Bates Family - Part 4

[melon]

Well,isn't Chicago one the most expensive cities to live in?

If they do move to Big Sandy,Texas.Would the cost of living be cheaper?

Also they'd be closer to Tennessee.

Just saying.

[HereticHick]

Well,isn't Chicago one the most expensive cities to live in?

If they do move to Big Sandy,Texas.Would the cost of living be cheaper?

Also they'd be closer to Tennessee.

Just saying.

Cost of living will be cheaper (at least the housing) but I am not sure that Big Sandy (in East TX, near Tyler) is any closer to the Bates home in Rocky Top (formerly Lake City) in East TN than Chicago is.

[HarleyQuinn]

"The decision has been made. Last week it was officially announced that IBLP will be relocating its headquarters from Chicago to Big Sandy, Texas. The trends over the last 15 years have shown that the ministry has more properties than it currently needs, and after much prayer and consideration it was decided that it would be a financially strategic move to consolidate with the ALERT campus down in Texas. While not unexpected, the move will still be quite a change for all of us."

"After much prayer and consideration" :lol:

Sorry, I had to snark. As for Lawson's singing voice - it's very generic. (Though a lot of country music sounds that way to me) but the thing that hurts him the most is he has no musical influence. It's obvious he hasn't heard a lot of other country music outside of the approved Christian type, so everything is too safe and amateur.

[EmiGirl]

Cost of living will be cheaper (at least the housing) but I am not sure that Big Sandy (in East TX, near Tyler) is any closer to the Bates home in Rocky Top (formerly Lake City) in East TN than Chicago is.

I'm pretty sure that it would be farther away than Chicago.

[quiversR4hunting]

I'm pretty sure that it would be farther away than Chicago.

you are right - 770 miles to Big Sandy. 523 to Oak Brook. (mapquest)

[socalrules]

Forget the talent issue, if you want to be a musician you have to put in your dues. That means taking any signing opportunity you can get. Signing in bars, at birthday parties, hell singing on the street. You will have to interact with people who look, think, act and behave in a manner different than you and you will have to keep quiet about it. You have to be willing to learn music, not just sing it. The best musicians have been influenced by multiple types if music. Does Lawson really want to be a musician or does he just want to be famous? It is obvious that Erin truly loves playing the piano and she has put the work in. I am not so sure about Lawson.

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

I see the big difference between Erin and Lawson being that Erin was tied to the home. After she was done helping with sister-mom domestic duties she probably had a lot of time on her hands to work on her piano playing skills.

Then you have Lawson who *wants* to be a musician but doesn't seem to have the skills or spend a real amount of time practicing. I think he is off running around having too much fun living a much more free young adult existence than any of his sisters will ever be afforded.

[MissBitters]

It irks me Lawson is allowed to pursue his country music career while Erin had to turn down a music scholarship at the University of Tennessee. Even worse, it looks like he's not working on his singing so much as he is taking a long spring break. Erin may claim she made the decision to not accept the scholarship, but Gil and Kelly were probably the ones with the final say. I know she is happy teaching piano but there has to be some regret in the back of her mind.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Maybe he decided he didn't want to be in the lawn care business for the rest of his life.

Imagine that. Probably pays the younger boys to do the work. Of course since Mama and Daddy are earning money now he doesn't have to bankroll them....

[princessmahina]

It irks me Lawson is allowed to pursue his country music career while Erin had to turn down a music scholarship at the University of Tennessee. Even worse, it looks like he's not working on his singing so much as he is taking a long spring break. Erin may claim she made the decision to not accept the scholarship, but Gil and Kelly were probably the ones with the final say. I know she is happy teaching piano but there has to be some regret in the back of her mind.

Every time someone tries to imply the Bateses are better than the Duggars, this pops into my head. I think it is just so cruel of Gil and Kelly to take away such an opportunity from Erin. Not to mention, it might have been cheaper for her to go to UT, depending on what the scholarship covered. As it was, Lawson "lent" Erin the money for her Clown College tuition.

[Alexa]

Every time someone tries to imply the Bateses are better than the Duggars, this pops into my head. I think it is just so cruel of Gil and Kelly to take away such an opportunity from Erin. Not to mention, it might have been cheaper for her to go to UT, depending on what the scholarship covered. As it was, Lawson "lent" Erin the money for her Clown College tuition.

There was never any way that Erin was ever going to accept that scholarship because her parents would NEVER have let her.Guess they have no real faith in their kids because they refuse to let them out into the real world on their own. Since Erin May not end up having a ton of kids I can see her wondering "what if" more than a typical fundie woman. Eventually she may really be resentful of it. I will say, at least Gil and Kelly Jo "let" Erin go to some sort of college and expand on her musical ability. Could you Jim Bob and Michelle letting any of their daughters go to Crown College at all? Look at Jana, they call her a concert pianist but all she really is is Michelle's personal unpaid nanny and surrogate mom to her siblings.

[socalrules]

I have always wondered if it was a full scholarship, which I kind of doubt, or if it was one of those partial scholarships where she gets $5k but has to come up with the other $20k. I have also wondered how a girl who is homeschooled and obviously isn't applying to real colleges, gets a scholarship to a state school. How did they know about her musical ability enough to offer her a scholarship. A part of me has wondered if it was something made up to show that the kids can't still go to secular schools but choose not to.

I have also never believed that that Crown College charged Erin the full fee. My guess is that she received a reduced rate for the publicity to other fundies.

[16strong]

I have always wondered if it was a full scholarship, which I kind of doubt, or if it was one of those partial scholarships where she gets $5k but has to come up with the other $20k. I have also wondered how a girl who is homeschooled and obviously isn't applying to real colleges, gets a scholarship to a state school. How did they know about her musical ability enough to offer her a scholarship. A part of me has wondered if it was something made up to show that the kids can't still go to secular schools but choose not to.

I have also never believed that that Crown College charged Erin the full fee. My guess is that she received a reduced rate for the publicity to other fundies.

You don't have to be "known about" to be offered a scholarship, although it does happen. It is common for music schools consider applicants for scholarships at the time of audition. In fact, most do it this way to streamline things. It's not hard to schedule an audition, and it's not out of realm to believe that Erin applied and auditioned there. I think it's likely that she took a campus tour and just felt more comfortable at Crown.

[divadivine]

You don't have to be "known about" to be offered a scholarship, although it does happen. It is common for music schools consider applicants for scholarships at the time of audition. In fact, most do it this way to streamline things. It's not hard to schedule an audition, and it's not out of realm to believe that Erin applied and auditioned there. I think it's likely that she took a campus tour and just felt more comfortable at Crown.

Her piano teacher was a professor at UT. That's how she received the scholarship offer.

[Snarkle]

I seriously doubt Erin would have felt comfortable at UT, especially considering her sheltered upbringing. There would have been a LOT of secular influences, and while she probably would have enjoyed her music classes, taking core courses probably would not have sat well with her. It also may have been challenging to her to be in a regular classroom with the pace of college classes - something her homeschooling may not have adequately prepared for. On the other hand, Crown is in her wheelhouse and "protected" her from outside influences and gave her a platform to promote her religious-based music. I teach at a small religious college and while some of my students are clearly able to thrive at (and possibly should have gone to) large state universities, many of them prefer the religious aspects of a smaller college and feel at home there. I've also been touring colleges lately with my son, and one elite college admits arts students (drama and music and visual arts) nearly 100% by their portfolio or audition, and a student's transcript doesn't count for much, so it depends on the school.

[anjulibai]

Imagine that. Probably pays the younger boys to do the work. Of course since Mama and Daddy are earning money now he doesn't have to bankroll them....

So now he can do what many young people in their 20s do - pursue their passion and see if they can make it work. Some do, some move on and find something that at least satisfies them. I did the same thing at that age, though I used college to see if I could make my passion work. Turns out I couldn't, but I am glad I tried and now I am just beginning to settle into a career I find very satisfying.

Lawson is the type of person that I can doing a lot of different things in life just because he's can. Most people I know like that typically do pretty well for themselves, and lead very interesting lives.

That said, most people I know like that also don't have the limitations that fundism brings. I think that will limit Lawson, but perhaps he will be able to see that and be able to move away from it at some point.

[Snarkle]

Uh oh--

Micheala & Brandon might want to stop unpacking the wedding gifts in their Chicago home--

Staddon Family blog announces that IBLP is downsizing & moving from Chicago to Big Sandy.

Wow - does this mean that the Wallers will be relocating as well? And it sounds more like reading between the lines that donations are down since Gothard's fall from grace and consolidating things is more economically feasible. It will be interesting to see if they keep the Northwoods retreat as well, because that was a reasonable drive from HQ and as has been documented a number of times by various ATI-ers such as Priscilla and Michaella, a lot of matchmaking has happened when young ladies travel to the Northwoods and catch the eye of a worker bee from the IBLP offices. There is no mention yet on Robert Staddon's blog or his Twitter feed on his site about the impending move (and if they are part of it). Don't some of the other Waller kids work at IBLP as well? As for Brandon & Michaella, it will be seen if they make the move as well or if Brandon has a new "calling." There is no mention of the relocation on the IBLP site yet...

[alphagirlzk]

God only knows what kind of tax breaks they will be getting with the move to Texas. The Big Sandy area is bible belt conservative, more so than the rest of the state. Texas seems to be a lot more conducive to their crazy beliefs than Illinois would be.

[HarleyQuinn]

I seriously doubt Erin would have felt comfortable at UT, especially considering her sheltered upbringing. There would have been a LOT of secular influences, and while she probably would have enjoyed her music classes, taking core courses probably would not have sat well with her. It also may have been challenging to her to be in a regular classroom with the pace of college classes - something her homeschooling may not have adequately prepared for. On the other hand, Crown is in her wheelhouse and "protected" her from outside influences and gave her a platform to promote her religious-based music. I teach at a small religious college and while some of my students are clearly able to thrive at (and possibly should have gone to) large state universities, many of them prefer the religious aspects of a smaller college and feel at home there. I've also been touring colleges lately with my son, and one elite college admits arts students (drama and music and visual arts) nearly 100% by their portfolio or audition, and a student's transcript doesn't count for much, so it depends on the school.

I agree Erin may not have felt comfortable there, but I think she would've, eventually. It just makes me sad that Kelly and Gil probably made that decision for her. They try to present themselves as very laid back and supportive of whatever decision their adult children make, but they shame Zach and Whitney for kissing and probably influenced Erin in turning that down.

[MatthewDuggar]

While sad, it wasn't much of a shocker to me that Erin turned down the scholarship. At the time, she seemed to be one of the more sheltered and dare I say ignorant of the kids. Unless she went to that school with a team of fundies to hang around with she probably would have ran home crying after a week anyway.

[formergothardite]

While sad, it wasn't much of a shocker to me that Erin turned down the scholarship. At the time, she seemed to be one of the more sheltered and dare I say ignorant of the kids. Unless she went to that school with a team of fundies to hang around with she probably would have ran home crying after a week anyway.

I entered a secular college an extremely sheltered fundie, and while it was scary and I wanted to cry at first, it did me a world of good. Gil and Kelly did Erin no favors by discouraging her from accepting the scholarship because of fears over things like sitting next to a person with green hair. They knew that if Erin was exposed to people and beliefs that she wasn't used to there is a good chance she would start viewing things differently, and they didn't want that. They didn't want her to question the way she was raised.

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

Overall Illinois is very progressive, but there are still quite a few fundies there. The Western Burbs of Chicago are home to many conservative Christian Organizations. Up until the 1990's- there were several evangelical mission boards in the area but I believe they have now moved to the Denver area. Wheaton College (home of the Billy Graham Center) and Tyndale publishers are in Wheaton/Carol Stream are and don't forget about Moody Bible Institute as well.

[nolongerIFBx]

Overall Illinois is very progressive, but there are still quite a few fundies there. The Western Burbs of Chicago are home to many conservative Christian Organizations. Up until the 1990's- there were several evangelical mission boards in the area but I believe they have now moved to the Denver area. Wheaton College (home of the Billy Graham Center) and Tyndale publishers are in Wheaton/Carol Stream are and don't forget about Moody Bible Institute as well.

You've also got some of the biggest names in IFBx-dom there- Keith Gomez in Elgin, IL and First Baptist/Hyles-Anderson in Crown Point, IN who come into the Chicago area every Saturday and Sunday.

[amster]

So any idea what Cherin's announcement is yet?

[busdrivingmom]

I haven't had a chance to go by IBLP HQ this week (while I do live close, its out of the way from my work). I wonder if they are going to advertise its for sale or try to find a buyer privately.

So, I wonder, will Brandon and Michella will move to Texas, or stay in Chicago still on Gothard business. I can't see Gothard giving up the presence here.