Overall Philosophy

FIRE Station Fun – Learning Independence

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Today is the day that our only child leaves for his freshman year of college.  It’s a big day that we’ve been looking toward since we brought him home as a newborn baby more than eighteen years ago.  It is with deeply mixed feelings that we send him off – happy to see him growing and getting to do amazing things, but also sorry to not be able to see him everyday while he is away at school.

To commemorate his leaving for university, I picked this quote to encourage him to immerse himself in the world’s knowledge and build experiences which will carry him successfully forward in his lifetime.  A life of independence comes from what we know and how we use our smarts and abilities to bring value to others.  His next four years at college will give him the opportunity to learn everything he needs to build the life of his dreams.

Here are a few posts I’ve written about how we’ve planned for his college since he was very young:  The College Paradox, Retire Before Children Head Off To College?, and advice I shared with him earlier about The Foolish Route To Millionaire Status.

Image Credit: Pixabay

 

 

16 thoughts on “FIRE Station Fun – Learning Independence”

  1. Understandably, mixed emotions indeed. I can feel it.
    It must be good to reflect on the last 18 years and all the milestones that, well, keep adding up. The journey continues and it’s all good.

    Hope you, your son and Mrs. FireStation can laugh, smile amid the mixed emotions of today.

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    1. Yes – every step is a big change: preschool, kindergarten, grade school, Jr. High, and high school. Our job as parents is to make ourselves obsolete. All you can do is savor each step!

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  3. That’s a great quote! Our daughter drove herself back to college – so we didn’t even do the “drop off” this year. And our son, who is a senior in HS just played his last “first game” of football last night. It is the first of the “lasts” for the two kids in public school. Definite mixed emotions. A friend left this quote on her FB page after leaving her child off at college for the first time – “There are two gifts we should give our children. One is roots.The other is wings.” Loved that too.

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    1. My wife mentioned that exact same quote yesterday! We like to think that we have given him strong roots, and are excited to see him develop his own wings.

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  4. I really like this quote. It’s very fitting even for us, we are a little too old for college but constantly improving knowledge and being willing to learn is definitely a trait of the successful.

    This quote also really affirms to me the decision we made recently for Tristan to do some grueling further education within his job. It’s definitely taking away time from us as a couple, but he is working hard to build up his knowledge – providing us more security and financial opportunities. Sometimes we gotta do hard stuff in the moment so “future us” can thank us later!

    Jasmin

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    1. Yes – as long as you are working hard for the “future us” you are working for the right people. They will thank you heartily when they realize all that you have done for them!

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  5. I have no idea how my parents felt when I went off to college. They most likely felt something along the lines of “finally!” Kidding aside, college was such a great time for me to learn as much as I can. Wouldn’t trade anything in the world for the full 4 year experience!

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    1. That’s true! Life at college was amazing. I am excited to see my own son enjoy it the way that I did. While we feel the loss of not having I am at our house while he is gone at college, you can’t help but feel great about where he is and what he gets to do. 🙂

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    1. Yes – it’s quite a big change. He is close to home, but it’s still odd for the house to be so quiet. Do you live in the Twin Cities?

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      1. I’ll bet it is. I don’t live there anymore, but I spent eight years receiving an education in Minneapolis. Go Gophers!

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      2. Cool. My son is going to the University of St. Thomas. He has a bunch of friends at the U of M, but it was ‘too big’ for him.

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      3. Great school! I had guessed that, based on a previous post. I tried direct messaging you on Twitter, I think. Will try that again.

        Cheers!
        -PoF

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