It was New Year’s Day and a heavily rainy morning when we woke up bright and early to get ready for our first trip in 2022. We were driving from Campbellsville, KY, to Atlanta, Georgia, to visit the campus of Georgia Tech, one of the highest-ranking universities for engineering programs in the U.S.. We realized several years ago that we needed to visit some university campuses with Jacob to help him make decision about which college program and environment would interest him. We would also go on a few official campus tours with him whenever possible. Atlanta is notorious for its traffic gridlock, so we thought New Year’s Day would be a perfect day to enter the city, as many people would not drive that day due to hang-over from their celebratory New Year’s Eve.
After Atlanta, we would drive on to near the border of Georgia and Florida to stay the night in Tifton, GA. From Tifton, we would drive to Winter Haven, Fl, the next day. We stayed in Winter Haven for two nights because we wanted to take the boys to visit Legoland before driving on to our final destination of Cocoa Beach, Florida. We chose Cocoa Beach for our beach vacation this year because it is a family-friendly spot which happens to be only 15 minutes away from Kennedy Space Center and not so far away from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach — another college campus we wanted to visit on this trip.
We were fortunate to leave the house during one of the intervals between the downpours. As luck would have it, we drove in clear weather all the way from Kentucky through Tennessee to Atlanta. The streets of Atlanta were almost deserted when we drove to Georgia Tech campus. What an auspicious day for traveling!
It was a great relief for our poor cramped legs that we alighted from our car to walk around Georgia Tech’s campus for one hour. Although we like our road trips a good deal, we somehow never quite get used to spending a lot of time confined in a car. Part of the reason is that we don’t drive much on a daily and weekly basis thanks to living in a small town. By car, David’s office is only three minutes away; both Kroger locations are less than five minutes away; the post office is roughly four minutes away; the boys’ school is about three minutes away; and our church is a mere one-minute drive.
Some background information about Georgia Tech
The Georgia School of Technology opened its doors in 1888 to 84 students, signaling the agrarian South’s transformation to an industrial economy. It grew from a narrowly focused trade school to a regionally recognized technological university during its first 50 years. As the school grew to focus on advanced technological and scientific research, its name was changed to Georgia Institute of Technology in 1948. Women students were admitted in 1952. In 1961, Georgia Tech was the first university in the Deep South to admit African American students without a court order.
Today, with a student body of 40,000 strong, Georgia Tech is ranked #4 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs nationwide, and all of its graduate engineering programs rank in the top 10. It is situated on a 400-acre green campus in the heart of Atlanta, which would naturally provide concerned parents like us some causes for worry, since Atlanta is a very crowded, bustling city with many traffic delays and a complicated urban environment. On the plus side, seemingly, abundant in campus rites and rituals, Georgia Tech is steeped in tradition with 400 student organizations and 50 Greek organizations. With 20 intramural sports and 43 sports clubs, the University boasts one of the best outdoor year-round recreation programs in the country.
During our walk, as we were wondering if Georgia Tech provides any spiritual support to Catholic students, we came across the Catholic Center. The chaplain and another person walked out of the building when we neared its door and said Hi to us. They were on their way to the parking lot.
Thank you for reading! We hope everyone enjoys a good and safe 2022.
David and Lam 