Smart Pickins

Choosing a college takes me back about three years to the time when I was a single girl, not so much on the prowl as I was on the defense from unworthy guys. I had to keep my guard up. There were plenty of characters out there with cool quirks and yet even more with hidden ones.

I'll never forget the Brooklyn boy named Mike who took my girlfriend and I on an hour ride to Seaside. It was our first date, and he seemed like a "nice guy" until we got out of the car and were walking on the boardwalk. His Fred Flinstone body language reminded me of a territorial dog around its food dish. I felt like I had a permanent bodyguard adjoined to my hip and not one I paid, or even wanted. He pushed himself out and in front of me the entire time and tried to hold my hand, but things just didn't seem right. At the end of the night he won me a football with the Italian flag on it. Today it sits somewhere in my parent's room because they didn't like the idea of me throwing a perfectly good football in the trash.

Writing isn't just a hobby for me, it's an aspiration and a lifestyle, and I want to make it permanent. No starting things and forgetting about them, or even "making time" for writing. I want to write! Picking a school is very much like picking a partner. You need one that will nurture you when you feel uncertain and bring out your best. Most of all it needs to feel right. I know people who have gone off to school only to find it was the wrong fit, like the first date that couldn't be avoided to point out the flaw. Some things are just inevitable and enable you to learn and come into your own a little more. So if that's the way it goes, I'm glad in the love department it didn't take me too long to get it right.