Reddick woman, 21, going to college in China

There'll be no homecoming football game. And no coming home for laundry.

College life is definitely going to change this semester for Reddick's Brittany Ashburn. The 21-year-old international business major is leaving Aug. 27 to study at Shanghai University in China.

"Yes, I'm excited and anxious," said Ashburn, a senior at North Central College in Naperville. "And, no, I can't speak Chinese, yet. I'll be taking classes in Mandarin four hours a day when I get there."

Obviously, Brittany, the daughter of James and Dawn Ashburn, has been thinking about this 7,000-mile adventure for quite awhile.

"We have to study abroad in this major and there's a class that prepares international students. I also have two mentors I've been talking to for awhile," she explained. "There is a lot to learn before you go."

Some of the "Don'ts" on her list:

• Don't talk about the American government or politics at all.

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KCC sponsoring college fair

The Kankakee regional high schools will be sponsoring a college fair from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at Kankakee Community College.

More than 60 colleges and universities will be attending.

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As students look forward to college, parents deal with empty homes

It was almost 19 years ago that Maryann and Roger Kenton brought home their infant twins, Rebecka and Jarod. They were four months premature and their brand new parents were on high alert.

Ever since that day, their house has been a whirlwind of activities: from double diaper duty, through that first day of kindergarten, soccer practices, lots of homework and, last spring, the twins' graduation from Herscher High School.

The flurry slows today in that Limestone home. And it ends Tuesday. Jarod moves into his dorm at Illinois State University in Normal today; next week Rebecka will start her first semester at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

"I can't imagine what it will be like without them," Maryann said. "They each told me I have to wait at least a couple weeks before I can come and see them. But it's more than me missing them.

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