education will provide a good higher education... An earlier comment recommended the government's College Scorecard website, an excellent resource for parents and interested students. https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ I've had lots of time to consider the art school paradox. It really comes down to what "truly matters". While the secretary of education might believe the point of college is "...delivering value and upward mobility", that is a modern notion. Especially if "value" includes intangibles. And the idea of a college degree delivering upward mobility hinges on the goal of college education for a particular segment of America's youth (and families who will also benefit from their upward mobility). I can think of plenty of people who would be happy simply to avoid any further downward mobility. Art schools allow creative people to learn more about the act and outcomes of their efforts, spending most waking hours with other creatives. Even if my youngster did not graduate, they were able to meet people and live in a big city on their own at an early age. Indelible memories and amazing pieces of work. Leaving art school early meant a big reduction in the overall cost of attending college with virtually no hit to future earnings. They have now moved on to a full-time job and night classes at community college (which they are paying for themselves) toward finishing their undergraduate education. Whenever they head to an art supplies store for raw materials I get excited, because each work they create makes my world a more beautiful and inspiring place. This is one value of art education. If I'm not inspired, what's the point of life? If I can be surrounded by beauty, how lucky I am. Ron Lieber's The Price You Pay for College was the most helpful book I read. Three possibly distinct goals for college education in the minds of students: fun, a career, learning. Unsurprising that the most popular major where my other twin will complete her undergraduate education next May is also the one with the highest immediate salary. But that is not her major, and I hope that she will make the best possible use of career services to find a good first job after graduation. Regardless, I know her four years (and her sibling's too) have contributed to her "formation" as an educated person, ready to engage in a world that's vastly different than the one I graduated into. Both are college-debt free.

  Post: Ranking Colleges

  Link to comment from October 3, 2024

• From the linked Telegraph story list of "small, inexpensive pleasures": "corresponding with my website’s writers and readers..." Yea! We make your list of pleasures at this difficult time. Thank you for this gift to us. I'm a better person for reminders like yours, to follow my New Year's resolution (renewed each New Year's Eve) of "Offer no unsoliticited advice." Thanks as well for some ongoing work on HumbleDollar. I'm glad you include this in your list of what is, for you, remains important and fun.

  Post: Anybody Listening? by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 27, 2024

• for the budget conscious, nothing better than Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite Valley. Many happy memories of the beautiful Merced River reflecting Half Dome and the rest of the valley.

  Post: First Place by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 6, 2024

• I agree with the sentiment to avoid naming places which could fall prey to the experience-craving hordes. That said, I suggest spending a day and night in the Sonoran Desert. At least a few hours! Could fit others’ suggestions in, like by making a visit to Saguaro National Park (East or West, no crowds in summer). Visit a sky island, too, whether Mount Lemmon or Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains (these two are overcrowded but there are many others.) Get out of the car and walk some. (I have a sticker on my fridge, it says “Hike while you can”.) Sit in a quiet space and reflect on the lives, man and beast, short and long, that have ever shared this spot for a sip of water after rain or a moment of shade from a pitiless sun. Taking my own advice today, will arrive at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum when it opens at 7:30 am, walk the mile-long desert loop (twice), sit with locals for coffee on the veranda and return home well before noon. Maybe I’ll have a sociable late lunch at the nearest biker bar, a burger and a cool adult beverage before hunkering down through the heat of the afternoon like the creatures with whom I share my back yard. Then a quick walk with the family dog around our 55-plus community before it gets too dark to see and harder to avoid things I’d rather not run into. My favorite book of the moment is A Field Guide to Desert Holes. I’ll ask a museum docent today what they think might have dug the new big hole under the prickly pear along the dog walk behind my immobile home. (Not that I’ll necessarily know who’s inside today, one digs, another borrows.) It’s darn easy to “live in the moment” when the moment might include sighting a rattlesnake crossing the road a few yards ahead. (And the punchline is indeed “To get to the other side.”) When I head north to the big family home this fall, I’ll walk in wonder about how easy life is along my town’s tree-shaded avenues. And be grateful, while planning a speedy return to the desert.

  Post: First Place by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 6, 2024

• Thanks! Every day an adventure here. The search for a place is at least half the fun,..

  Post: My Dream Hideaway

  Link to comment from August 29, 2024

• Thanks! For sure I'll be writing more about this.

  Post: My Dream Hideaway

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• Thanks! Helped a lot by your (and others) writings on home ownership and vacation homes, second homes, etc. All on HumbleDollar. https://humbledollar.com/2024/01/making-our-move/ https://humbledollar.com/2020/09/paradise-lost/

  Post: My Dream Hideaway

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• Thanks for the good ideas, very helpful. I've headed south earlier than the snowbirds, my young adults at home back in school/work. I'm tentatively planning to stay for the late summer & early fall, with projects leftover from last spring, then spend the fall leaf season and holidays with the kids. (I said I'd be gone "between three days and two months".) Here in Tucson, I'm figuring which places where the dog can/can't go (like now, in the summer, dogs are allowed at the Tucson Botanical Garden) and finding a good place to drop him off for a few hours or overnight to do things he can't. There's something called the Loop which might be that bike trail you mentioned? I am thoroughly enjoying the friendly people here. And the terrific scenery.

  Post: My Dream Hideaway

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• Thanks!

  Post: My Dream Hideaway

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• So... the revenge of the trust! My grandfather (a lawyer who worked for a bank) became annoyed with my dad near the end of his life (Maybe for a long time before, I don't know, I was a kid and not paying much attention to whatever their disputes might have been.) First everything went to my grandmother and then when she died, the trust kicked in and it was divided equal shares between my father and his three children (the grandchildren). It didn't come to us right away. There was a drizzle of cash, and then the trust dissolved and the remainder was distributed. On my dad's * 60th * birthday. I guess my granddad thought my dad would be acting like a "grown up" by then. The youngest of the grandkids was 28 at the time, so right in the ballpark of the numbers being suggested in this forum. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was a guilty pleasure watching my dad squirm a bit as his own dad showcased an opinion on his son's character long after he himself had gone to his reward. In my planning, I'm leaning the other way, also as suggested here. Looking for early interventions in career building and education, maybe some help with a small first home, given the young uns seem sensible and seem to avoid shysters and con artists and get rich quick schemes. Plus I'm hoping to support local charities where a small bequest means more... No major foundation money here, just Humble Dollars.

  Post: Connor asks – How young is too young to receive an inheritance?

  Link to comment from August 26, 2024