Vision

We're home from #Rhodescollege, 3/4 of us.  Older Daughter's a collegian now, matriculated, relocated, moved in, convocated, and launched on a whirlwind of pre-class meet-&-greets and other activities designed to implant a sense of belonging to a community of service-oriented young scholars. Rhodes scholars, though not that Rhodes. Not yet anyway.

Music prof Thomas Bryant gave the convocation address, wandering between lectern and piano, challenging the class of '17 to "make your mark" as Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert did. Wish I could do that, punctuate words with chords. But I can wander, at least.

While moms and sisters unpacked and organized the dorm Thursday morning, we dads were sent away to supervise the house lounge. But it was too nice outdoors to hold me there. And in fact I would have wandered the campus in any weather. It's just what I do.

And so it was that I came upon the impressive Rhodes "vision":

"Rhodes aspires to graduate students with a lifelong passion for learning, a compassion for others, the ability to translate academic study and personal concern into effective leadership and action in their communities and the world."

That's marvelously Deweyan. If they mean it, Older Daughter has come to the right place.

They sent me wandering again later, and that's when I found Shelby Foote's old place on East Parkway, down and across from Overton Park. More on his "lifelong passion for learning" later, right now I'm going for another wander. Then I'm going to finish watching Shelby's 3 hour C-Span marathon from 2001.