ode to junior colleges

My list of rules as a parent:
1. Take capoeira or gymnastics; piano or violin not necessary unless desired.
2. No colored cereal, but frosted pop tarts are okay
3. No Barbies or Power Rangers (TMNT okay)
4. Bilingual (preferably trilingual) household
5. Sing or read and pray as a family before bedtime (Harry Potter books okay)
6. Playing with worms okay
7. No video games

As I was hanging out with a highly academically successful friend last night, the subject came up about SAT scores, academic goals, and future parenting. We were discussing a girl that my friend tutors and how she doesn't have high aspirations and would be content settling for a junior college. "Junior colleges are for dummies," he said. "WHAT?!" I responded. All the arguments FOR junior colleges ran through my head...you're taking the same classes but paying less, it's a good transition time between high school and college, there are plenty of highly qualified teachers there. And it wasn't like people attending junior colleges are stupid. I admit, my SAT scores were low, but I did well otherwise, graduated in the top ten of my class, participated in extracurricular activities...surely, I wasn't a loser who was just settling for a junior college. I just didn't want to leave home yet, and I knew I'd be saving a lot of money in taking GE courses at CRC.

My friend argued that it's great if you have a plan and if junior college is part of it, but when you go there, the level of competition isn't as high as it would be at a four-year university. If you're not self-motivated, you're not going to be pushing yourself as hard. He said his kid will go to either Harvard or Stanford or last resort, UCLA. Personally, I don't care where my kid goes as long as they work hard to achieve their dreams. Obviously, the focus of my parenting will not be on strict academic success...I measure success in different terms. It's not about any letters that follow your name or all the awards that adorn your wall. Yes, I love to get good grades and I love to win, but overall, it's all about holding fast to your dreams and living life to the fullest...but being practical and responsible. I argued, "Just because someone attends a junior college doesn't mean they can't still learn and push themselves and prepare themselves for the future."

His response...but what if they're not that self-motivated? And then since we were also talking about parenting in this area, that made me think, what if my son or daughter isn't self-motivated? What if little Madeline Zoe wants to just party all the time and doesn't care about getting straight Cs in school? What if her main focuses are boys and shopping? Would I still be able to repeat my parents' advice to "just try your best, dear" and not be too strict? Or were they only saying that to us because we were studious and they knew we wanted good grades? If I came back with a 2.0, would they still have told me "don't worry, just try your best" or would they create some strict studying schedule and withhold any privileges? More than anything, I want to be a parent that doesn't hold my child back from his/her dreams, but what if they have none? What if they're social loafers...bums...what do I do? I think the best you can do is nurture their creativity and their talents from day 1 and pray they grow up on the right path.