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Last summer I ask you for suggestions regarding my daughter who planned
to go to a tiny college/horse apprenticeship program. I have been
meaning to write this list for quite some time to tell you "the rest of
the story."

The e-mails about college prompted me to write. This e-mail is not to
disagree with the person who said that living off campus as a celiac
freshman is the best choice for college. They are certainly right. My
daughter is successfully living on campus, but her situation is quite
different from most.

Here is the background.
We found out 10 weeks before school started last fall that my daughter
needed to be on the celiac diet. She had already been admitted and was
promised special considerations due to her lack of energy and other
problems. As soon as we determined that the celiac diet was doing
wonderful things for her energy level we talked to the head of food
service and at first everything sounded good.  Then two weeks before
school started they refused her admittance due to her food
requirements.  In their program the students cook for each other on a
rotating basis. When they realized that they would have to teach 30
students how to cook gluten-free and that nearly nothing they planned to
eat would work for her they panicked. We petitioned them to allow her to
cook her own meals. Three days before we had to leave they relented --
she could come. She was allowed to come for a one month trial period
where she would cook her own meals in her own pans. We spent those days
buying a rice cooker, crock pot, pots and pans, Delimex taquitos, and
numerous mixes.
(It is not possible for Bethany to live off campus since the school is
way out in the country and there isn't any place to live off campus.)

Here is what happened.
I think the cook felt so bad that she had almost kept Bethany from
coming that she decided that if Bethany failed she wanted to be sure
that it wouldn't be due to food. She was convinced that no student had
time to cook as well as keep up with PE starting at 5:30 AM, classes,
chores, and everything else that had to be done, so she decided to take
over the responsibility for Bethany's cooking. As a result everything
has worked out wonderfully and Bethany has not had to cook for herself.
The first week they explained all kitchen rules. This included celiac
contamination issues. They have a different student assistant-cook each
week who is responsible for all of Bethany's and another girl's food
preparation. In the three months she has been there she has only had
gluten once.

Here is why I think it is working
The fact that part of the the student's grade is dependent upon getting
Bethany's food right is surely part of the key to their success.
Another key is that the school is so tiny that everyone knows everyone
else and they genuinely care for one another. They would hate to see
Bethany sick.
My daughter has always believed that people should eat-to-live rather
than live-to-eat. Since she doesn't care if she eats the same things
over and over it makes it easier to please her. Microwaveable taquitos
have been a blessing because they are so fast -- and she likes them.
The final key to her success is that Bethany checks all the food she
eats. A couple of times they have set something in front of her that she
checked -- only to find out that it had wheat.

On another note.
The college/horse apprenticeship program that my daughter goes to now
turns into a horse camp for children in the summer. Now that they are
successfully feeding one celiac and they will have to continue feeding
her in the summer, I should think that they could successfully take
celiac children for their one week horse camps. If you are interested in
a children's horse camp in Pennsylvania e-mail me privately and I'll
give you more details.

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