Senior Year Box Set

“The reason I ask is that you’d be a perfect fit for our honors program for Letters and Science. A student needs 24 Honors credits. Of those, six must be in Social Science courses, six in Arts & Humanities, six in Natural Science, and six credits in an area or areas of your choice. These classes are much smaller, with maybe ten to twelve students in each. You’d be exposed to some of our brightest minds as teachers and students. It would give you a broad base that you could use as a jumping-off point for more focused studies moving forward,” Ms. Cardona explained.

I appreciated her taking the time to help clarify things for me. I looked over at my dad, who’d been quiet the whole time.

“Did I miss anything?” I asked.

“No. Your mom would approve, so we’re good.”

I knew he was right. I wasn’t going to get away with taking ‘Rocks for Jocks,’ even in college.

◊◊◊

Then we went back at the athletic department. Coach Bud was waiting for us.

“How’d the tour and academics go?” he asked.

“Which fraternity is the best one for us to join?” I asked.

Whack.

‘Ow!’ I complained after my dad smacked the back of my head.

“I hope you’re joking. Playing quarterback will be almost a full-time job,” Coach Bud shared.

“David will have time for his studies, though?” Dad asked.

“Oh, sorry. Yes. We provide tutors and all the help he’ll need. We take academics seriously.”

Nice save, not. Wolf, Tim, and I looked at each other, and I couldn’t help it. I began to laugh.

“Sorry. Dad now thinks we’ll be working out 24/7 and flunk out,” I explained.

“Maybe I should let the coaches explain it,” Coach Bud said, realizing the less he said at this point, the better.

When we met with the coaches, they said all the right things. I was reminded several times that Russell Wilson had graduated here and that they felt I would have an excellent path to the NFL if I committed to Wisconsin. I decided not to point out that Russell Wilson had graduated before this coaching staff took over the program.

Personally, that wasn’t a big worry for me. I figured if I had the talent, I could make my way to the NFL. Of course, some paths might be easier than others.

◊◊◊

When we were done, we took a tour of some Frank Lloyd Wright homes. The first was the John and Ruth Pew House. It was a private, single-family residence located along the shores of Lake Mendota in the Shorewood Hills neighborhood, built in 1937. It sat on a hillside that overlooked the lake. The two-story home had a large wooden balcony that wrapped around the exterior of the first story.

The living room had a large fireplace at one end of the room. It was interesting to see all the planks of wood that made up the ceilings and the bookshelves that were built in. It looked like the home was part of the landscape, and the floor-to-ceiling windows gave you a perfect view of the lake.

The second house we saw was the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House, which was located in Westmorland, and also built in 1937. Tim explained that this house was the purest and most famous application of Wright’s Usonian concepts. This was right at the end of the Great Depression, and Frank Lloyd Wright realized that housing had to change. He wanted to build homes that were affordable housing for middle-class families, and that would redefine how people thought of their living spaces. He tried to create houses that were tailor-made for the client and their individual needs, while at the same time making them practical and functional.

The home was made of brick and wood. I liked how he had floor-to-ceiling windows for views and to let sunlight in but placed smaller windows high up towards the ceiling to allow for more wall space.

I gave our side trip high marks. Tim had gotten to see what he wanted, and I learned some things.

◊◊◊

On the way home, the three of us compared notes. While we gave Wisconsin a score of 8 out of 10, it was eliminated as a possible destination because they didn’t have a school of architecture. Tim said if we still decided to go, he could make it work by taking engineering classes, so we left the door open slightly.

The goal of these trips was to eliminate programs, and we’d just eliminated the first one.

We all got onto social media and thanked our hosts for a wonderful experience and said nice things about them. There was no need to burn any bridges at this point.

It did seem that our not including one university in our visits had gotten their attention. Caryn sent me a picture of the recruiting letters I received from the University of Kentucky on Saturday. I was impressed they’d sent 25. She sent a stack from this week, and I was glad I wasn’t the one getting buried in mail. This recruiting business was getting to be nuts.

◊◊◊

Chapter 6 – Something That Won’t Get Me Fired Monday September 5