Terrie Reed

Dear Prospective St. Mary’s Family,

My son is a quiet independent soul who is very picky about what he eats, what he wears, and who he hangs out with.  He likes to play baseball and fish, but, otherwise, is not an avid outdoorsman.  When we visited St. Mary’s College of Maryland I was the one who fell in love with the free check-out of kayaks.  In fact I offered to bring down my kayak to go boating with him.  This was one of those ideas that resulted in a puzzled look of horror, “Can she really be thinking she is going to bring down her kayak on MY campus?”  Given that he is not an avid outdoorsman and he could easily be impressed by a small, low-key atmosphere it was with some trepidation that I sent him off for his first semester at this small school on the Bay.

To my delight my son has made a perfect adjustment to St. Mary’s College.   It has turned out to be an academic setting he really enjoys and is proud to attend.  He comes home occasionally to see his old band buddies, but he rarely calls home for a reassuring talk.  One of the most striking things he said to me during his first semester was, “they don’t allow people who aren’t nice to be at St. Mary’s.  Even the professors enjoy being there.”  Thinking back at my first semester at the 30,000+ campus population at the University of Illinois I was stunned by this statement.  I barely knew anyone, spent most of my time adjusting to campus logistics, and didn’t get the sense that people were there to help me.  It gives me great comfort to know that Jacob enjoys campus life and has easily made new friends.  It makes learning so much easier as is demonstrated by the fact that he made the Dean’s List and is already planning for his junior trip studying abroad.  While St. Mary’s is not for everyone, I encourage those with discriminating taste to spend some time checking out the academics and the people.

Sincerely yours,

Terrie Reed
tzreed@mac.com

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