She’s simply doing what we taught her

I always sort of knew my daughter would venture out. She has that spirit.

When we were looking at colleges a few years ago, I told my family that there’s no way South Dakota could hold her.

I was wrong. Sort of.

Now a sophomore at Augustana just 12 blocks away from where she grew up, she’s arguably spent more time at Korea University in Seoul than the Vikings’ centrally located campus in Sioux Falls.

My daughter has always had a fascination with traveling and spending significant chunks of time away from home. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s been a road warrior since her first few days.

She was born in Indianapolis. When she was seven days old, we drove back to Sioux Falls for the holidays. In what is normally an 11-hour drive between Indy and Sioux Falls, that particular trip when she was just an infant, turned into a two-day excursion.

We spent the night in Iowa City. As first-time parents, we were clearly in over our heads. Isabella spent that night in a dresser drawer we pulled out and layered with blankets and comforters. 

It likely wasn’t the most glamorous night she’s spent on the road, but it also didn’t deter her.

She spent this January in Seoul, part of her J-Term at Augustana. She got Augustana credits for the trip by taking a class at Korea University, or KU. As a sportswriter throughout my career, if someone would have told me that my daughter would someday be going to KU, my thoughts – along with everyone else I know – would have been squarely focused on the Jayhawks at the University of Kansas.

But Seoul hooked her in January, and she’s headed back next week.

This time, however, it’s more than a quick three-week J-Term. This trip is a bit longer, and I’ll miss her. She’ll be gone for the entire summer, returning to Sioux Falls just in time from KU to begin classes back at Augustana this fall.

When I tell people that she’s headed to Seoul again for the summer, the response is almost always the same:

“That is so cool.”

I guess that’s the case. I am proud of her, and I keep telling myself that flying to Seoul by yourself at age 19 in pursuit of her career goals is what successful people do.

My daughter wants to be a travel journalist. In her first 19 years, she’s got the traveling part covered. She’s been to all but four states and has visited England, France, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Canada and Mexico. She’s spending next January in Cuba for another Augustana credit.

The writing? She’s really getting that covered, too. At 19, she’s a much better non-fiction writer than I’ll ever be. It’s amazing for me – the crazy dad – to watch her spend free time pounding away on her keyboard, writing stories “just for fun.”

Over the years, I’ve had friends on Facebook post on their page that they dislike it when parents post things and brag about their kids. They’ll have to forgive me for the past and for the future, because I’m not going to stop.

As graduation crept closer last spring, I used to go out of my way to skip over Tom Petty’s song, Wildflower, when it jumped into my Spotify song list. It truly tore me up inside, and I couldn’t listen to it. When it did come on and I got through the the first few lines, a tear always followed and I scrambled to find the skip button.

You belong among the wildflowers

You belong in a boat out at sea

Sail away, kill off the hours

You belong somewhere you feel free

That song is still kind of tough to listen to. But at least I can get through the whole thing now. 

After all, from a dresser drawer in Iowa City 19 years ago, she’s been venturing out and she’s living her life. 

And I couldn’t be more proud. 

But I will miss her.