It’s Thanksgiving and I’m Thankful

This year for the first time, my husband and I are spending Thanksgiving alone. Planning Thanksgiving for two is a whole different ballgame, and not dusting off the good china has given me the opportunity to reflect on how much we have to be thankful for, even if we're not spending the holiday weekend with the kids.

Alex decided to stay in Tucson because Friday is the Territorial Cup, the annual Arizona-Arizona State rivalry game. This year it's in Tucson. Since it will be the one time in his four years of college that students can attend in Tucson, he and his friends are all sticking around for the weekend. After all that they've missed out on the past few years, who could say no? Gabi likewise stayed in Chicago to participate in some traditions there with friends and to head to Michigan for some cousin time. And we're not exactly suffering: we're in central Oregon looking out at Mt Bachelor, hiking under sunny skies, watching the World Cup and catching up on reading and leisure time. And thinking about the many things for which I'm thankful:

I'm thankful for my kids. Gabi and Alex are deeply engaged in that messily beautiful process of becoming adults, and it's my privilege to observe, coach, celebrate and commiserate. While I tend to be more public with their successes, it hasn't been a strictly linear process. There have been changes in major, seemingly endless interviews to find internships, ups and downs with friends and roommates, academic challenges, and of course, Covid. But they've persevered through it all and will graduate this spring, job offers in hand.

I'm thankful we saved for college. Saving gave us more college choices and means that both kids will graduate debt-free. Not only that but the tax benefits of 529 plans-- both our state tax credit for contributions and tax-free growth and withdrawals-- means that we had more money available for college.

I'm thankful we used cost as a lens in our college decision-making process. Not only will both kids graduate debt-free, but we haven't put our lives on hold or taken out loans to close funding gaps. Our kids have been able to participate in things we see as key to education-- study abroad, internships in faraway places, participation in extracurriculars-- without worrying about how we're going to pay for it. And my husband and I have been able to travel to visit them and go on with our lives without worrying about where the money will come from or how long we'll be paying off loans after they graduate.

I'm thankful my kids chose colleges that are great fits for them. Our focus group of two shows that going to a college that's a fit produces great outcomes. My two have almost identical post-college jobs working in their respective fields for Fortune 500 companies, despite attending very different colleges. I don't know that that would have happened but for the fact that both are in college environments where they feel successful and supported and are encouraged to spread their wings.

I'm thankful for resources like Handshake that have democratized the job search process for college students, giving students access to a broader range of employers and employers to a larger pool of students. Students aren't limited to job opportunities from companies that recruit on their campus thanks to these types of tools. Despite being in Tucson, Alex was able to apply to internships all over the country and landed a great one. He and his Arizona classmates have accepted post-graduation jobs at companies like Ford, Goldman Sachs, Dimensional, and more. In the old days when recruiting was largely in-person, on campus, opportunities like this didn't necessarily exist for students at many colleges.

I'm thankful for the many people who have helped and supported me in the process of writing How to Pay for College. From reviewing drafts to buying a copy (or giving it as a gift) to submitting questions on my blog so I know what's important to you to writing online reviews to offering words of encouragement, everything helps and I'm so grateful to the community that supported me through this process. Shameless plug: If you'd like to have a similar list of things to be grateful for, I encourage you to pick up a copy!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! And please drop a note in the comments to tell me some of the things you're thankful for.