The college process with your first one is a strange kind of parenting chapter. Applications. Deadlines. Programs that sound right on paper and feel different in person. Campuses that look one way in a brochure and another way once you walk them. Opportunities that matter, and a long list of colleges that are all genuinely good. You want to help. You want to guide. You want to make the uncertain part easier. And then you remember they are not little anymore. They are becoming an adult, and this decision is partly theirs to carry. So you do what you can. You ask better questions. You listen more than you talk. You drive to the visits. You stay up with the forms. You remind them that the “right” college is less about the name and more about where they will grow. The advice I keep coming back to is simple. Be a good person, stick to your manners. Listen and learn. Have empathy and show respect. Stay curious. Be confident, but stay humble. The rest has a way of sorting itself out. And if ...