Deciding on the University of Oregon

Juwaan was blessed with over 40 offers to play football on the college level. As we received offers from each school we researched the school using the information that was available to us online. We ruled out a lot of schools due to the fact that Juwaan was thinking about following the track of a pre-med major. His education was the most important thing to us. A large percentage of the schools had pre-med or biology tracks but the graduation rate was very low for a number of them.  On the other hand, some coaches’ eliminated their schools by indirectly suggesting Juwaan choose to major in business instead of taking on the difficult track of pre-med.

As a family we discussed the importance of narrowing down his selections of schools because the process is already overwhelming without such a variety of options. Juwaan slowly began to pick and choose schools by the interactions and impressions that he was given on his official visits of the schools that were high on his list.  We saw many other students feel pressure from coaches and family members to choose a specific school but we didn't want Juwaan to feel pressured by anyone to make such an important decision. At the beginning of the process my husband and I told him that this was his first adult decision and we would support him 100% no matter what school he chose. . We also told him that if he was ready to make a verbal commitment that we would support him as well so that it would take the pressure off of the press.

When Juwaan was in high school I checked his grade portal everyday, stayed on top of all of his assignments and I even went to tutorials in the morning so that I could learn math the way they taught it in the classroom so that he could understand in school and at home. It was important that he maintain good grades and balance his after school activities.  With Juwaan being at the University of Oregon he has access to his grades and I get to check his grades periodically throughout the semster. Juwaan has declared a major of Journalism and Broadcasting which is totally different from what he wanted in his younger years. I’ve had the opportunity to be apart of some of his work and assignments this summer. He loves the production and research of reporting on a particular story and I love to hear the excitement in his voice when we talk about his assignment. As a mother, all I want is for him to love his craft and the path that he has chosen.

At The University of Oregon Juwaan is on the quarter system which is unique because he normally gets to come home to visit at least three times a year for about a week at a time. Juwaan comes home for Spring Break which is normally late March and then he gets to come home in June. It’s normally Father’s Day weekend which is pretty awesome for my husband as they can have their man bonding time. Then, he begins football training when he returns to campus shortly after the summer break. During football season, our family tries to break up the visits to Juwaan’s gamse to spread the love and support. We try to see him at least once a month for one of his home games. The Oregon Ducks are a part of the PAC-12 conference so they don’t get to the east coast that often. Juwaan also gets to come home around Christmas time but his time home depends on the day and time of his bowl game.