Mid-month Mention: Wheaton College Summer Institute

This week I received an e-mail about an opportunity I desperately wish I could snag. Wheaton College, my alma mater, wrote to inform alumni of their Wheaton College Summer Institute for high school students. Yes, I have a high school student who fits the requirements (will enter junior year with a strong academic record). No, I do not have a high school student willing to participate. I mentioned to Sean that Ivy Tech was offering free summer school courses to high school students this summer. His response? "Why would I want to take summer school? Besides, I plan on getting a job." Well, there's that. Plus, I cannot imagine Sean heading off for two weeks to a camp experience, even if it would prepare him for the college application process. He always hated our annual Bible camp excursions. But this opportunity sounds like something I wish I could give my child.

The Wheaton College Summer Institute offers a two-week campus stay from June 18th through July 1st, 2023. Students not only experience living in the dorms and eating in the cafeteria, developing friendships with other college-bound teens, but also take one college course for credit. There are 16 courses to choose from and I see several that appeal to me (say Shakespearience, Otherworlds of Imagination in C. S. Lewis, The Brain: A Neuroscience Primer, or The Makings of Middle Earth). Besides earning college credit, they receive hints and strategies for college entrance applications and essays. Plus, if you complete the program, you gain an expedited Wheaton College application (with fee waiver) and the chance to earn a renewable $500 scholarship.

My time at Wheaton was wonderful and full of many happy memories. It was a chance to make life-long friendships and sit under excellent professors who taught fascinating courses. I enjoyed the Wheaton-in-England program and the rare opportunity to work in The Marion E. Wade Center, transcribing C. S. Lewis' correspondence. Although it was expensive, I received outstanding financial aid and worked three jobs to keep myself afloat. I could think of nothing better than to send my child off to experience the same. Perhaps you have a teen contemplating a Christian college journey. Look into the Wheaton College Summer Institute today!