Vienna's Going to Reed

I'm delighted to announce that Vienna plans to attend Reed College this fall. While she received a number of other invitations, her two serious choices were UC Santa Cruz and Reed. It was a tough call. UCSC has virtues of physical beauty and proximity to friends and loved ones. The cost is pretty reasonable, too. Then there's Reed. It's distant enough to require a plane ticket, an overnight train, or an all day road trip; it's notoriously rigorous (Steve Jobs is a famous Reed drop-out); and it's insanely expensive. Oh, and Loren Pope describes Reed in Colleges that Change Lives as "the most intellectual college in the country."

Vienna is completing the full International Baccalaureate program, and now she's stepping up to an even greater challenge. Her reading list for the intro Humanities course is a massive survey of Greek and Roman thought that would intimidate any graduate student. And she'll be required to write a senior thesis that is master's worthy. But the 10 to 1 student-faculty ratio, the chances for international travel, and a community of brilliant learning-fanatics will be everything that Vienna deserves.

So after two tours and plenty of sleepless nights, she's decided to head for Oregon. No doubt, plenty of challenges await: personal, academic, and financial. It won't be easy. But Vienna weighed the pros and cons, struggled mightily with her decision, and made the call. Our daughter's going to Reed.