Yesterday we took a tour of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where Zach will go to college here in Prescott. With all disciplines related to aviation as their focus, this is a private college that magnificently displays niche learning for career preparation. I was absolutely blown away by the incredible learning opportunities he will have there, both in new tools and in a carefully crafted environment.
It took us about 3 hours to complete both a walking tour and a driving tour to their airfield, flight line, and outer perimeter. In these quieter summer months there is quite a bit of construction going on: they have a 10-year plan for both renovations and new additions, and so we also saw a couple of their planning lay-outs and art-board projections.
Throughout the entire tour this same thought kept popping into my head: I wish I could go back to college. It’s been quite a while since I graduated, and there is absolutely no comparison. I was mesmerized with how computers alone have transformed the learning opportunities that are offered, and how ERAU’s brand new classrooms have been designed to include them at every seat in flight simulation labs — as just ONE example. I felt like a dinosaur ” not one computer was part of my college experience, on or off campus: I’d learn to use them a decade later.
However it’s not just electronics. The potential in new learning for our youth — and for anyone college-bound — is staggering, and today I am a brand new optimist. I’ll write more later, back to the family and Prescott for now.