The Colorado story: a great beginning ... the ending is up to you.

• Author: Wiesner, Pat
• Position: Educational administration - Column

THE YEAR IS 2010. IT IS JILL'S FIRST YEAR AT COLLEGE. This was her third day, and she was pretty sure she was in the line she was supposed to be in. She was totally excited by the crush of people her own age (her father would have called them "kids," but she didn't see it that way) trying to register for classes, finding out the list of books they would need, saying "hi" to just about everyone, hoping for an occasional light conversation.

She was in a pleasant deluge of new experience. So many new faces, potentially new friends. She knew some of her mother's best friends today were women she had met in college. Jill wondered as she looked around, which one might be the face of someone who would become a lifelong friend.

"By far, the best part of it was the new freedom! When you got out of classes there were almost no adults! Finally, I get to make my own decisions."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

For example, she heard of a party at an apartment house just off campus where, it was rumored, you could try just about anything you had heard about or read about.

My first decision, she thought: I'm not going to have anything to do with that stuff! She was happy with her judgment, thrilled by the sense of power over her own life.

"I love it here! I'm going to work hard and do great!"

ENTER THE VILLAIN ...

Not long into her college experience, however, Jill began to notice things that surprised her. First, most of her classes had what she thought were too many students, between 30 and 40 each. One basic science class had more than 200 students in it. She heard that they were going to do the same thing next semester in English--put four, second-semester freshman English classes in one theatre-size class.

She was also surprised that she had only one Ph.D. as a prof. The rest of her teachers were either part-time or full-time instructors on non-career tracks.

She was surprised that she had to go back three times to get an appointment with her adviser because he was responsible for so many students. And she really wanted an adviser to help her sort out all the new concepts she was trying to balance.

She was surprised, too, that the boiler at the largest student residence didn't seem to be fixable. Constant attempts to fix it caused all sorts of disruptions for those who lived there.

And she was surprised again to find there were a couple of stations in the computer lab that...