Roll Tide

Less than a week after our successful visit to UT Austin, Connor and I were off to our next (and likely final) college tour - the University of Alabama! The story of why Connor was interested in Alabama starts, of course, with his interest in college sports and Alabama's top ranking football program. But we later learned that Connor was eligible for a significant scholarship at Alabama due to a recognition award he earned earlier in his Junior year. Because of that, Connor decided that it was worth a visit to check out the campus and learn more about their student life and computer science curriculum. We got in touch with an area recruiter who arranged a VIP visit for Connor with multiple tours and meetings, so we booked our trip and couldn't wait to see what Alabama had to offer. Instead of making the 10-hour drive into Tuscaloosa, we opted to take a flight into Birmingham and rented a car for the 45 minute drive to our hotel near campus. Upon arrival, we settled in and turned on the World Series (Go Astros!) while Connor caught up on some homework. 

We were up early the following day, which was a typical Friday morning with school in session. It was the perfect weather for our day of exploring Alabama - a chilly, gorgeous morning with beautiful blue skies overhead. As we pulled into the university entrance, we immediately noticed the charming and stately architecture of the buildings on campus. The grounds were so beautiful and expansive! We arrived early enough to scope out the area and grab some breakfast at the Chick-fil-A located inside the student center. We were excited for the full day ahead! 

The UofA area recruiter had arranged a full day of meetings and tours for us, beginning with a personalized visit with an admissions counselor. She walked us through our customized itinerary, which included a tour of the Engineering facility, chat with an Engineering professor, admissions and financial aid sessions, Honors program session, lunch with a student recruiter, and finally, a campus tour. It was a long and exhausting day, but we learned so much about Alabama and truly enjoyed the university culture and experience. 

When our tours were finished, we were able to do some shopping at the campus store and then we drove into Tuscaloosa to check out the town before calling it a day. We made sure to stop at some recommended restaurants, and of course, we wanted to maximize the college experience by picking up some Insomnia cookies to enjoy back at the hotel. Overall, it was a wonderful college visit and Connor was really impressed with what Alabama had to offer for future students. We both felt so lucky to spend the weekend together at the University of Alabama, the final stop on Connor's list of prospective colleges.

As we sat in the airport awaiting our flight home the following day, Connor and I talked about all of his previous college visits, the pros/cons of each, and all the fun we'd had on this journey along the way. The picture was starting to become more clear for his college and career path in the future, and we were all feeling so excited at his opportunities ahead!

Halloween 2022

Both kiddos enjoyed some Halloween fun this year with great friends and gorgeous fall weather. First up was Kaitlynn, who was able to reimagine her long-standing and all-time favorite zebra costume with a cropped tee and her beloved zebra socks and crocks. Will we EVER retire the zebra theme?? We participated in a trunk-or-treat celebration with her Nighthawks cheer squad after practice one afternoon, and I was proud of myself for throwing together a trunk without any forethought or preparation. The kids don't care about anything except the candy anyway, ha!

On Halloween night, Kaitlynn joined some of her friends from the school cheer squad for trick-or-treating. One of the girls had planned a lifeguard theme and purchased costumes for everyone, which turned out so cute for the group.

As for Connor, he and Marie opted to go for panda bear themed couples costumes (at least I think that's what they were??) and they even added some face makeup to complete the look. Connor also used the bear costume for his baseball team's annual Halloween game, and thankfully the weather this year wasn't too warm to pull off the thick onesie for the game and for trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

Fall Photos and Updates

Time for another random collection of photos and updates from our busy fall season. Probably the busiest member of the family these days is Kaitlynn with all her sports, cheer, and extracurricular activities. She also keeps her social calendar full with great friends and fun outings. She is growing and maturing so fast right before our eyes, sniff sniff!

Kaitlynn and I usually work on fulfilling our NCL commitments during the summer, but throughout the year we also attend multiple meetings and league activities. This year has been a little easier than last year for me to attend the meetings and I happened to capture some photos from one of our fall lunches.

While Connor and I were away at a college visit, Jeff and Kaitlynn had the MOST AMAZING opportunity to attend an Astros game during the World Series in October. Connor and I were frozen in jealousy when we found out, but it was SO exciting for these two to enjoy such a fun night and incredible experience together (despite the Astros losing that night). 

While Jeff stays busy working with his former company in Dubai, he still finds himself burdened with all the many chores around the house. I couldn't help but snap a photo when I caught him cleaning the 2-story front porch and entryway - yikes! And we recently celebrated the 50th birthday of Jeff's friend and business partner, Mario, where Jeff and Mario rekindled their ping pong rivalry from over a decade ago!

And finally, here's a completely random picture which likely is a great representation of a typical Saturday with the Courtrights... siblings acting weird doing random things while we're sitting down to enjoy a Mexican food lunch on the weekend. Ha!

UT Austin Visit

Back in the summer when Connor and I first started visiting potential colleges, we began researching computer science programs and learned that University of Texas in Austin had one of the most prestigious CS programs in the nation. As much as we had loved our visits to Texas Tech and A&M, neither of us were all that interested in visiting UT Austin but felt like we should at least learn as much as we could about the computer science curriculum and programs offered. I began searching websites and sending emails, hitting dead end after dead end, until finally I connected with a current UT CS student. She helped us to arrange a full weekend of tours for Connor and I to attend in late October. 

Our first tour of the weekend was an admissions presentation at 9 AM on a Friday morning. Unfortunately, the weather was NOT cooperating and we found ourselves in a torrential thunderstorm as we tried to make our way to the welcome center for the session. Luckily we were prepared with umbrellas, rain jackets, and ponchos, and we checked in on time and were even given additional ponchos for the wet morning ahead. We were worried that our tours for the day would be cancelled, but luckily the storm moved out and we were able to enjoy the morning without getting too soaked. We started our day with the admissions orientation followed by a computer science facility tour and "coffee chat" with a current computer science student. He was able to answer a ton of questions for us about the UT CS curriculum and Connor's incoming AP credits. We packed a lot into our morning, but it was worth every minute to learn all about the opportunities at UT. Before we left campus for the day, we met with another current CS student in the student center, and she was able to share her experience and answer even more questions about the UT CS programs. It was all information overload but super helpful and interesting!

By the time we finished our Friday appointments, the weather had cleared and we were ready for some lunch. We walked across campus and enjoyed some Chipotle, followed by some shopping at the campus store. Since it was Friday, we continued wandering around campus and were able to get a taste of true college life on the "40 acres" with students everywhere going about their day. Connor and I were both pleasantly surprised at our positive campus experience and really enjoyed walking around before heading back to our hotel. Before settling in for the night, we ordered some pizza and Tiff's Treats to enjoy in our hotel room as we watched our beloved Astros in the World Series. As for Connor, he took advantage of the evening hours to catch up on some schoolwork he had missed. Overall, it had been such a fun and perfect day together!

 

The next morning, we were up early for another day packed full of college tours and information sessions at an event called Texas Preview, where the university invites prospective students to learn more about UT Austin. For our customized schedule, we attended an information session about the College of Natural Science, a financial aid presentation, and finally, a campus walking tour. The weather was sunny and gorgeous - absolutely perfect for our full day ahead. We were able to find our way around from building to building, really getting to know the campus and soaking in the beautiful sunshine. We even ran into the school mascot, Bevo, and couldn't resist capturing some photos to commemorate our fun morning. I had to hide my Aggie ring from time to time (haha) but it was really neat to get the full UT experience!

As we went from session to session, I started sensing a change in my own attitude about UT Austin and the opportunities it could provide for a CS student like Connor. At the other universities we had visited, computer science was one of many disciplines in their College of Engineering. But at UT, Computer Science majors enjoy a dedicated facility with unlimited options for tailoring the curriculum to each student's specific interests. It was definitely an interesting aspect to his college choice that we hadn't considered before. 

Our last session of the day was a campus walking tour with a friendly tour guide, and she did such a great job in setting the tone for the UT Austin college experience. Perhaps it was the gorgeous weather, but with each step of the tour I found myself wondering if this could be the place for Connor. I considered it a possible "sign" when the tour guide concluded our session with her personal story about how she chose UT Austin despite being raised in a family full of Aggies. Could UT be the right fit for Connor? Only time would tell, but we were so thankful for such a fun and enlightening experience during our UT Austin college visit!

Nighthawks Milestones

I feel like a broken record when I use the phrase "as if Kaitlynn wasn't busy enough...". During the fall season, it seemed like she was participating in a different sport and activity every night of the week! Amidst the chaos of volleyball and school cheer and preparing for her upcoming basketball season, Kaitlynn was also dedicating several days of practice a week to her Nighthawks competitive cheer team and tumbling lessons. As the Nighthawks geared up for competition season, the gym invited parents to sit in on milestone practices every few weeks to watch the team build their performance from start to finish. At this point in the season, Kaitlynn was still getting to know her teammates but was so excited to be on a team with a history of winning the BIG competitions year after year.

Often when I'm watching competitive cheer teams compete, I don't always know what to look for and how to judge when a performance is good versus great. This was our 3rd year in competitive cheer, so I was still learning but definitely had come a long way. While watching Kaitlynn's milestone practices, it was evident that the Nighthawks hadn't hit their stride yet as a team. There were some falls and blunders as they learned their challenging routine and worked hard to "hit zero" in their full-outs -- which means, performing the routine start to finish without any mistakes. Despite their lackluster milestones, Kaitlynn was confident that she was on the right team with a super creative and difficult routine and dedicated coaches. She was really excited to enter competition season and show the crowd and judges what these athletes were made of. Let's go, Nighthawks!