Bing Bong Decisions Have Been Made

Buds, Yessa, and I were up and out at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, headed for an "Admitted Students'" visit day at Binghamton University. Yessa wanted a chance to walk around campus, knowing she had been accepted to attend here, to see how it felt.

It was a rainy, rainy day, and it stayed that way the whole time. Yessa started out the drive for us, and then she and I switched with about an hour left so she and Buds could lay out the plan for the day. The University uses an app called "Guidebook" so that Yessa could see all the available options for sessions and set reminders as she chose.

Despite the down pouring rain, from the very beginning, it felt like a magical sort of day. As we walked in the doors of the event center to get checked in and wander through the Student Services Fair, we were greeted by friendly, kind, welcoming staff and students. So many Binghamton people were there to help and direct and encourage.

At the Student Services Fair Yessa stopped and chatted with people at several booths, including the Transfer Student table where she had an informative visit with Kathleen, a transfer student and Psychology undergrad, who is now working toward her MSW. She gave Yessa her contact information so she could ask any follow up questions she wanted and gave Yessa clues on how to get into psychology research as a research assistant in areas that interested her.

The support for transfer students at Binghamton is top notch, as we would continue to learn throughout the day.

After much talking at the student services fair, we had to hustle our way across campus for a campus tour. We made our way into what we thought was the correct building, but it turned out we needed to go to the building next door. A wonderfully kind custodian beckoned us over and said she didn't want us to go out into the rain again, so she would show us the back way through the building. She led us down corridors and up some stairs to an elevator door and explained which floor to use to get to where the tours would begin.

The elevator doors opened, and there was a professor inside, with her doggo that we got to visit with. He was a little mutt with a tufty mop of black and white hair atop his head. He definitely thought we were there for his entertainment, and we were sorry when he exited the elevator a floor below where we were headed.

Our campus tour was headed up by a fun, insightful senior from Brooklyn who carried on with great spirit and stories despite the pouring rain that soaked us to the skin throughout the couple miles we trekked around campus.

This was our 3rd time touring campus, and it begins to feel familiar in parts.

With housing applications due soon, for students who choose to commit, we took lots of pictures so both Buster and Yessa would have memory jogs to help with later decisions.

After the tour, we were ready for a bite to eat. We chose Hinman's dining hall since we knew where to find it, and they had vegan options. The dining hall meals are heavily subsidized, which is another bonus of living on campus.

We had a little time before the Transfer Student Seminar and tour of the apartments on campus, so we headed to the library. This when our next magical moment happened.

We had heard that the 3rd floor had been renovated, and we wanted to explore it a little. As we stepped into the library lobby, a young fellow stepped in front of us to ask if we were on campus for the student visit day. When told we were, he launched into an impromptu commercial that the admissions office would have gladly paid him for. He was a transfer student, having started at UConn and hated it. He loves Binghamton. Loves, loves, loves it. "You should definitely come here," he assured Yessa.

He was headed to the 3rd floor for his MCAT studying, and offered to show us the way. We spent more time in the elevator with him answering questions and talking about how comfortable he felt at Bing. His sister's a freshman psychology major there, too, having listened to his expressions of love at home.

After he left us, it felt like a whirlwind had swept over us, twirling us about. My family believed him to be sincere, but wondered a little if he might have been dared (or paid) to show us such love so unexpectedly. I told them they had just met a true extrovert, and I could fully understand his enthusiasm.

We explored the beautiful 3rd floor for awhile, and Yessa began to imagine herself studying here, as she does so often on the 3rd floor of the MCC library.

MCAT guy and his gushing took up a little extra time, so we had to scurry our way to the Transfer Student Session, already in progress. Lots of great information and many questions answered here.

The person in the bottom left corner in glasses is the MSW student that Yessa chatted with at the Student Services Fair. Already getting to know people.

The session ended with buses taking us up to tour the Apartment Complex, which we had never had the chance to see before. Transfer students are often housed here, so we were very interested to take a look.

These apartments have a very similar arrangement to Monkey's place at MCC. Single rooms with 4-6 people, sharing multiple bathrooms, a living room, and kitchen.

After our tour, Yessa and I chose to take the bus back to campus, while Buds decided to walk down to see how long it would take.

We decided to visit the bookstore, and then Yessa received an email from the university letting all the students know that if they committed today, they would receive a free t-shirt.

"What do you think?" we asked her?

"Let's go to Admissions!" she replied.

A little paperwork, a little payment, and we were ready to pick up her $350 t-shirt!

While she was deciding, we called Buster at home and asked if he was ready for us to go ahead and pay his deposit, too.

Free t-shirts for everyone!

We had a little detour when Buds was sure he knew a shortcut back to the car, but passing through the Theater Arts building was exciting and inspiring.

We had one last stop on campus for Yessa to tour inside the East Gym. As this magical day would have it, MCAT guy and his sister were finishing up a workout and recognized us as we passed them on the stairs inside the gym. Small world, big opportunities.

Quick stop at a little coffee shop downtown, and then back on the road to deliver Buster's t-shirt.

It was a glorious day as we move forward to their next grand adventure. So very excited for both of them, and pretty grateful we'll only have to manage the academic calendar for one college away from home and one college locally next year.

Go Bearcats!