College News!

As I alluded to in my previous post, we have some college news to report. Abbie has decided to attend Rice University in the fall! We are all very excited about it. It is a great school with a gorgeous campus and a great food scene.

Owl Days

Her friend Blake will also attend Rice, so she will know one person on campus. That is plenty for her, though, she doesn't want to see a bunch of kids from her high school at college. Last week the school hosted Owl Days, an event for all admitted students. She and I drove to campus so she could spend the day attending the events and meeting people. As perhaps you can imagine, Rice runs like a well-oiled machine, so they had everything planned out in meticulous detail. And, all of the students there are very friendly and happy to help.

O-week (i.e., freshman orientation) runs from August 18th - 24th, so we already have a move in date. Then, classes start Monday, August 26th. Between now and then, she needs to figure out what she is bringing with her versus leaving at home. The summer break will go quickly, though, as she is planning to spend much of it in MN.

For those who may be curious about Abbie's other college options, here is the complete list of outcomes.

Accepted - UVA, UCSD, Wake Forest, Rice, Georgetown, Scripps, Smith, and Fordham

Wait-listed - Cornell, Northwestern, Wellesley, Michigan, and UCLA

Rejected - Princeton, Williams, North Carolina, UT-Austin, Berkeley, Pomona, and Bowdoin

Now that college is decided, the big issue is dealing with the inevitable Senioritis. She just has a few more weeks before AP exams, but she is ready to be done! The time is going quickly though. They had senior skip day a couple weeks ago, tomorrow is senior walkout, next Monday is the senior cap & gown parade, the week after that they have senior sunrise, then comes cap decorating, and ultimately graduation is on May 17th - not long now!

Prom 2024

Abbie had her senior prom a couple of weeks ago. It was a busy day. She worked in the morning and then picked up her prom dress that afternoon (talk about last minute). Her friend Vivian helped her get ready and then we met up with her for pictures beforehand.

Group Photo

She ended up going with another girl in her grade who also didn't have a date. Of course, about two hours after they made plans, one of the guys asked Abbie to be his date. She would have preferred this, but also didn't want to back out on the other girl. In hindsight, she wished she had backed out because the other girl turned out to be a bit of a buzzkill, which is a shame. Here are a few photos from the evening.

Abbie & Allie

Chem Lab Assistants

Abbie & Blake

You may recognize Blake in the photo above. He was Abbie's Homecoming date a couple years ago. He is also one of the chemistry lab assistants. You may wonder why they are holding their hands out in the photo. Those are the Rice Owl Wings, but more about that in the College post!