No Excuses: Going Away to School.

For me there was never a second choice, I grew up in Los Angeles, went to all the USC football games I never even applied to another school. So when my kids were born almost 20 years ago we started the process, they went to their first game when they were two, they had SC clothes and hat’s, birthdays and parties. It was a fore gone conclusion that this is where they were going to go, to carry on the family tradition.

The best laid plans, as they say! It was a beautiful fall day in October when our kids were juniors in high school and we decided to go to the USC - University of Arizona football game in Tucson. Unfortunately it was one of those perfect days, warm, kids as beautiful as could be in shorts throwing the football around on their grass walkway, the new architecture glowing in the sun. Two hours later one of my daughters proclaimed this is where she wants to go. Being as closed minded as I was I naturally thought she was talking about SC as we talked to some fellow Trojans walking by. My wife quickly corrected me by saying no honey she means here U of A.

About two months later my other daughter who was obviously the one that would keep the tradition going said dad I have decided I want to major in Apparel Merchandising I said great honey, she said that IU had the best program for that and that she wanted to visit…I said I Who? “Dad I want to go away to college and Indiana had the best school for what I want to study". So just kill me now, one kid at Arizona and one kid at IU and we were done having kids!

Now both kids (twins) are juniors in college and couldn’t be happier, they are no longer our little girls (yes they are) they are young women who can think and do for themselves. I can safely say that going away to school was the best thing they have ever done. They have learned to deal with the elements and I don’t just mean the weather. How to get from point A to point B without a car, how to kill a cock a roach in their room , how to take care of yourself when you aren’t feeling well and how to deal with problems when your parents are not around.

One of them will be travelling to Florence for her semester abroad and the other will visit while she is there. They both are entrenched in their career paths one in apparel merchandising the other in casting and both are on schedule to graduate on time. I couldn’t be happier or more proud of my kids and that’s because I learned to listen to them. I let them follow their own passion and intuition. Not everything always works out as well as this did and there have been road bumps along the way and several sleepless nights but when it’s all said and done they did it themselves and they now know they can handle what life has to throw at them. My grandfather always use to say, catch a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.  My kids have learned how to fish and to think I didn’t even want to get them a fishing pole!


Bill Barnett
CEO