So, how do your freshman seem to be adjusting??

[Arch at Home]

My DD is a first year at Smith College. 

Initially she was disappointed that she was assigned to a single but after a bit of nosing around the housing website she determined that her house has a large number of singles and was good to go.

Orientation was tiring as she is a definitely an introvert and needs her sleep. Enrollment threw another blow at her as she only got 2 out of 5 classes. However, after a professor opened up a class for her, she switched sessions for another class, and discovered a third class that looked interesting, she has a full schedule and is enjoying her classes.

DD is gluten-free and food is always a question when going into a new setting. To date, she is enjoying Smith’s exclusively gluten-free dining hall and the freedom of being able to get a to-go box if she want to eat with friends in another dining hall.

Extracurricularly DD is doing well. She auditioned for and was cast in an on-campus production not to mention trying out a couple of clubs. She is making friends and having fun exploring with a variety of people. We were also very surprised when she scored a rare work study job. The interviewer was quite impressed that she had written a cover letter.

[MtnTeaching]

I thought I would bump this back up a bit now that the freshmen have had a chance to settle in and get a few exams/projects/papers under their belts.  My dd just hit a bit of a wall and called me stressing out.  She dealt with a nasty case of Lyme Disease during High School and took two gap years before heading to college as a 21 year old freshman.  She worked part time those two years for...get this...our local school district (homeschool enrichment program).  It was the best thing she could have done.  Her work ethic and maturity was huge heading into college this year.

Unfortunately, she is also dyslexic and a bit of a perfectionist.  She is attending a very small school in Colorado that is a perfect fit for her, working toward dual Graphic Design and Graphic Media degrees .  Her roommate was also homeschooled and my dd loves her (just not her dating drama).  After working for the school system, dd has no trouble asking for helping and talking to the teachers , which is a good thing for a freshman.

Her biggest problem is herself and the demands she puts on herself.  Due to her past Lyme Disease, she needs to eat well, sleep well, and reduce her stress.  Due to her dyslexia, everything (especially her math class this semester) takes a long time.  She has been trying to make top grades in everything and I think she is wearing herself out.  Her anxiety is sky high. 

I have made a point of letting her know that she does not have to be perfect.  (After studying for days, she received a 105 on her first math test, and she has always struggled in math).  We have told her repeatedly that we do not expect "A's" every time she hands something in.  A low grade - or even a bad grade- is going to happen some day, and it is not the end of the world.  It happens, and we will love her and be proud of her anyway.  We also want her to enjoy college, enjoy the experience, make friends, enjoy living in the Rocky Mountains and all it entails (hiking, skiing, fly fishing - which she loves)  and to learn how to "roll with the punches".  

I am just not sure how to get this through to her in a way that will reduce her anxiety.

[...................]

Wow, she sounds like a real survivor and has taken great opportunities even while being ill and recovering!!!  My dd is also coming off of two years with MTBIs and the sale of her horse which was like losing a major relationship....I think when they re-start their lives, and re-set everything, they have anxiety because of the new fresh start and the expectations that are building up from having a fresh start.

I think after a while she will settle down but I agree with your advice to her, to consistently remind her that having fun is part of being a whole person and a healthy person.  If she stresses herself out, that can increase auto immune issues, so enjoying herself actually is best for her long term grades! 

🙂 God bless her, she sounds amazing and I love it that you want her to enjoy the experience.  I keep saying the same thing to my son as well,...look around...see what's available, meet new people and try some things 🙂

[RootAnn]

Already midterms for my DD. Fall break in a week (four day weekend).

No idea how her grades are, but she's having a great time.

[...................]

39 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Already midterms for my DD. Fall break in a week (four day weekend).

No idea how her grades are, but she's having a great time.

 

Yah, it's so crazy how fast mid terms come, and how everything moves along so quickly.  They even already have to request housing for next year at some universities and already have to make appointments with advisers and plan next semester's coursework.  Too fast!

[RootAnn]

2 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

They even already have to request housing for next year at some universities and already have to make appointments with advisers and plan next semester's coursework.  Too fast!

Yep. Registration for next semester opened on Monday morning. Haven't heard about housing signups, but I don't always hear things... 

[...................]

This is why I would never ever send my kids to a college that runs on the quarter system. Too stressful! And all because they want to jam pack more students in 

[frogger]

22 hours ago, MtnTeaching said:

I am just not sure how to get this through to her in a way that will reduce her anxiety.

 

 

I'm sorry. It is so hard to watch when our children struggle. She sounds like an overcomer though with all that she has been through for her age. 

[catz]

12 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

This is why I would never ever send my kids to a college that runs on the quarter system. Too stressful! And all because they want to jam pack more students in 

I went to a flagship that was on the quarter system in the 80's and early 90's and I actually loved the pace!  My son looked at a few schools that had it but they were all small LACs so it didn't seem like the motivation was to cram more students in?  Actually, to me it seemed like a way to get more people through with a BA in 4 years because it was a little more forgiving than just 2 semesters a year.  I can see it wouldn't be for everyone I guess.  

My freshman is chugging along.  He has gotten A's and B's in everything so far - or at least that's what he's shared. He is coming home in a couple weekends.  It's family weekend on his campus and we can't make it.  It's also his birthday.  So we're making it work!  But he's been gone almost 6 weeks now.  He broke his phone this week and that was a pain, but luckily we got him a new one shipped within 2 days so he's back in business.  It actually died while he was on a city bus and that caused him some grief.  Long story but all is well that end's well!  LOL.  He still likes all his classes still I think!  

[Tree Frog]

My freshman is stressing a little now due to upcoming midterms. A couple of his classes have only 2 grades-- midterms and finals--so they count for a lot. He's settled in very well with his roommates and other students. They apparently have a schedule for evenings Monday through Friday. One night is game night and includes other friends, one is DND night (it's only a 4 player game right now), one is laundry night, usually at midnight, and the last they all go grocery shopping together. I think it's pretty awesome that they've worked together to come up with something that works for all of them.  I was a little concerned he would be left out since his roommates all live within a couple of hours of campus, but that hasn't been an issue. He's enjoyed having the room to himself when they all leave and he has other friends down the hall who are also from out of town he hangs out with. He'll be home for Thanksgiving, but opted not to come home for fall break. It will be so nice to see him again! Both daughters will also be home, so that's special. One dd decided not to come home last year, so I wasn't expecting her to be home this year. It will be a treat!

Despite his distance, I feel like he's in a good place. Makes having him 15 hours away much easier!

[kokotg]

On 10/4/2019 at 12:17 PM, MtnTeaching said:

 

Her biggest problem is herself and the demands she puts on herself.  Due to her past Lyme Disease, she needs to eat well, sleep well, and reduce her stress.  Due to her dyslexia, everything (especially her math class this semester) takes a long time.  She has been trying to make top grades in everything and I think she is wearing herself out.  Her anxiety is sky high. 

 

The perfectionism/anxiety combo is so tough! I'm almost hoping my DS gets a less than awesome grade out of the way first semester so that at least he'll learn it's really not the end of the world.

[RootAnn]

On 10/7/2019 at 9:14 PM, kokotg said:

The perfectionism/anxiety combo is so tough! I'm almost hoping my DS gets a less than awesome grade out of the way first semester so that at least he'll learn it's really not the end of the world.

The school my DD is at mentions a lot that some/many of the kids there have 1) maybe never had to study to learn something well and 2) may have never gotten a poor grade on a test or in a class. A lot of the parents were nodding their heads the first time it came up in an Honors parent presentation. I might have been the only one there with a kid who did not have a 4.0 weighted gpa. Or who had actually failed (as in 50% or less) a test or three. So I felt like mine was prepared. ;-)

Midterms are over for DD & she's on fall break for a few days. She has her Calc midterm grade & is happy with it. She's still waiting on a grade for her first English paper (of 4 for the semester). Overall, she's settled in well & enjoying the "perfect weather."

[edelweiss]

My daughter is really enjoying her freshman year so far!  She is happy with her college choice.  She does commute from home (20 minutes away) because the freshman housing is awful.  She couldn't justify giving up her own room and bathroom to live there.  I think she will live on campus next year because her good friend wants them to room together and her friend will be a junior, so she will be able to get in one of the nicest dorms.  

I was a bit worried about her adjusting to college life because she has ADHD, was homeschooled her whole life (except a few CC classes), and is much more interested in riding horses than school, but she is really liking most of her classes and is doing pretty well in them.  I have made it very clear to her that she doesn't need to get all As.  She has no desire to attend grad school and will likely do something with horses as a career, so I want her to do her best, but not have so much pressure on her when her grades ultimately aren't going to matter.  

As an aside, the Democratic Debate tonight is being held at her school.  She got one of the (extremely limited) student tickets, so she is able to attend.  I thought that was a pretty cool thing for her to have happen during her first semester at college!  This past week has been a nightmare for her on campus though.  Parking has been extremely limited with the media, extra police, Secret Service, etc. 

 

[...................]

Edelweiss, that sounds awesome!  Glad she's doing well and also that she may get the chance to live on campus as well.  Best of both worlds.

My poor freshman son is extremely sick, with - get this- a virus that exists only at Penn State so it's interesting to the CDC and they're studying it.  Way to be committed to your school!  haha...all joking aside he ended up in the ER needing 4 bags of IV fluids, went home did BRAT diet, felt better, ate some chicken, went back to vomiting, back on BRAT diet...hopefully won't need to go back to the ER  ...so today doing BRAT, tomrroow BRAT plus chicken broth and crackers, for Friday he called hte chef and ordered some mild soft foods, and also for Saturday plain chicken and pasta, so hopefully he just needs to very slowly work his stomach back.  So far he has missed two classes due to this thing 😞 and gotten behind on homework due to visiting ER< visiting doctor, walking to get prescription, making and going to get INstacart orders, cleaning up puke and having to go to the laundry room over and over... 😞 I wish I could hug him.

[Frances]

On 10/4/2019 at 8:44 PM, Calming Tea said:

This is why I would never ever send my kids to a college that runs on the quarter system. Too stressful! And all because they want to jam pack more students in 

I’m not sure the purpose of quarters is to jam more kids in. While I can certainly understand not liking the pace and it not being a good fit for everyone, you do get quite a bit more for your money. My son did semesters at the local LAC during high school where most students took four classes per term. On the quarter system during college at his university, most students also took four classes per term. So eight versus twelve classes per year on average. And he said every quarter class at his university covered more material in more depth than any of the semester classes he took at the LAC. So at least in his case, they did seem to be fitting a semester’s worth of material into a quarter. I realize that may not always be true, but even if not, you generally are getting more classes overall on the quarter system.

[MtnTeaching]

On 10/16/2019 at 3:10 PM, Calming Tea said:

Edelweiss, that sounds awesome!  Glad she's doing well and also that she may get the chance to live on campus as well.  Best of both worlds.

My poor freshman son is extremely sick, with - get this- a virus that exists only at Penn State so it's interesting to the CDC and they're studying it.  Way to be committed to your school!  haha...all joking aside he ended up in the ER needing 4 bags of IV fluids, went home did BRAT diet, felt better, ate some chicken, went back to vomiting, back on BRAT diet...hopefully won't need to go back to the ER  ...so today doing BRAT, tomrroow BRAT plus chicken broth and crackers, for Friday he called hte chef and ordered some mild soft foods, and also for Saturday plain chicken and pasta, so hopefully he just needs to very slowly work his stomach back.  So far he has missed two classes due to this thing 😞 and gotten behind on homework due to visiting ER< visiting doctor, walking to get prescription, making and going to get INstacart orders, cleaning up puke and having to go to the laundry room over and over... 😞 I wish I could hug him.

I hope he is feeling better.  It is so hard to be away from them when they are sick.  One time, I drove eight hours in the snow and rented a hotel room with two queen beds, just so my son would have his own bed and bathroom with he was horribly sick.  Having to hike down a hallway to a communal dorm bathroom is no fun, lack of sleep, lack of decent food, dealing with doctor visits and tests.  No fun.

[mirabillis]

23 hours ago, MtnTeaching said:

I hope he is feeling better.  It is so hard to be away from them when they are sick.  One time, I drove eight hours in the snow and rented a hotel room with two queen beds, just so my son would have his own bed and bathroom with he was horribly sick.  Having to hike down a hallway to a communal dorm bathroom is no fun, lack of sleep, lack of decent food, dealing with doctor visits and tests.  No fun.

How sweet!! ❤️

[kokotg]

DS was home for a long weekend for fall break. It was wonderful to see him, but I think it kind of reignited his homesickness. But he'll be home again for Thanksgiving in a month and then again a few weeks after that for winter break, and he'll be here for more than a month then. Should be plenty of time for him to get bored with us! Getting him here was SO EASY; his roommate gave him a ride to the airport less than 15 minutes away when he flew out. On the way back he had an early morning flight and was back in Minneapolis before 9 (there's a time change, so that helped, but still). Knowing he has such easy transportation options (at least until my sign-up bonus sky miles run out) makes having him so far away a little easier. Overall he still seems to be doing pretty well, but with that underlying layer of homesickness and loneliness. It's tough being an introvert who hates to be alone (ask me how I know! sorry about the problematic genes, kid). But grades are all great, and he's doing gaming club, D&D, and quiz bowl--and managing all that plus his work study really well, it sounds like. And I just found out I don't have to fill out the CSS Profile for next year, only the FAFSA (which we finished last night)--yay!!!

[RootAnn]

It is both glorious and slight baffling to not recognize this college freshman that you gave birth to & nurtured (and nagged, prodded, poked). I found out last night that my DD was one of a double handful that planned an academic conference at her school. And today, she is one of the moderators. And that she is enjoying the discussions in her English class. (English! Her least favorite language.)

Dd#2 & I were at an Art Day for high schoolers at the local state college this week. The college kids were all talking about how difficult & stressful college life is. (ACT @ local college = 20). I turned to DD#2 & asked her if DD#1 seemed to find college life stressful (ave ACT @ her college 28.5).  We both agreed that it sure didn't seem that way (except maybe when she has a paper or presentation due). Dd#1 laughed at me when I relayed this. But she really does make it look easy. I'm a bit in awe of her right now.

[Kate in Arabia]

Ds had one of his professors approach him about taking a certain course next semester, "you're very well-read, so you would have a lot of interesting ideas to contribute.." -- thank you WTM!!

[RootAnn]

Two of DD's friends have co-op offers for next semester (2nd semester freshmen year!!). It has actually started her thinking about summer job opportunities (wonders will never cease). Her college has another job fair in January. She wasn't ready for the one this fall, but she'll put together a resume over break & have the one semester of gpa on there. She just signed up for her college's career services notifications, too.

[wintermom]

On 11/2/2019 at 10:37 AM, RootAnn said:

It is both glorious and slight baffling to not recognize this college freshman that you gave birth to & nurtured (and nagged, prodded, poked). I found out last night that my DD was one of a double handful that planned an academic conference at her school. And today, she is one of the moderators. And that she is enjoying the discussions in her English class. (English! Her least favorite language.)

Dd#2 & I were at an Art Day for high schoolers at the local state college this week. The college kids were all talking about how difficult & stressful college life is. (ACT @ local college = 20). I turned to DD#2 & asked her if DD#1 seemed to find college life stressful (ave ACT @ her college 28.5).  We both agreed that it sure didn't seem that way (except maybe when she has a paper or presentation due). Dd#1 laughed at me when I relayed this. But she really does make it look easy. I'm a bit in awe of her right now.

I think it depends on the program. My dd has 3 science courses and calculus. She is stressed with all the midterms, lab reports, and the time it takes to attend all her hours of lectures, labs, tutorials and discussion groups. 

Edited November 11, 2019 by wintermom

[RootAnn]

6 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I think it depends on the program. My dd has 3 science courses and calculus. She is stressed with all the midterms, lab reports, and the time it takes to attend all her hours of lectures, labs, tutorials and discussion groups. 

Absolutely. But the students speaking at this event were art or art/education majors. Their art classes take a lot of time but the actual classes aren't Calc or really rigorous science. DD's friends are almost all engineering, computer science, or other STEM majors so they are taking Calc, Science with lab, Comp Sci (usually takes a lot of time), and such.

The difficulty level of classes at the local college is much lower than at DD's current college, but the student body makeup is also radically different. 

I am used to college kids being stressed. That's why it is so weird to have a kid who doesn't seem that way.

[wintermom]

20 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Absolutely. But the students speaking at this event were art or art/education majors. Their art classes take a lot of time but the actual classes aren't Calc or really rigorous science. DD's friends are almost all engineering, computer science, or other STEM majors so they are taking Calc, Science with lab, Comp Sci (usually takes a lot of time), and such.

The difficulty level of classes at the local college is much lower than at DD's current college, but the student body makeup is also radically different. 

I am used to college kids being stressed. That's why it is so weird to have a kid who doesn't seem that way.

I found living in res stressful, even when I had no courses with marks. It took a few months to set in, though. By Feb I was ready to pack it in. 

You just never know when/if the nerves will suddenly snap. 

[frogger]

17 hours ago, RootAnn said:

Absolutely. But the students speaking at this event were art or art/education majors. Their art classes take a lot of time but the actual classes aren't Calc or really rigorous science. DD's friends are almost all engineering, computer science, or other STEM majors so they are taking Calc, Science with lab, Comp Sci (usually takes a lot of time), and such.

The difficulty level of classes at the local college is much lower than at DD's current college, but the student body makeup is also radically different. 

I am used to college kids being stressed. That's why it is so weird to have a kid who doesn't seem that way.

 

 It does seem like UAH is easier then we expected.  The price was right though.

 

I was super surprised that they didn't have to do real lab reports. DS got well over 100% because he answered the honors college questions on the lab report form before he paid attention to the fact he didn't need to do them. He later did an extra lab with a report that wasn't required because the Physics teacher was going to use that to narrow down the pool of applicants for a tutor for future classes. He has an interview tomorrow.

 

 I reminded him that he needs to not get lazy doing Calc homework on the computer because it lets him redo the problem if he makes a mistake. Something he couldn't do when he took Calc 2 here last year. Everything was a paper quiz.  It was so hard to train him to be careful and not make silly mistakes back in Algebra. He understood concepts fast but made silly mistakes so I provided incentives to make him pay attention. I hope he doesn't get lazy. I reminded him to try not to lose the skills he does have. Hopefully, things will ramp up soon. 

 

Your daughter is in honors so that is probably harder but I think my son's classes at his really low ranked school here in Alaska were actually harder so I'm not going to jump to conclusions. It depends on the teacher more than anything. Well, and if you are prepared for the specific class.

Edited November 12, 2019 by frogger
Incomplete sentence/thought

[...................]

8 hours ago, frogger said:

 

 It does seem like UAH is easier then we expected.  The price was right though.

 

I was super surprised that they didn't have to do real lab reports. DS got well over 100% because he answered the honors college questions on the lab report form before he paid attention to the fact he didn't need to do them. He later did an extra lab with a report that wasn't required because the Physics teacher was going to use that to narrow down the pool of applicants for a tutor for future classes. He has an interview tomorrow.

 

 I reminded him that he needs to not get lazy doing Calc homework on the computer because it lets him redo the problem if he makes a mistake. Something he couldn't do when he took Calc 2 here last year. Everything was a paper quiz.  It was so hard to train him to be careful and not make silly mistakes back in Algebra. He understood concepts fast but made silly mistakes so I provided incentives to make him pay attention. I hope he doesn't get lazy. I reminded him to try not to lose the skills he does have. Hopefully, things will ramp up soon. 

 

Your daughter is in honors so that is probably harder but I think my son's classes at his really low ranked school here in Alaska were actually harder so I'm not going to jump to conclusions. It depends on the teacher more than anything. Well, and if you are prepared for the specific class.

 

My son is definitely working hard for his Calculus grade.  Penn State does NOT mess around with their freshman and sophomore math classes and now I see why they call them weed out.  They grade very hard, (no partial credit), they do not allow a calculator, they base a huge portion of the grade on only 3 exams, they adjust the grading scale (76 is a D), and they report GPA rounded down by .5s.  OH and they ALSO put all the edge cases on exams that were never in any of the assigned homework.  The only way to get a handle on those edge cases is to attend either the free (but possibly inconvenient or impossible due to your schedule) Group Study sessions the math department offers or the paid local tutoring center's study sessions which both give Exam Packets with lots of extra edge case problems.  

So in order to pass you have to 

1.  attend a 5th class each week  2.  do the packets that group class offers 3.  Go back and figure and ponder about the ones you missed 4.  Have extreme attention to detail (no partial credit, no calculators) and 5. Want to put in the extra 10 hours of study per week (extra class plus about 6 hours of extra work)...  

It is absolutely brutal.  My son literally has a 100 average in MacroEc, (which half the class dropped as this is the weed out for business and finance majors....) CompSci and Philosophy, and a solid B in Latin. He is unusually smart and hard working and accumulates knowledge pretty well, and makes charts, flashcards, takes notes etc. etc and yet Calculus is really a struggle which is notable becuase he already took this exact same level and got an A in community college..... So honestly, if you ask me, there is something extra extra hard about Engineering, at least at this school.  They are currently ranked above Harvard for engineering so I guess they plan to keep it that way.

Meanwhile, my son is being recruited by the Philosophy professor, writing a book on Philosophy, and has been encouraged to add a minor.  Hubby and I had to talk about what to do if he wants to change majors, and thankfully we are on the same page.  We'd like to see him give CompSci a try for several semesters first, and then if he wants to change we fully support that, but would like to see him go "all the way" and would want to talk to him about the perseverance it takes to get a PhD so he can be a prof. Being an engineering major is three years of hell, but getting a philosophy degree takes an extreme amount of long term cumulative effort and knowledge, and the fun will have long passed before he would actually earn it. Or maybe, if not passed, the fun will ebb and flow.  So being ready to discuss these things is good. 🙂

My son is not stressed though.  He will say he's very busy, or that he has no time, but he seems happy and chill.  

Edited November 12, 2019 by Calming Tea

[frogger]

Nevermind. I misunderstood something. 

 

Sometimes I wonder if he should have went to MS&T but he didn't want a bunch of debt which is smart. I do wonder if it would have been more challenging though.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by frogger

[frogger]

In other thoughts, I'm wondering, RootAnn, if the honors college is worth applying to. 

Edited November 12, 2019 by frogger

[8filltheheart]

3 hours ago, frogger said:

Sometimes I wonder if he should have went to MS&T but he didn't want a bunch of debt which is smart. I do wonder if it would have been more challenging though.

If he has adjusted that well and is finding classes that easy, he should consider seeking g out research opportunities. My ds started research his freshman yr and it opened up a lot of doors and helped challenge him.

[frogger]

28 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

If he has adjusted that well and is finding classes that easy, he should consider seeking g out research opportunities. My ds started research his freshman yr and it opened up a lot of doors and helped challenge him.

 

I'll ask if he has done that. Thanks!

I think he was thinking he would need to finish more actual engineering classes first. I'll ask if he knew that he could start looking for opportunities as a freshman. He has looked at the tutoring and TA opportunities. I think he wants to work in the programming classes but I make sure he knows that he won't be shut out as a Freshman for research.

Edited November 13, 2019 by frogger

[...................]

I had a friend that did HOnors College at a small liberal arts school.  She is in her senior year and loving it!  They had so many perks- small class sizes, one on one mentoring, most of her classes were with the other Honors Students, and even a special dorm option, as well as group meetings to encourage each other and two big field trips per year to other colleges across the country, in a bus (affordable IOW) as well as local trips to museums and such.  Honestly she absolutely loves it and has felt 100% at home with her university from day one.  Some of the classes were really challenging but as a Humanities/English major, it's challenging as far as major workload but never impossible.   

I know the Honors college at Pennstate the big U where my son is, is amazingly hard to keep up with, and doesn't offer as many perks  as the small liberal arts college my young friend attends, but they do offer group meetings weekly, a special adviser, a nice dorm dedicated to them, and priority registration as well as invitations to special dinners, events and other things.  

You should look into it at your son's U and see what they offer! 

[RootAnn]

Rubber has hit the road. Paper(s), presentation(s), and studying for finals are finally causing the stress I would expect. Last day of classes are tomorrow & Tuesday. Study day on Wednesday & finals start Thursday. Dd has two finals on Thursday & the rest the following Tuesday. She flies hone after that.

She did not come home over Thanksgiving & had offers to accompany others but stayed on campus [to procrastinate] working on everything that is due tomorrow & Tuesday. One of her professors assigned something Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving that is due tonight, so if you left on Tuesday afternoon & travelled without checking your campus online system, you might find you either missed it entirely or will have to rush to get it done tonight. Thankfully, I think the class GroupMe tried to give a heads up to the kids who might not have otherwise seen it, so I think everyone knew about it before today. 

Who got to see theirs over Thanksgiving? When is yours going to be home?

[...................]

51 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Rubber has hit the road. Paper(s), presentation(s), and studying for finals are finally causing the stress I would expect. Last day of classes are tomorrow & Tuesday. Study day on Wednesday & finals start Thursday. Dd has two finals on Thursday & the rest the following Tuesday. She flies hone after that.

She did not come home over Thanksgiving & had offers to accompany others but stayed on campus [to procrastinate] working on everything that is due tomorrow & Tuesday. One of her professors assigned something Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving that is due tonight, so if you left on Tuesday afternoon & travelled without checking your campus online system, you might find you either missed it entirely or will have to rush to get it done tonight. Thankfully, I think the class GroupMe tried to give a heads up to the kids who might not have otherwise seen it, so I think everyone knew about it before today. 

Who got to see theirs over Thanksgiving? When is yours going to be home?

 

Wow, this is very different schedule than what my ds had. .... as an out of state student, it was expensive to fly home for such a short period of time.  Then again, how many kids would really stay at college over Thanksgiving break...they'd probably have empty dorms anyway.  

He HAD to vacate the dorms they were fully closed over thanksgiving week. SO he flew home, spent 5 days here and went back for finals. He has three weeks left, so they are done much later than your dd. His last day of finals is the 20th of December.  

My son was really happy to come home but I'm not positive he will want to come home next year if he receives offers from friends.  It's a heck of a long flight for only being home 5 days.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Calming Tea

[Tree Frog]

Ds flew home for Thanksgiving. It sure was good to see him! He's done well this first semester and seems to have a decent group of friends. I'll be flying to him in a week and a half and he'll drive home. I'll be sitting in the passenger's seat keeping him company. This is a trial run to see if I can handle him driving 15 hours by himself. He's driven 2 or 3 hours at a time when we've driven long distances as a family, so he's convinced 15 hours will be the same. 

Edited December 2, 2019 by wilrunner

[catz]

My freshman was home for Thanksgiving!  It was a quick turnaround, he had classes until late Wed afternoon.  He is about 4 hours from home.  He is a pretty cautious pragmatic kid and not necessarily the most outgoing but he's slowing getting his bearings socially and his classes are going great.  He had stuff to study for at home and it was interesting watching him study.  He cranks through work pretty fast.  He talked about all this homework but spent maybe 4-5 hours on 3 different things total through the weekend.  He is upping his credit count next semester so I definitely think he can max his credit counts if he wants to.  He's also trying to figure out if he can triple major.  😂  Oi kid there's always grad school.  Nice to see all our geeky suspicions confirmed.  

His roomie is driving him a little batty.  He says he's looking for an apartment next year with a couple other guys. So we'll see what comes of that.  They already opened sign up for returning students to dorm so if he back tracks and decides to dorm again, options will be more limited.  It's all good, he'll figure it out.  There's always stuff available.  I think having his own room would be good for him.  He has 2 guitars and an electric keyboard in his dorm room for one so his half of the room is kind of a train wreck.  There is a lot of immature nutty behavior on the weekends in his dorm and he has little patience for that.

Sent him back on a bus last night.  He is done with the semester 2 weeks from today!  And his finals are relatively early so he's going to get like a 5 week break.  He's super excited, we have lots of fun stuff planned over break and hope to find some more.  But he's also cranked up for his mix of classes last semester.  I am irritated about a math class they are making him take but if I start ranting about it I may never stop.  It seems like a clear case of more money for them.  🙄

[frogger]

DS made it home for Christmas! I'm so thankful he has an unlimited minutes on the cell considering how much he talked to everyone. If one person was busy he would just call another parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. So glad long distance bills aren't what they used to be. 

 

He was a little bored this semester. Tried getting a job but didn't survive the interview but he is ramping up next semester and looking into other opportunities and he said he thinks UAH was a good choice for him.