Second semester (gen discussion) - Title change

[FaithManor]

Ds has reported, "My anthropology professor is hilarious!"

 

I guess this is good. I was worried that he would find anthropology to be a rather dry class, but he's loving it. The dean of the English department has put him up for an award and told him he'll be in the honors college next year (this was something he was not eligible for as a freshman because he had not taken AP English which at least a 4 on the exam is the requirement to apply to English Honors). He is super excited about that.

 

 

[elegantlion]

Yesterday ds and I both got our certificates in the mail for making the dean's list. I am truly fighting the urge to post a pic of his on facebook so that one certain family member will see that ds WAS ACTUALLY PREPARED to handle to college classroom. I received a stern lecture from said person last summer because they didn't think ds could handle actual "real school" workload and deadlines. Said real person has had no real involvement in our schooling over the years and has only heard second hand information because I don't tell them anything. 

 

On another note, it is weird and fulfilling all at the same time to view your child as a student peer. He's also now ahead of any math I will ever study. His home work the other day in math was to do every sixth problem from 1 to 100 or something. I cringed because I would have to do math just to figure out what math homework to do. Ds wrote some programming code to figure it out.  :lol:

[katilac]

Yesterday ds and I both got our certificates in the mail for making the dean's list. I am truly fighting the urge to post a pic of his on facebook 

 

Go right ahead and post! Nothing wrong with a little mama bragging on Facebook. 

 

And congrats to you both. 

[TechWife]

DS is off to a rough start - he's been sick and has missed a lot of classes. Between being sick, MLK Birthday, a business trip a prof took and the one snow day the uni took,  he's a bit confused as to what, exactly, is going on with his classes. He met with two professors on Wednesday and thinks he can get caught up with one easily, the second one is more challenging, but he thinks he can do it. The PA at student health offered him a medical drop in that second class if he needs it, so he has that in his favor if it becomes absolutely necessary. He is hoping it doesn't because it will get him off track for his portfolio review.  

 

I must say I am very impressed with student health. They have approached his medical situation very aggressively, which is excellent (he has swollen joints and a rash). They have done through blood work and are getting him in to see a specialist there in town. They even had the university police chauffeur him when he was having difficulty walking. He signed a release so that the PA & doctors can talk to me and so the PA calls me once a week with an update. She also gave him her cell phone number when it was snowing so hard and told him to call her if he needed anything and she would bring it to him so he didn't have to go out. 

 

He's feeling much better this weekend and is planning on spending a lot of time in the shop and in the studio, trying to get caught up on things he can't get done in his dorm room. I just hope he doesn't overdo it! 

[MerryAtHope]

 (he has swollen joints and a rash). 

 

Are they looking into Lyme disease? If the rash is still clearly visible, have him take a picture of it. That might be useful later.

 

I'm sorry your son has been sick!

Edited January 30, 2016 by MerryAtHope

[TechWife]

Are they looking into Lyme disease? If the rash is still clearly visible, have him take a picture of it. That might be useful later.

 

I'm sorry your son has been sick!

 

Thanks, Merry! The rash is no longer visible - I wish we did have a picture, I didn't even think of that. They have "ruled out" Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Lyme Disease. I know RA and Lupus can show up at another time. Could Lyme show up at a different time? 

[creekland]

He's feeling much better this weekend and is planning on spending a lot of time in the shop and in the studio, trying to get caught up on things he can't get done in his dorm room. I just hope he doesn't overdo it! 

 

Whatever it is, I'm glad he's feeling better and hope that continues.

 

In other news...

 

We talked with middle son and he's been accepted to work at a local Hospice House as a volunteer - something he has wanted to do, but it will be totally new in his life.  I know he's great around my MIL with Alzheimers and was with my grandma in her last days too, so I suspect he'll be a natural there - a great addition to the people he works with.

 

However, I've learned I need to word it more carefully when I'm telling folks his update.  My mom got a stress test when I told her "_____ has been accepted at hospice."  Apparently she had missed the loop over Christmas when he told us he was hoping to volunteer with them.

[Lilaclady]

Whatever it is, I'm glad he's feeling better and hope that continues.

 

In other news...

 

We talked with middle son and he's been accepted to work at a local Hospice House as a volunteer - something he

 

However, I've learned I need to word it more carefully when I'm telling folks his update. My mom got a stress test when I told her "_____ has been accepted at hospice." Apparently she had missed the loop over Christmas when he told us he was hoping to volunteer with them.

Oh wow I totally get your mom's reaction. Lol

[Kareni]

DS is off to a rough start - he's been sick and has missed a lot of classes.

 

Sending good thoughts that your son's health will continue to improve and that he'll get some answers.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[creekland]

Oh wow I totally get your mom's reaction. Lol

 

Me too and I wouldn't have worded it that way except that we share pretty much everything so I thought she was in the loop and just needed a quick update, so wasn't thinking about it at all.

 

I caught on when there was silence on the other end of the line (instead of the more typical "great" or "I knew he would"), followed by "What did you say?"

 

I've since changed my original wording when updating others to assume others are either outside the loop or don't necessarily remember what he was wanting to do.  While humorous in hindsight, it's not my style of humor.

[MerryAtHope]

Thanks, Merry! The rash is no longer visible - I wish we did have a picture, I didn't even think of that. They have "ruled out" Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Lyme Disease. I know RA and Lupus can show up at another time. Could Lyme show up at a different time? 

 

Yes, and there really is no test that can rule out Lyme (the commonly used tests have between a 30-50% false negative result rate). If he can remember any details about it--how big, where it was, what it looked like, that could possibly be helpful later. If they really don't know what it is and he still has symptoms, I'd look into Lyme disease more. My husband has chronic Lyme and was misdiagnosed several times (and that's a story I've heard often). If he didn't go to a specialist for Lyme disease, I would strongly consider checking out that avenue. 

[TechWife]

Yes, and there really is no test that can rule out Lyme (the commonly used tests have between a 30-50% false negative result rate). If he can remember any details about it--how big, where it was, what it looked like, that could possibly be helpful later. If they really don't know what it is and he still has symptoms, I'd look into Lyme disease more. My husband has chronic Lyme and was misdiagnosed several times (and that's a story I've heard often). If he didn't go to a specialist for Lyme disease, I would strongly consider checking out that avenue. 

 

Merry, he showed it to me when we were Skyping one night, so I know what it looked like. I'm going to sketch it out so that I at least have that. If the pain & rash come back when he finishes this course of medication he will be going to a rheumatologist. 

Edited February 1, 2016 by TechWife

[plansrme]

Merry, he showed it to me when we were Skyping one night, so I know what it looked like. I'm going to sketch it out so that I at least have that. If the pain & rash come back when he finishes this course of medication he will be going to a rheumatologist.

Super long shot here, but a friend of my daughter's is just getting over a long bout with a virus called RSP. Joint pain, weird rash, and potentially dangerous kidney complications. Apparently it usually is bad only in 10'ish year old boys, but she is a healthy, athletic 16 yo girl. She was hospitalized and then on a long course of steroids. Probably not, but I saw the mention of a rash and swollen joints and thought I should throw it out.

[TechWife]

Super long shot here, but a friend of my daughter's is just getting over a long bout with a virus called RSP. Joint pain, weird rash, and potentially dangerous kidney complications. Apparently it usually is bad only in 10'ish year old boys, but she is a healthy, athletic 16 yo girl. She was hospitalized and then on a long course of steroids. Probably not, but I saw the mention of a rash and swollen joints and thought I should throw it out.

If you mean HSP, that is what they think ds has.

[plansrme]

If you mean HSP, that is what they think ds has.

 

Yes, HSP!  Glad he has a diagnosis.  I hope he doesn't have the complications my daughter's friend had.  She's going to be fine, but it was touch-and-go there for a while as to whether she would have permanent kidney damage.  It was a six-week or so adventure for her, but she stayed in school and mostly trained through it.

[TechWife]

Yes, HSP!  Glad he has a diagnosis.  I hope he doesn't have the complications my daughter's friend had.  She's going to be fine, but it was touch-and-go there for a while as to whether she would have permanent kidney damage.  It was a six-week or so adventure for her, but she stayed in school and mostly trained through it.

They are monitoring his kidneys closely, too. He's right at the one month mark, which is when they say the symptoms start to resolve, so we shall see. He finishes up his medication this week. 

[Nan in Mass]

Oh Techwife! How scary! I hope he is ok. And that he manages to hang onto his classes. Is a summer semester an option? My son did a summer semester when he had flu. The possibility might help your son to stay on track and not overdo it while he is healing.

 

Nan

[TechWife]

Oh Techwife! How scary! I hope he is ok. And that he manages to hang onto his classes. Is a summer semester an option? My son did a summer semester when he had flu. The possibility might help your son to stay on track and not overdo it while he is healing.

 

Nan

 

We Skyped with him last night and he looks really good. Hopefully he will maintain his recovery when the medication ends and the meds just aren't keeping it at bay. He is also pretty confident that he can catch up with his classes. The hardest ones are the studio and shop classes. One class, Design Drawing produces about 8 pieces during a 2 1/2 hour class, so he's having to get all of that caught up from classes he missed. His M+P prof was really great about allowing him to put off a test and gave him a separate orientation on the machines & tools in the shop since he missed those classes. Summer semester is an option, but he wants to avoid that, if possible.  We shall see, but he is optimistic and that is making me optimistic as well. 

[plansrme]

Just wanted to post a wee tiny update on my daughter and her research project.  In addition to her three math classes and English II, she is working on a research project with one of her math professors from last semester and one of his Ph.D. students.  The three of them meet weekly to discuss something I do not understand at all, and then she and the Ph.D. student go off and work on it during the week.  She insists that she is an equal partner in these discussions, not just the girl who fetches coffee and dry erase markers.  Anyway, they've figured out something that they're pretty sure will be publishable!  She's beyond excited.  It "won't be a major paper," she says, but still--not bad for a high school senior!  Four hours of undergraduate research or a senior thesis is required for her degree, and she's going to have that mostly knocked out as a high school senior although, of course, I am sure that she will do it again and again and again. . ..

 

Since I've lived in Atlanta, I've heard several times that Georgia Tech's professors have a reputation for being unapproachable, but that has most certainly not been her experience.  She is involved in an informal discussion group with a professor and a couple of his post-docs; she has a female post-doc buddy she can ask questions like, "What do I wear to this seminar?"; she has had professors give her random and unsolicited advice about Ph.D. programs; she was offered this research project and didn't even have to ask for it; she had a professor loan her a text, give her reading assignments and papers on the topic and then discuss them with her so she could get up to speed on some arcane area of math that their class wasn't going to cover; and she has visited professors during their posted office hours many times and always felt welcome.  Maybe they're like weird cult members eyeing a potential new recruit?  That's all I can figure.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Maybe they're like weird cult members eyeing a potential new recruit?

Their math-o-meters are going ding-ding-ding. Congrats to your dd.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Sue in St Pete

[creekland]

Since I've lived in Atlanta, I've heard several times that Georgia Tech's professors have a reputation for being unapproachable, but that has most certainly not been her experience.  She is involved in an informal discussion group with a professor and a couple of his post-docs; she has a female post-doc buddy she can ask questions like, "What do I wear to this seminar?"; she has had professors give her random and unsolicited advice about Ph.D. programs; she was offered this research project and didn't even have to ask for it; she had a professor loan her a text, give her reading assignments and papers on the topic and then discuss them with her so she could get up to speed on some arcane area of math that their class wasn't going to cover; and she has visited professors during their posted office hours many times and always felt welcome.  Maybe they're like weird cult members eyeing a potential new recruit?  That's all I can figure.

 

Can't speak for GT, but I can say most professors really enjoy working with an enthusiastic student and do their best to try to help them with their lives.  Perhaps it is like a cult in a way.  What they don't care for are the same repetitive boring questions over and over again from students who haven't really tried to figure out an answer and are only doing so now to get a grade (vs the love of learning).

 

Many of our top kids come back raving about relationships (not the love kind!) with profs.  They've indeed found their tribe.

 

Middle son has had similar experiences and it's a big reason why I'm no longer worried about whether he'll get into med school or not.  His mentors will see to it that he does.  I've no idea where, of course, but that's of less importance to me.

[DawnM]

Not sure if I can post here since technically my son is still a high schooler (dual enrollment) but he just started at the CC and is in a trade/tech program.  He is studying Simulation and Game Development/Design and we weren't sure how it would go (Asperger's, LDs, dysgraphia, etc....) but so far he is doing very well and really enjoying it!

 

He is taking 3 classes right now and plans to take 3 per semester, which means the 68 credits will take 3.5-4 years but we are fine with that.

 

Dawn

[plansrme]

Not sure if I can post here since technically my son is still a high schooler (dual enrollment) but he just started at the CC and is in a trade/tech program.  He is studying Simulation and Game Development/Design and we weren't sure how it would go (Asperger's, LDs, dysgraphia, etc....) but so far he is doing very well and really enjoying it!

 

He is taking 3 classes right now and plans to take 3 per semester, which means the 68 credits will take 3.5-4 years but we are fine with that.

 

Dawn

 

I'm also a trespasser with a DE student, so I say, "Come on in!"  

[Luckymama]

The spring semester began this week after a long winter session. My junior is taking the last needed class for her French major, the next-to-last ones for her English major, the next-to-last for her theatre minor, and a really cool linguistics class.

 

High school dd's Arabic prof told her Monday that she would test at intermediate-low now :)

[Kathy in Richmond]

Just wanted to post a wee tiny update on my daughter and her research project.  In addition to her three math classes and English II, she is working on a research project with one of her math professors from last semester and one of his Ph.D. students.  The three of them meet weekly to discuss something I do not understand at all, and then she and the Ph.D. student go off and work on it during the week.  She insists that she is an equal partner in these discussions, not just the girl who fetches coffee and dry erase markers.  Anyway, they've figured out something that they're pretty sure will be publishable!  She's beyond excited.  It "won't be a major paper," she says, but still--not bad for a high school senior!  Four hours of undergraduate research or a senior thesis is required for her degree, and she's going to have that mostly knocked out as a high school senior although, of course, I am sure that she will do it again and again and again. . ..

 

Since I've lived in Atlanta, I've heard several times that Georgia Tech's professors have a reputation for being unapproachable, but that has most certainly not been her experience.  She is involved in an informal discussion group with a professor and a couple of his post-docs; she has a female post-doc buddy she can ask questions like, "What do I wear to this seminar?"; she has had professors give her random and unsolicited advice about Ph.D. programs; she was offered this research project and didn't even have to ask for it; she had a professor loan her a text, give her reading assignments and papers on the topic and then discuss them with her so she could get up to speed on some arcane area of math that their class wasn't going to cover; and she has visited professors during their posted office hours many times and always felt welcome.  Maybe they're like weird cult members eyeing a potential new recruit?  That's all I can figure.

Congrats to your dd on her research project! I love your updates on her progress in math and at GT.

 

Their math department was a friendly, nerdy, welcoming bunch even back in the day that I taught there. And yeah, it had the same reputation then. I could never quite figure out why, except that a tech school is always going to have a bunch of kids who don't make it through the first couple of years for one reason or another, & their stories seem to predominate.

 

Weird cult eyeing a new recruit, eh? Resistance is futile!

[Nan in Mass]

Not sure if I can post here since technically my son is still a high schooler (dual enrollment) but he just started at the CC and is in a trade/tech program.  He is studying Simulation and Game Development/Design and we weren't sure how it would go (Asperger's, LDs, dysgraphia, etc....) but so far he is doing very well and really enjoying it!

 

He is taking 3 classes right now and plans to take 3 per semester, which means the 68 credits will take 3.5-4 years but we are fine with that.

 

Dawn

 

Of course you can!

[Lilaclady]

Just wanted to post a wee tiny update on my daughter and her research project. In addition to her three math classes and English II, she is working on a research project with one of her math professors from last semester and one of his Ph.D. students. The three of them meet weekly to discuss something I do not understand at all, and then she and the Ph.D. student go off and work on it during the week. She insists that she is an equal partner in these discussions, not just the girl who fetches coffee and dry erase markers. Anyway, they've figured out something that they're pretty sure will be publishable!

. Maybe they're like weird cult members eyeing a potential new recruit? That's all I can figure.

That is awesome. Good job to her .

[BlsdMama]

Yesterday ds and I both got our certificates in the mail for making the dean's list. I am truly fighting the urge to post a pic of his on facebook so that one certain family member will see that ds WAS ACTUALLY PREPARED to handle to college classroom. I received a stern lecture from said person last summer because they didn't think ds could handle actual "real school" workload and deadlines. Said real person has had no real involvement in our schooling over the years and has only heard second hand information because I don't tell them anything. 

 

On another note, it is weird and fulfilling all at the same time to view your child as a student peer. He's also now ahead of any math I will ever study. His home work the other day in math was to do every sixth problem from 1 to 100 or something. I cringed because I would have to do math just to figure out what math homework to do. Ds wrote some programming code to figure it out.  :lol:

Why resist?  

 

Do it.  :)  Do it twice -once for each of you. ;)

[creekland]

Heard from youngest this afternoon.  He has the lead male part in Eckerd's spring play, "The Best of Everything."

 

Then he told us he's seriously thinking of changing his major (again) to Human Development this time (from Theater) and adding a minor in Middle Eastern Studies.  His longevity study in Greece made quite the impact on him and now he loves the whole kit and kaboodle of studying about how humans develop - plus - he says there have been plenty of job options for graduates in that major from his college, so he's genuinely thinking about his future and what he wants to do.

 

He's had a change in roommates - for the better.  He finally has someone he fits with super well.  New roomie is also in the play and shares many likes/dislikes.  We met him when we were there in Nov and he's a terrific young man.

 

He's attending (and enjoying) his classes AND doing the homework in ALL of them, even the one where he said the reading is grueling.   :party:

 

My lad is seriously maturing in a wonderful way.  College has been very, very beneficial for him in many ways - academics included.  I look forward to seeing him again in person soon.  

[at the beach]

Classes started a little over a month ago. Dd was really not ready to go back. :unsure:  She was very happy about being in a new major but worried about having a heavier course load. She also had to take engineering chem, which is an extra credit hour and supposedly harder than the premed chem because only the engineering chem is offered in the spring. She'd planned to do some prep over break but didn't. She's happy and relieved all her classes are going well so far, but the workload is intense. It seems to be a constant juggling act to stay on top of it. 

 

Sorority rush the first few weeks of the semester was exhausting and stressful. She is a new pledge now. :) Then she has her other activities. All fun, but a lot to manage with classes.  

 

And she found out yesterday she got an RA position. She'll get a free room plus a stipend. :hurray: I think it will be a great experience for her. She wasn't thinking she'd get a position because it's very competitive. So, feeling really thrilled and grateful! She also gets to choose a friend to have on her floor (because she got a position as a second-year RA) and that will be her current roommate. I'm so glad they get along and have become friends. Also, she may have the opportunity to take a classics field course in Greece this summer (funded by the department). 

 

Overall, second semester is off to a good start and first year seems like it's flying by.

Edited February 13, 2016 by at the beach

[Jenny in Florida]

We shall see, but he is optimistic and that is making me optimistic as well. 

 

I'm so glad he's feeling better!

[Jenny in Florida]

So, I had a new experience yesterday. I went to a college basketball game. You might need to know me in person to get why this is so out of character and, well, downright giggle-worthy. I am, to put it mildly, not a sports person. However, my darling son has been recruited to join the pep band. Mind you, he hasn't played any instrument except the piano (for required musicianship classes) since he was eight or nine, but one of this dance cronies pulled him aside after tap rehearsal one day and said, essentially, you do rhythm things: Can you play a drum?

 

It's been a challenge, because the regular rehearsals with the full band take place during rehearsals for his vocal ensemble, but he attends the sectional rehearsals and goes to the full rehearsals whenever he's not needed at the vocal ensemble.

 

He played his first games yesterday and, since we had already planned for me to go collect him and bring him home for a couple of nights, I decided to arrive early enough to see/her the band.

 

My son also has precisely zero interest in sports. He texted me at some point in the second period saying, "Are you as bored as I am?" However, he had a good time playing with the band.

 

We'll be driving down to his campus the next two weekends to see him in the Spring Dance Concert and then in a staged opera being performed at the big state campus nearby. (The director recruited him to join the cast, because they needed a deep voice and someone who could pick up the dance choreography.)

 

After that, it will be the mainstage musical and the opera ensemble performance. The opera group is doing scenes from The Magic Flute and The Mikado, and he's got nice roles in both.

 

The one blip in what is otherwise a pretty nice semester is that both of his roommates decided to take advantage of open room change week to move. (They are both freshman and have now made friends on campus.) That left him alone in a nice, big triple . . . for about three hours. Then two guys who are friends and who had been in overflow housing got transferred into the room. While he wasn't best buddies with the first two guys, they mostly got along. However, he is definitely not compatible with these two, and since they are already friends, things are getting uncomfortable. They actually have a third friend who is also in overflow and who would like to take my son's spot and move into the room. So, they worked out a plan to switch places, moving my son to the third guy's spot in overflow -- which is housed on the upper floors of a nearby hotel. Because they are trying to make the switch outside of open room change week, they had to go to Housing and fill out paperwork and wait for approval. But it sounds like it could be a good plan for everyone. The three friends get to room together. my son gets away from two guys with whom he has nothing in common and with whom there are some sources of tension, my guy gets to move into a (smaller) room with only one roommate and a few amenities like a TV with cable and free weekly housekeeping and a pool and fitness room right downstairs. 

 

So, we'll see how that goes.

 

He's very much hoping to get into one of the apartment-style dorms next year, where he would have his own bedroom and access to a kitchen. He's getting pretty tired of sharing space and making do with cafeteria food.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

DS was selected to serve on the jury for an honor's trial.   :(  He said it was an interesting process but he was relieved when it was over. He was exhausted at the end of the day as the jury was on duty for 14 hours with only a couple of short breaks.  

 

Now it's back to homework and catching up on the classes he missed.

Edited February 18, 2016 by ScoutermominIL

[creekland]

DS was selected to serve on an the jury for an honor's trial.   :(  He said it was an interesting process but he was relieved when it was over. He was exhausted at the end of the day as the jury was on duty for 14 hours with only a couple of short breaks.  

 

Now it's back to homework and catching up on the classes he missed.

 

14 hours for one case?  That seems like a lot.  One has to wonder what the case was about!

 

Or was it more than one?  If so, it seems they could have divided it over a couple of days, but I suppose that would interfere with classes more.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

14 hours for one case?  That seems like a lot.  One has to wonder what the case was about!

 

Or was it more than one?  If so, it seems they could have divided it over a couple of days, but I suppose that would interfere with classes more.

It was one case.  Jurors had to report at 6:30am and deliberations and decisions ended a little after 8pm. 

[TechWife]

I just want to say that I really despise the way that my son's university does housing for upperclassmen. They only guarantee housing for freshmen and then everyone else goes into a lottery pool. I have no idea what their definition of "housing lottery" is. They send out a bunch of emails every couple of days, give them 48 hours to sign up, then send out another batch, and so on. There are no "squatters rights" and there is no rhyme or reason to this lottery. 

[creekland]

It was one case.  Jurors had to report at 6:30am and deliberations and decisions ended a little after 8pm. 

 

:svengo: I can't imagine!  What a case it must have been.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

:svengo: I can't imagine!  What a case it must have been.

I'm dying to know (I love court and criminal dramas, documentaries, etc. and have always wanted to be on a jury) .  He's been busy with papers and research and didn't communicate much yesterday. I don't know if he can talk about it or if it is private. I wonder what the protocol is for such proceedings; my guess is they are kept private as I have no first hand knowledge of any from the colleges I have attended or worked for. 

 

All I know is that the school must take honor violations seriously.  From what DS did say, the process was very much like a civil or criminal court proceeding or at least what they look like on TV.  He received a jury summons, had to report to court for jury selection, was interviewed, received a notice of selection a few days later.

 

ETA:  DS sent a text saying he couldn't talk about it. All he could say was that it was serious.  I guess I'll never know.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I just want to say that I really despise the way that my son's university does housing for upperclassmen. They only guarantee housing for freshmen and then everyone else goes into a lottery pool. I have no idea what their definition of "housing lottery" is. They send out a bunch of emails every couple of days, give them 48 hours to sign up, then send out another batch, and so on. There are no "squatters rights" and there is no rhyme or reason to this lottery. 

How odd. 

[creekland]

ETA:  DS sent a text saying he couldn't talk about it. All he could say was that it was serious.  I guess I'll never know.

 

My guys would give us brief general summaries in situations like this (BTDT with similar issues).  We'd never have exact details or names, but that's to be expected.  If someone wants absolute secrecy within our family with things like this they're never going to get it.   :coolgleamA:

[NCMom]

I just want to say that I really despise the way that my son's university does housing for upperclassmen. They only guarantee housing for freshmen and then everyone else goes into a lottery pool. I have no idea what their definition of "housing lottery" is. They send out a bunch of emails every couple of days, give them 48 hours to sign up, then send out another batch, and so on. There are no "squatters rights" and there is no rhyme or reason to this lottery. 

 

Ugh. DD's have a friend who goes there (if I'm remembering the school correctly) and she is always so stressed about housing.

Hoping for a good outcome!

 

Georgia

[JanetC]

Well, if CC DE kids are playing then I'll join in, too. DD is on the quarter system, so hitting midterms in second quarter classes now. She has a grueling (for her) schedule: Comp II (research paper), Stats (because I'm making her do math), and Intro to Theatre (which has had as many papers as Comp II so far!). Plus she's president of the art club and joined the CC dance company (on top of being at the dance studio she's been at since elementary school). Theatre also requires volunteering for the school production (she worked in the shop). She tried joining the drama club too, but decided it was too much. She DID however recruit someone from drama club to recite a poem for a spoken-word-choreography piece in the CC dance company show.

 

She just had registration for next quarter: She is taking French III (from her favorite professor), a half-credit class on Hand and Power Tools (interest sparked by working in the shop), a half-credit Keyboard I class (she's owned a keyboard since her 16th birthday but has only been teaching herself, but she already reads music from playing flute and getting some music theory with her flute lessons), and Sound Engineering I (because it looked cool - she's always been fascinated by sound). A very hands-on and fun last quarter for the end of senior year!

[TechWife]

Ugh. DD's have a friend who goes there (if I'm remembering the school correctly) and she is always so stressed about housing.

Hoping for a good outcome!

 

Georgia

 

He was notified today that he has a room on campus for next year! Yippee - we don't have to go apartment hunting this weekend! 

[TechWife]

How odd. 

 

It is very odd! They also do a "housing fair" where the students can talk to the various off campus property management companies/landlords and they do a legal clinic on how to read a lease - but they do these events in November! Who, I ask, is really paying attention to housing for the following year in November?? DS said he didn't see any notices up about the events and only found out about them when they started the dorm "registration" in January, two months after they happened! 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2016 by TechWife

[TechWife]

 a half-credit class on Hand and Power Tools (interest sparked by working in the shop), 

 

 

DS would drool! He has M + P (Materials & Processes) this semester and so had an orientation to the shop and can now use it at will. He's thrilled! 

 

[snowbeltmom]

I have mentioned this before, but my oldest had an injury the fall of his junior year of high school, which is the kiss of death for an athlete who wants to be recruited for college.  Ironically, the injury was due to years of baseball pitching, something he did "just for fun" because he liked playing with his friends in a team sport.

 

He ended up having Tommy John surgery and spending over a year rehabbing before he could step foot back on the court. His hard work has paid off - he is now part of a team with a great group of guys.  We went up to see him play in his opening match,  and it was wonderful to see him so happy.

 

 

 

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I've been adding social and work obligations to the calendar and realized I have to go pick up DS in three and a half weeks.  He leaves for Japan in less than a month. That means he will be cleaning out his dorm room and I'll be trucking his stuff back home. Where did the time go?

[elegantlion]

Our fall schedules came out this today. Thankfully neither ds nor I have scheduling issues. He, however, will have 8am classes every day. :svengo: Since he doesn't yet drive, it's going to early mornings for both of us. We're planning to move to the town where our college is this summer, this will cut our commute time in half at least. 

[Mom22ns]

Our fall schedules came out this today. Thankfully neither ds nor I have scheduling issues. He, however, will have 8am classes every day. :svengo: Since he doesn't yet drive, it's going to early mornings for both of us. We're planning to move to the town where our college is this summer, this will cut our commute time in half at least. 

 

I'm glad your drive is getting shorter!

 

Both my kids colleges course listings came out today. From what I can see, neither of them will have a class before 10:00 am unless dd takes an 8:00 yoga class (which she would like to do). 

 

I'm none too happy about how ds's college does housing for returning students either. Students get in room-mate groups and they sign up for housing in order of total credits in their group. Ds doesn't have a group which will exclude him from apartment housing completely. He has been happy enough in the dorm this year. As long as he gets back in the same dorm with private bedrooms, it will be ok. However, most of that dorm is for freshman. We'll see.