UB grad student Danielle Ariano “came out” to family and friends in careful stages — until a trip to Rehoboth set her course on fast-forward.

When some gay people come out (think Ricky Martin, Clay Aiken or the former ‘N Sync boy band member Lance Bass), the news is not really news at all. People generally react one of two ways: “Who the hell is (insert obviously gay celebrity’s name here)?” or “Did people actually think that (obviously gay celebrity’s name) was straight?” I’ve always wished that my own coming out could’ve been this simple. It would have been nice to just call a reporter and put it out there that I was now officially gay.

Since I am not a celebrity, however, my process was nothing like this. It began shortly after I graduated from college and it was long and arduous. Though I started out at a good pace, telling my sister, my parents and my two best friends, I then promptly shut my mouth because I wanted to assess what kind of long-term effect my gayness might have on my relationships. Once I’d realized that these tight-knit people weren’t going to disown me, I was most nervous to see how the news would impact our day-to-day exchanges. Sure, my family said that they loved me no matter what, but would that love be the same now that I was gay? I worried about the most ridiculous things. Would my mom feel funny hugging me or kissing me hello? What about my female friends? If I told them they looked pretty, would they think I was making a pass at them? Would we still share a dressing room when we went shopping so that we wouldn’t have to venture out into glaring fluorescent lights where other people might see us? Or were those days long gone? I didn’t know what the rules were in this strange new world so I took a cautious approach. Read More →

Watching Emily’s entrée to college has been something like watching the manic episode of a kindergartner at her first trip to an amusement park. There are lots of fun things to do, and so many people to meet and new places to try.  And the freedom of running from this thing to that one is exhilarating!  We’ve talked to her on the phone maybe once or twice a week, and the words come spilling out so fast she can barely keep up with her own thoughts.  She is under a magic spell, at least for now, and it is so gratifying to see. Read More →

People have been very kind this week, asking me how I am doing, whether we have heard from Emily, how the drop off went.  Honestly, it is still a bit of a blur, and I hope that when the focus clears, we will have a little time under our belts, and things won’t seem so strange.

If you have been following our story this year, you know Emily is our firstborn.  Dropping her off at college last Friday was sort of like leaving a limb behind.  Emily has been an integral part of daily life for the last 18 ½ years, and enjoys a leading role in our family’s cast.  Although she has been away before, for exchange programs and camps, we all know it is different this time, and that our family life will never be the same. Read More →

The Appalachian Trail

When Park School graduate Gabe Acheson applied to college last year, he made a promise to walk to the school.  His essay, “Walking to Yale,” helped secure him a spot in the top Ivy League college. This week he fulfilled the promise and made the 400-mile trek from his Rodgers Forge home to New Haven.

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It’s late August, which means a whole new crop of nervous 18 year-olds are buying “Dorm Room Essentials!” and heading out on awkward orientation excursions. Feel like it was just yesterday that you were a college freshman? Well, the Beloit College Mindset List, released around this time every year, is here to remind you that you’re old, and that kids these days grew up in an entirely different world. For instance:  2012′s incoming freshmen were mostly born in 1994 (YIKES), meaning that they’ve grown up in a world without tan M&Ms and Kurt Cobain. Some more crazy facts from the list below:
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July was a great month.  We had a little family vacation.  The rest of the time, the kids were working at good jobs, learning stuff, and making money.  We’ve had down time — a nice change of pace from the mad rush of the school year.  Emily is getting ready to go to college, so there has been some Bed, Bath & Beyond shopping.  Between the medical forms, and supply lists, it has felt a lot like getting her ready to go to summer camp.  All fine.

Now it’s August and reality is setting in.  We are making reservations for hotel rooms for the drop-off weekend, and trying to sort through some first-time, “growing up” decisions:  Do we give her spending money for the things we would provide her at home?  Are these now her expenses?  Does she need to tell us when she is traveling off campus, or do we no longer have the right or need to know where she is?  If she makes a road trip to visit her boyfriend at his college, is that any of our business?  Is her information her own, or, for educational and medical matters, do we have any role in her world anymore?  Read More →

Graduation is tomorrow, and my heart is in my throat.  I am told by friends with older children that college graduation is much easier on parents than high school.  Goodbyes have already been said.  But we have not said goodbye, and as I sit here writing, I am working hard to keep it together – not cry and say “don’t go!”  Emily is so ready.  She needs to go.  But what it means for us, for me, is something that looks much less like a beginning, and more like an end, at least to this stage of our family’s life. Read More →

Gilman senior Ryan Ripken has lived in the shadow of his famous dad for 18 years, but the six-foot-five scholar-athlete is an accomplished baseball player in his own right.  Next year, he heads to the University of South Carolina, with its number one baseball program, to pursue his dream of professional baseball stardom and to take his place in the family’s baseball legacy.   

Our intern Rixey Moore asks Ripken about what comes next.

Is professional baseball your current career “dream”? And is it within reach?

Yes. That would be a dream of mine to be able to play a game that I love, but I know it’s really hard to achieve that goal. I just plan to work as hard as I can and see where it takes me.

Did your love of the sport come naturally or was it almost required, because of the environment you were brought up in?

Nothing was ever forced on me, my parents allowed me to do what I wanted to do.  It just so happened that I came to love baseball, basketball and soccer growing up — baseball is close to my family and me.

Garrison Forest senior and Baltimore Fishbowl intern Rixey Moore and her boyfriend Ryan Ripken pose for pictures before the GFS prom.

Briefly discuss your experience growing up in Baltimore, home of the Orioles.

I do love Baltimore and where I’m from. There are a lot of connections here, but I’ve been blessed to live a good life so far and be part of a lot of great things and go to a great school. Most of my friends I’ve known since I was six.

What are your academic interests?

I’m going into the business school at the University of South Carolina. I’m not sure what that will entail, but it’s a start. I think college for me will just be an important time to find out what I want to do just like it is for everyone else.

What’s your favorite thing to do outside of baseball?

This year I’ve enjoyed being with my friends as much as possible because we all know next year we will be going our separate ways. I also really like just having family time at home, that is very important to me.

Does your legacy ever get in the way?

I try not to let it. I tend to tune it out and focus on the game. Your mind needs to be in the right place while you play. I’ve learned to cope and not let (what other people are saying) affect me. Sometimes it’s hard when people talk about me (during a game) or my family, and living up to my dad, but to me what matters is if our team gets the win or not, that’s what I care about.

Alex pulled his first all-nighter as a sophomore in high school. He toiled over research papers, lab reports, SAT prep books, and literary analyses. Studying and homework took up a huge chunk of his day. By the time he got to college, he was so practiced at poring over his books that it took him a few months to come to the realization that college seemed somehow… easier than high school.

As the competition for a spot at a top college becomes ever more fierce, high schools have had to ramp up their game, giving students a rigorous and extensive preparation for their future education. But not all colleges have kept up. While the average college student fifty years ago spent 24 hours a week studying, today’s undergrads devote only about 15 hours to preparing for class. “I was expecting it to be a lot harder,” Ashley Dixon, a sophomore at George Mason University, told the Washington Post. “I thought I was going to be miserable, trying to get good grades. And I do get good grades, and I’m not working very hard.”

Consider this:  in 1961, the average student studied for 24 hours and spent 16 in class, so college was akin to a full-time job. These days, students’ time spent on college endeavors averages out to about 27 hours a week, or, as the Post puts it, “roughly the same time commitment expected of students in a modern full-day kindergarten.”
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Baltimore’s tax sale: liens sold on 6545 properties, raising $20 million for city – Baltimore Sun
Baltimore homeowner almost ends up in tax sale over lost check – Baltimore Sun
War of 1812 ticket packages available for Baltimore landmarks – Baltimore Business Journal
E.J. Dionne Jr.: Did the Catholic organizations have to sue over the health care mandate? – Washington Post
Is college too easy? As study time falls, debate rises – Washington Post