While kid #1 recently finalized his college situation, kid #2 is just starting to think about future plans.
So we headed up to Kansas State University with Zach and a friend who was also interested in K-State. Neither of the boys have an idea of what they want to study, so we listened to the College of Arts of Sciences presentation, which has an “open option” for those who are still deciding their career path. Here’s a program that perked our interest.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to study something out of Harry Potter? We also heard there was a “Harry Potter Great Room” in the library, but we didn’t get to see it this time.
The boys read their folder of information while we waited for the presentation to start.
Of course we had to get a picture with Willie.
By the way, if you go back to your college campus 30 years later, it makes you feel ancient. 😩
The outside appearance of the campus buildings haven’t changed much, it’s what’s on the inside that has. The Union has a nice outside area with places to hang out and a 3 story parking garage. The huge “dining area” where we used to gather in between classes is gone and replaced with a super cool area with restaurants, a coffee shop, Chick-Fil-A and Call Hall ice cream.
Of course we had to get ice cream. They boys tried the signature “purple pride” ice cream which is blueberries and cream. The other is mint chocolate chip.
There’s sleek “privacy” chairs, complimentary charging stations, and ample places to “plug in” or use a public computer.
The dorm rooms looked about the same, but the dining area looked like a fancy restaurant buffet, and three dorm halls were connected by skywalks instead of tunnels in the basement (at least that’s what I remember!)
We ate at Rock-A-Belly deli, which seemed about the same. Some of the places in Aggieville I remember, but I’m sure the inside of them look different.
As we drove up to Manhattan, Zach remarked that we drove by Fort Riley. I said yes, what’s with Fort Riley? He remembered that’s where the Spanish Flu started in 1918. Why this matters is because we are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the early months of COVID, scientists were comparing COVID to the Spanish Flu, and that’s where we learned that Fort Riley was it started in the United States.
Related: Everyone was required to wear masks on the visit. It’s been over a year since COVID has been part of our life now. 😷
On the tour, I noticed there were not a lot of students on campus. Our tour guide said K-State has hybrid classes right now. Most large lecture classes are online, because there wouldn’t be a way to social distance in those classes. The smaller labs or speciality classes can be in person.
One Kansas Girl 