Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself reflecting not just on graduation season, but on the entire high school journey — all four years of my children’s experiences, milestones, surprises, and memories that somehow seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

Of course, students and their families will remember the major moments like college acceptances, prom, awards ceremonies, senior celebrations, and graduation itself. But when they look back years later, it may be some of the unexpected moments from across all four years — the conversations, trips, performances, friendships, campus visits, and personal growth along the way — that also stay with them.

As I reflect on my daughter’s high school journey, certain moments immediately come to mind. She played lead roles in several theatrical productions, including Anne Frank. There was the freshman year camping trip that started her high school journey, as well as senior year milestones like prom, the senior trip to Hawaii just before graduation, and, of course, delivering an incredible salutatorian speech at graduation — a moment I will never forget as a parent.

But one of the experiences that stands out most was connected to the college search process itself.

When she first began visiting colleges, she was convinced she did not want to attend my alma mater, Smith College, one of the Seven Sisters colleges. She enjoyed the initial impromptu visit, but she expressed that she wanted an experience that felt entirely her own.

She applied at the encouragement of her counselor, and after being accepted, she returned for a second, more in-depth visit that included an overnight stay and meetings with a theatre professor and the assistant crew coach.

Something changed.

She experienced the campus differently. She connected with students. She could suddenly picture herself there in a real and meaningful way. By the end of that visit, she was convinced Smith was where she belonged.

That experience reinforced something I have seen repeatedly over the years through Custom College Visits: a deeper experience offers a student an opportunity to truly feel a connection.

My son’s high school years created a completely different set of memories.

One of the most unexpected moments was when he was asked to junior prom as a sophomore — a surprise none of us saw coming — and he had a great time. He co-founded a support group for teens with congenital heart defects, had the experience of being a ball boy at the Bank of the West Classic, and balanced athletics across four different sports teams, three of them at school. Watching him be recognized for those achievements over the years was incredibly meaningful.

And then there was his accepted student visit to Skidmore College.

Like many colleges, Skidmore offered an accepted students’ program. But what made the experience memorable was everything layered around it. We arranged for him to meet with the head of the exercise science program; he toured research labs and connected with students who spoke enthusiastically about Skidmore’s London First-Year Experience program.

Years later, those are exactly the kinds of moments that stand out.

Not just the acceptance letter itself, but having the opportunity to imagine a future there.

That is one reason I have always believed college visits matter so much. They are not simply about checking boxes or gathering facts. They are about helping students discover where they may feel challenged, comfortable, inspired, and excited about the next phase of life.

Sometimes clarity happens during an official admissions presentation. Other times, it happens during a casual conversation with students while walking through a campus, or over dinner with parents after a long day of visits. And for parents, these trips often become something unexpectedly meaningful too. In the middle of busy high school years, college visits create rare opportunities for uninterrupted time together — long drives, airport conversations, meals between campuses, and discussions about hopes, fears, independence, and the future.

The truth is that high school passes remarkably quickly.

Years from now, students may not remember every statistic they researched online or every detail of the admissions process. But many will remember how certain places made them feel, the experiences they shared along the way, and the moments that helped them begin imagining who they were becoming.

And as parents, those are often the memories we hold onto as well.