Child going to college: A joyless spiral of despair?

Ned has finally chosen a college: he will be going to the University of Washington. No laughter or high fives, just glum acceptance and weary paperwork. It was not as if he had won a car on "the Price Is Right" or a lifetime pass to a waterpark. It was like he had enlisted in the army and was now resigned to his fate.  I think he will miss his friends and his present life and doesn't yet see the possibility of his new life. He will be living in the same town and is just a short bus ride away from home cooking, his annoying little brother and free wifi.  Yet, like a true Sander, he sees only the glass half empty and the burden of uncertainty.