From Robert Geller, Fusion PR, for First College Visit, a series of first college visit stories by business professionals sponsored by SmartCollegeVisit.

Who says you can't go home again? I had the opportunity to step back in time recently when I took my daughter to look at colleges, first in Boston, and then in Maryland and Delaware. 

Some might consider it a chore, this time-honored ritual; for me it was a chance to relive the sights and sounds of my college days while spending quality time with my daughter.
 
I was brimming with pride over the fact that my daughter's first choice was Boston University, my alma mater. This campus visit gave me the greatest sense of déjà vu.  I was a kid again, at least for a little while.  Our daughter, who is more serious about her studies then I ever was, was the mature young adult.  
 
Memories flooded back as we exited Storrow Drive and approached the Back Bay area.  The place really hadn't changed that much. The Citgo sign is still in Kenmore Square.  We passed by my old apartment and Myles Standish Hall, a dorm I lived in my first year at BU.
 
As we sat for the information session, I could not help but stop and marvel at this beautiful creature my wife and I had produced: My daughter is sensitive, intelligent, and serious. She took notes and listened intently.

Meanwhile, Dad was distracted, fiddling with his BlackBerry during the presentation. You may think that I was taking care of serious business. Actually, I was playing Brick Breaker.  She shot death rays at me, her eyes imploring me to stop fidgeting and playing, followed by a sharp verbal rebuke. 
 
It was a true role reversal:  Dad, the overgrown kid with the adolescent humor and short attention span stood in stark contrast to the serious daughter.  She was all business and wanted her parents to be too.  With that, I snapped to attention and even asked a question or two, as I recall my parents did when they accompanied me on my college tours.

Later, as with the rest of the tours, we truly enjoyed the chipper kid leading it. They must audition for these roles.  Their delivery is as interesting as the content they share. They always have great personal anecdotes and insights, served up while walking backwards like crabs.
 
I must confess that I was a bit jealous as my daughter left us to meet with some BU students at a prearranged lunch for applicants.

I wanted to go, hear about college life, and pretend I was a college kid again.

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Robert Geller, an executive vice president with New York City-based Fusion PR, writes the blog Flack's Revenge.

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First College Visit on Handshake 2.0, a series of first college visit stories by business professionals, is sponsored by SmartCollegeVisit, a college visit portal with tools and resources for planning campus visit travel, college visit advice from parents to parents, not-to-miss college campus sites, and more. You're invited to subscribe to SmartCollegeVisit updates, to follow SmartCollegeVisit on Twitter, and to become a fan of SmartCollegeVisit on Facebook.