So your son got an academic scholarship plus some money to play college soccer!

What more can you hope for in the suburbs? You win!

But what happens when your athletically gifted (and very bright) son is not doing so well in college? So poorly, in fact, that he is on the brink of losing the scholarship?

A friend and business partner recently sent this email to his 18-year-old son who was starting the second semester of his first year in college. The kid is smart but enjoyed college a bit too much first semester. My friend had just learned of his son’s final grades for first semester.

The subject line for this email was: “College – the actual school part…”

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So, college. There are a few models.

Model 1: You go to classes, study really hard, have some fun, graduate early or with honors and land a great job.

Model 2: You go to classes, study, have a lot of fun, graduate in 4 years and find a good job.

Model 3: You go to most classes, study occasionally, have loads of zany and/or whacky fun, maybe blow an academic scholarship “whoops!”, pay way more than you needed to for college, graduate in 5 years and then get a job that you don’t really like, but hey, it pays the bills.

Model 4: You blow off most classes, never study, party, flunk out, live at home, go to community college, work at Starbucks, get your high school girlfriend pregnant and marry her even though you don’t love her – and what’s worse – she has 3 cats, get a dog, develop anger management issues, get arrested for assaulting a 16 year old mini-mart clerk who won’t sell you cigarettes, serve some time, get released early on good behavior, move south to find spotty construction work, get hooked on Hostess pastry products, lose a few teeth over time (no dental insurance), gain excessive weight and then die in a freak accident involving a ladder, binoculars and coaxial cable.

As I reflect on your first semester, I would have to say that you are on track with Model 3. My hope for you was for something more along the lines of Model 2.

What model do you hope to achieve for yourself?

Talk to you tomorrow. Time to suck it up a bit…
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