We moved Jacob into his dorm room in Florence Schneider Hall in The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science on a beautiful mid-August day a month ago. We were grateful that the weather was unusually nice that whole day for that time of year in Bowling Green. The normal temperature range there for mid-August is in the 90s-degree Fahrenheit; however, on that particular day it was only as warm as 74-degree Fahrenheit during our time slot in the early afternoon to move Jacob in. Superstitiously, we thought that was an auspicious sign indicating good things to come during his time at the Academy. As parents whose first-born child was about to leave his cozy, protective family fold for the first time ever, we could really use a good sign from above.

We were ready for this next phase in our family life together. Having stayed home with Jacob for most of his childhood and adolescence up to that point, I felt ready to let go a little bit so that he can become more focused on working on his future. One of Jacob’s priorities at Gatton Academy is to find out which discipline of science he wants to specialize in from undergraduate onwards. I am happy that I had always been there to meet him every time he came home from the school bus since kindergarten. Furthermore, having traveled a lot together as a family up to this summer, we had spent such sweet and adventurous family time that we feel little regret about not seeing Jacob on a daily basis for a while. We are still focused on Jacob’s well-being and academic progress; however, we’re definitely changing our method of doing so from a distance. To get ready for the move, we created a parents’ purchase checklist and had Jacob create his to-do list. One of the to-do items for Jacob was to package his daily vitamin supplements into small Ziploc bags so that he remembers to take them after dinner in his dorm room.

We woke up that Tuesday morning in good spirit, ready to make things happen and to take this big leap into the unknown. Jacob was in a very good mood the previous day, bouncing around and making music with his harmonica while packing up his clothes and personal items into two large suitcases. After spending some time together with our plants in the morning sun on the front porch, David and I proceeded to lay out everything Jacob’s taking with him next to the front door.

And then the car was packed up thanks to David and Jacob.

On the way to Bowling Green, we played Jacob’s favorite music for him on the car’s stereo (David Bowie, The Chieftains and Johnny Cash’s Highway Man). We had such a fun time on that pleasant car ride talking and joking about all sorts of things. I feel that Jacob enjoyed a good, light-hearted send-off for one hour and half on the road from Campbellsville to Bowling Green.

On arrival in Bowling Green, we went to Thai Thai restaurant for lunch. We usually eat here whenever we spend time in Bowling Green. The boys love their spicy Sriracha beef fried rice, and David and I enjoy their spicy Northeastern Thai dishes, duck noodle soup as well as various curry dishes. The waitresses there come from Thailand and Burma and are very friendly to the customers.

For dessert, we checked out the local Rita’s Italian Ice, a franchised Italian ice and custard restaurant we had discovered and enjoyed in the Northeast and New England. The owner of Bowling Green’s Rita Italian Ice is from Pennsylvania, and we told him we had stayed in Bedford and drove high up through the mountains of Pennsylvania on our way to New Jersey this summer. When he told us he had been missing the beautiful mountains of his home state, we immediately knew exactly why. We enjoyed tremendously the long, scenic, and partly foggy drive in high altitude through the mountains of Pennsylvania from Bedford, PA, to Princeton, NJ. I remember going through many tunnels and stunning mountainous landscapes for a long time before we got to Philadelphia.

When we pulled into Gatton Academy, the Academic Coordinator Sam Earl directed our car to an available parking spot right in front of Florence Schneider Hall, and then he and a couple of seniors helped us unload. All of us, including James, and they took all our things to Jacob’s room on the fourth floor in an efficient manner. We then proceeded to unpack the suitcases and put everything in place. Jacob’s roommate had already moved in earlier and was playing his video games at his desk. James immediately eyed and took stock of all the video game apparatus and the comfortable gaming chair enjoyed by Jacob’s roommate.

Jacob lives in the North wing of the fourth floor in Florence Schneider Hall.

There are four floors in Florence Schneider Hall and each floor has two separate wings for boys and girls. There is a Residential Counselor for each wing. The North wing’s RC Jacob Bowen is a WKU graduate student and a Gatton alum. After helping Jacob unpack and put things away, David and I took turns talking to and filling out a form with his RC who was sitting in the lounge area at the end of the Hall.

Jacob’s room is conveniently situated between the lounge area where he can refill his water bottle and watch some TV and the laundry room. At the other end of the hall is the den, a recreation center, and the elevator.

After Jacob’s room had been tidied and his bed made, we all went downstairs to say goodbye before David, James and I drove back home to Campbellsville. I was glad I had had a hefty, spicy and tasty bowl of duck noodle soup followed by coconut Italian ice earlier since the whole move-in process and chaotic atmosphere did demand all the energy generated from my lunch and dessert. Jacob did not want a lengthy goodbye process and was impatient to go back to his room to get settled in. Dr. Christopher “Pokey” Bowen, one of the counselors, helped us take our family photo.