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Dolores Sanchez Badillo: The University of New Mexico as a spring break destination?

Expats: Voices from far away

By Dolores Sanchez Badillo
Monday, June 26, 2006

No, I didn't see it, either.
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As a 20-year-old, my goal was to make it over the wall and break loose over spring break. In 2006, as a mother of two, spring break took on a whole new meaning.

Last month, via a Jumbotron, I watched a good friend graduate from Cal State Fullerton. The atmosphere was that of a rock concert; I had better seats watching the Stones perform at the L.A. Coliseum.

More than 8,700 people were at this particular commencement address, and those were just the graduates. This year, the Cal State University system, from Humboldt to San Diego, graduated 82,000 students. Don't get me started on California's UC schools, private universities and community colleges. That's a lot of mortar boards.

Attending commencement exercises with a crowd size roughly the population of Clovis threw me into a mild panic. Where would my kids fit in the whole "life after high school" scenario? Even with a full four years before my oldest is due receive his high school diploma, time will burn away quickly.

I flashed back to a conversation I had with my oldest sister, Cathy. She lives with her family in northern California and this exchange took place about a decade ago:

Cathy: This year our family vacation will take us to Boston as well as New Mexico. We'll be visiting the BU campus for Marie and when we get to New Mexico, we're going to check out New Mexico Military Institute for Vincent.

Me: (thinking, but not saying) How dumb.

The conversation picked up about 10 years later, or a few shorts weeks ago:

Cathy: Marie is getting ready for her first semester of medical school at Cornell in New York, and Vincent just finished his freshman year at the U.S. Naval Academy - isn't it amazing how time flys by?

Me: Help me. Please help me.

Truthfully, I used to think my sister was nuts, spending valuable family vacations visiting college campuses. I've come to realize it's a smart thing to do.

I've already done some college prep groundwork for my kids. I dutifully attended three years of middle school "College Night." Recently, when my husband attended a conference at Notre Dame, I had him collect bunches of brochures from around the campus in South Bend, Ind. I added those to my overflowing files on college how-tos, what-nots and how-to- pay-fors.

And finally, when the boys and I were in Albuquerque this March during their spring break, we carved some time out of our packed schedule to visit UNM.

For years I've tried to take the boys on a tour of my alma mater. Typically, we barely got past the first part: breakfast at the Frontier Restaurant. We'd also had a couple of drive-bys of Santa Clara dormitory, my home during my freshmen year. The boys feigned interest as they ate their Frontier Rolls in the back seat.

This time, I made sure we took a serious look at the place I had labored at for five years to earn my bachelor's degree, and as a bonus, had met their dad.

First stop, the Student Union Building. That was a surprise - for me, anyway. Like a child whose age gets frozen in time in the mind of distant relative who keeps sending Lego toys rather than the more age appropriate electronic stuff they've grown into, my mind's eye recalled the comfy, musty, functional SUB of the mid 1980s. That image has been replaced by the colorful, vivacious, aromatic gathering place that is today the UNM SUB.

My kids loved it. I could tell they felt grown up, sitting around with a bunch of college students who coolly and collegially socialized/ate/studied/escaped in the SUB.

So far, so good. College life agreed with my kids. But that was just the food and fun.

On to Woodward Hall. After the boys got over the cavernous size of the main lecture hall, we found seats near the top. We sat through about a half hour of a religious studies class. One student graciously showed us his laptop that contained an outline of the day's lecture and subsequent assignment. The PowerPoint presentation was easy to follow but the subject matter was way over our heads. We made our way to the Duck Pond.

I showed the kids the UNM chapel, where one of their aunts had married. I pointed out the area students gathered after numerous bomb threats to Mitchell Hall. We walked past the grassy knoll where I took my absolutely useless outdoor math tutoring lessons.

Next stop, Zimmerman Library. That gorgeous behemoth was surprisingly interesting to my boys. They wanted to go up to the stacks, but I vetoed that and we limited our visit to floors 1 through 3.

For such a quiet place, the library was a hotbed of activity. A lecture was going on the top floor, the main stairway was buzzing and just about every room and desk on the main floor was occupied by the studious.

Maybe my kids are a little weird, or maybe I'm just lucky, but at their relatively young ages they really enjoyed Zimmerman. I suppose that's better than them wanting to hang out in a mosh pit.

We cruised the vendor fair on the main mall, walked by some of the engineering colleges, and then called it a day. The two hours we spent on UNM soil left a good impression on Dominic and Vincent.

Since birth, my husband and I spoke to our boys about "when, not if" they go to college. My kids are fortunate. Their mom's head is spinning with possibilities, improbabilities, confusion and hopes for their futures. On top of that, their Aunt Cathy has twice conquered the challenging maze that is college prep.

She's my new favorite sister.