In their own words…
A father of a current business student sent us this email at the end of his daughter’s first semester at ACU (we did change their names) :
Six months ago I was talking with another parent about ACU. I said “I am not sure about ACU for the retention numbers are low based on a magazine I was reading about colleges in Texas. West Texas? Religion and School in the same breath? Cost? Julie will most likely go to A&M, UT or UTSA. Good luck to you and your daughter.”
Then we were invited to Maggiano’s for a dinner in Dallas. I said to Julie “let’s go and listen to what ACU has to offer. It will be a great meal and we will be able to start asking questions of ACU to make us feel better about the other schools at the top of your list”.
After the dinner on the ride home Julie said to me “dad I am not sure exactly why but ACU feels right for me”. Wow! Ok Julie it was a good feeling tonight but we do not know enough about ACU to start changing your plans. We should visit the college.
Julie & I visited ACU in November and yes we both were in agreement that it felt cozy. Julie’s mom & dad met in college. Rider College had a total enrollment of about 3,000 students. Small private business school. We had a great time and enjoyed the intimacy of the relationships with the Faculty and fellow students. We were part of something special and I was getting the same feeling for Julie.
So over the 2009 holidays the comments from Julie (when speaking with family & friends) quickly shifted from A&M or UT to ACU. Mom & Dad were glad to hear her words and we were sharing the same thoughts and conversations.
Then in February we arrived on campus for the Presidential Scholarship interviews. This was Julie’s mom’s first visit. While Julie was off interviewing, her mom and I went for a walk by ourselves around the campus. We talked about our college days and how ACU brought back many memories. We talked about education, social life and maybe Julie would find her spouse on this campus the way mom and dad found one another. It was a great walk! Then I made sure we were at Chapel for her to witness that experience. After Chapel my wife said “this is it! It feels right and Julie will love it here!” I agreed.
We shared our feelings with Julie for the three hour ride home. The three of us were on the same page!
At home, without Julie in the conversation, I said to my wife “how will we pay for this opportunity that we all agree is the perfect fit?” Gina (the none worrier in our marriage) said “if it was meant to be it will happen some how.” Gina is the calming influence in my life that I am sooo thankful to God for her.
Then the call from Ben this week. Ben shared the great news with the three of us together. Ben said “Julie is a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship” Those words are still ringing in my head.
The three of us all looked at one another and knew we had been blessed. We were so happy that we cried together. What a wonderful feeling. The school that looked right, felt right and seemed so right from all perspectives was now going to becoming reality!!!
I am sorry that I took so much time to simple say THANK YOU!!! But, I wanted each of you to know first hand that you folks have touched our family in such a blessed way that saying Thank You will never be enough. From the dinner at Maggiano’s were Dr.Lytle and I had a 10-15 minute conversation alone to the calls and e-mails from Ben & Julie and the warmth they made our family feel for our 2 campus visits to the classroom discussion with Amanda around the details about COBA. Thank you very much!!!
The ACU experience has begun for our family and we are so proud to be part of this wonderful family.
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If you have a student or know of someone that would be interested in learning more about the College of Business at ACU, please contact jav04a@acu.edu. We’d be honored to share more about ACU with you.