Still. It’s not the same as the rarefied world of students hand-selected from a pool of the best and brightest, with an endowment big enough to give scholarships to kids like Molly. There will be none of the things we’ve heard about, no bonfires or late-night study sessions or elaborate pranks, no students from Ghana or visiting lecturers from the UN, no Nobel laureates, no dorm hall dramas or campus productions of The Vagina Monologues, no Parents’ Weekend or commencement addresses in Latin.

“I’ll get to have what you and I both want,” Molly continued. “An education, and Travis.”

“There’s so much more for you to discover,” I tell her, knowing she doesn’t believe me.

“Trav and I will discover it together.”

I grit my teeth, refusing to let myself explode. “Travis,” I say to him, “could Molly and I have a minute?”

“He should stay,” she says, clinging to his hand.

“Er, that’s okay.” He disengages his hand. “Go ahead and talk stuff over with your mom.” He steps aside with a conciliatory smile, barely concealing his relief. I almost feel sorry for him, knowing the tension between Molly and me is stretched to its limit, and very palpable. He walks over by the pool and plugs some change into a vending machine.

“Oh, Molly.” I pause, trying to find a way to persuade her. “Look how far you’ve come. Don’t give up on something you’ve been dreaming of for years.”

“It’s my decision,” she says, her eyes welling with tears. “I’m the one who has to go through the next four years. I can either spend them with strangers, struggling to keep up and trying to fit in, thousands of miles from home, or I can be near the people who love me, getting good grades and an education without sacrificing four years of my life.”

This sudden streak of practicality is something new. But I can be practical, too. “Most people wouldn’t regard a scholarship to a top university as a sacrifice.”

“For me it would be. Even this week has been torture,” she says. “I love him.”

Her stark passion gives me pause. What if Travis is the one? What if he’s the love of her life? It’s not as if love comes along every day. Do I have the right to turn her away from him? Suppose she does it my way and tells him goodbye, and something terrible happens? How would I ever forgive myself?

If turning around and going home with Travis is a mistake, it’s hers to make, not mine. If it’s the right thing to do, then it’s only right that she gets to choose.