Charger Nation here comes Tate

 Tate applied to 7 schools, all early action, from Virginia to Massachusetts. And he got into all 7. He knew by November which his top 3 were- Salem State, Curry College and Univ of New Haven. 

We had done a ton of research before he applied to each school to make sure each was a good fit for him. Because what I'd read was that even though you can get in, that doesn't mean you will fit in. Tate knew what he wanted in a school and the 7 he picked fit the bill. And his top 3 were all great choices.

We decided that after Christmas break, we'd start doing a deep dive into each of the 3 top schools and Brian and I quickly decided that when compared to  UNew Haven and Salem State, Curry should be ruled out. It took Tate a bit to get on board with that, but he eventually saw the light and narrowed down the list to his top 2. 

From there, we helped him find all the answers, but told him the decision was his to make. And it was HARD! While they both offer his degree, they are very different schools. UNew Haven has one of the top Criminal Justice programs in the country, while graduating from Salem State would leave him debt free. Two factors that were definitely leading a lot of our discussions. 

Because we'd known about all the acceptances for so long, I thought i'd be best to give Tate the deadline of making his decision by his birthday. And while it didn't seem possible in even February while we waited for the financial cost of attendance piece with the delayed FAFSA, the stars aligned by early March and Tate had all the info he was going to get. 

We told him to make his decision!

The week of his birthday he said he would be ready to tell us on his birthday. That morning we woke up and I was begging to share the decision. He said he would tell us "tonight."  Then "tonight" rolled around, as we were about to open presents, and he said he would tell us after presents. UGH! 

Okay it's time. Presents are done. And the decision is....

Well, let me back up. As he is opening his gifts from the Leadbetters, one of them is a tshirt from the Univ of New Haven! Seeing that brought tears to my eyes. Mostly because I know how close they will be to him if he were to go there and that brings me such piece of mind. He really seemed to like the shirt and I quickly added "well, even if you don't go there it's great to have swag from there too."

Okay, decision time:

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN!

Do you see those smiles above? Tate was so giddy with excitement when he told us. He admitted that it was a super hard choice and he didn't fully commit to UNew Haven until that morning when he woke up. He decided while still laying in bed on the morning of his 18th birthday. He added that seeing the UNew Haven shirt from the Leadbetters just solidified the choice he had made. 

We quickly called Sara to tell her the exciting news and it was such a sweet phone call! Since then both she and Chris have continuously made it clear to Brian and I how delighted they are that Tate will be their new +1. It was always listed in our legal documents that should anything happen to us, both Tate and Macy would go to them. How crazy that Tate is now an adult and they will be stepping into the role of surrogate parent for us! 

So come fall, Tate will be a University of New Haven Charger. He will major in Criminal Justice with a concentration in  Investigative Services. Their mascot is Charlie the Charger, who is a medieval war horse. While I don't love the mascot, I do like the school colors. Mascot or school colors, I guess you don't actually pick a school based on those facts. Nor do you pick it on Coke vs Pepsi campus either. 

What a process this has been. I absolutely remember the first "college meeting" that Tate and I had the fall of his junior year, sitting outside on our back patio, when I explained that we had no money for a "college doula" like some people use, but that I had the time and desire to fill that role for him- if he worked alongside me. We did it!