OU, A&M, Tech and most of the SEC schools are off limits in my house. We have modest college savings but I’ll suck it up and find another way before we do any of those.
UTSA and UTD as a transfer to UT are the only other schools besides UT my sophomore is looking at. Oregon, Washington, and Michigan (not sure why) are on his list. Trips start soon…
but back to the happiness issue - my childhood was shit, not overly abusive or anything but shit (don’t get me wrong bare ass belt whippings were a thing). Not a lot of fun, preoccupied narcissistic or depressed all to hell parents, shit rolls downhill, no money, strained and distant relationships with my folks, blah blah, and I think the fun deficit and lack of good memories is a major issue for me that I’m still chasing. I’ve tried to balance with my kids so they have fun and have a well of good memories to draw upon to feel positive about their lives. I truly think if kids can be kids then you’ve got a good foundation to launch from. The hard part is all the fucked up adults keep driving their kids over the cliff or let society do it for them.