When my oldest started elementary, I figured she’d come home for lunch most of the time in the beginning. Parents of older kids cautioned me that bonds at lunch were formed early on, that she should definitely stay in for lunch at least the first month, to establish her table and kids she played with. My kids took this advise at college as well, stay and make friends.
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y’all i will post some stuff soon- just down with a cold. /softly, sighing
update: requested a single formally and they’ll let me know tomorrow (honestly given my medical needs/other issues + the documentation from my physicians that they have, I don’t see any reason they wouldn’t allow it- it’s been requested on medical grounds, so let’s see.) /happily
that’s it i thought i had more to share but I guess not /shrugging
OP: You’ve mentioned before that you struggled a little bit previously with pre-calculus. Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but Modern States has a free pre-calculus course online which you could use to brush up on your pre-calculus skills. It’s at https://modernstates.org/course/precalculus/.
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Yup- currently getting privately tutored in precalc and my grade is an 87! So it’s getting better. Thanks, though! /happily
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Hope you feel better soon!
/Sincere
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I am feeling better and back in school (thankfully) and I got my progress grades back (but the perfectionist I am means I’m unhappy with the grades)
Precalc- 87.27 (B+) [could/should be higher, I plan to get it up to an A.]
Biotech 2 Honors- 100 (A+)
ASL 2 Honors- 93 (A-, cusp of an A) [this one i’m particularly not pleased about + will talk to my teacher]
Capstone- 85 (B) [This one is the way it is because they can’t give me a full grade until I give my final presentation on May 31st, and this grade is solely from the Broad part of the capstone. Projected to be an A, but this one is the one I’m the most unhappy with.]
All in all, I really should be doing better- all As or A+s is the goal. I’ll keep y’all posted. /sighing, frustrated at myself
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Give yourself a break - you had a lot going on with college applications/decisions…and your outcome was fantastic. Just keep moving forward in a positive manner.
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My kid’s state standardized testing started yesterday and I’m going to tell you pretty much the same thing I told my kid. Just try your best. If you do great, wonderful. If you don’t do great, that’s fine, too. No matter what happens, we love you. All that we ask is that you do your best.
[Note that my kid is a not a kid who is incapable of half-derriering something, so saying “do your best” is not going to compel my kid into an anxious frenzy for perfection. If you or your kid are that way, however, change it to, “Do the best that you can in a reasonable time/the time that is given,” or something similar.]
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I appreciate the advice, but I really want to end my senior year strong, and I’m going to push for the highest grades possible. Even after the school year ends, I’m realistically not going to be taking time off for myself- I plan to be studying (with tutors) in Chem, college-level bio, and Calc so I’m ready by the time the fall rolls around. My barn also just merged with another barn so they’re under totally new management, and I had spoken with the owner yesterday or the day before about showing and lessoning, so I’ll be at the barn a couple times a week lessoning, as well as prepping for regionals in June and if all goes well, Nationals in August. I’ll also be traveling (and studying for those subjects listed) throughout July. /appreciative, musing, sighing
They said we’ll be assigned an academic advisor soon and we can start picking courses? So, that’s stressful too. /sighing
My parental advice is this: remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Build in time off. No one can keep going at max speed. You want to start the fall semester fresh, with lots of energy.
(I’m not saying don’t get tutoring, just to also prioritize time off)
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You are being too hard on yourself. Look at the improvement in that math grade! Please, ease up. Sure, do the best you can, and learn the important stuff, but you are into a great school, the grades don’t matter anymore.
You should only take one lab science at a time, and the one that I recommend starting with is gen chem, since you will have some chem in your future Bio class, plus you need to get started on it, since you’ll need to take Orgo, too. Your first semester will have to have Calc 1, Gen Chem 1 with lab, an English comp type class, and a course in your possible intended major (as long as it’s not a lab science class). Only 4 classes, one with lab. That’s IT. You will be plenty busy with that, social life, and riding.
This summer, just do prep work for Calc and Chem. Leave the bio alone for now. Also, if you can manage to major in something besides science, you should - as long as there’s something else that you truly love. The ONLY reason to deviate from this and add in Bio, is if you are absolutely 1000 percent sure that you want to be a Bio major, in which case, you would be carrying too much, what with 4 classes and 2 labs, plus riding.
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I’m still not thrilled with the math grade- it should be an A, imo. /sighing, honest
My parents and I were discussing my major plans, and I might switch to the Biology/English combined major (see here: I love English and have always been stellar in it, plus a little humanities vibe wouldn’t hurt)- but I am definitely 1000% sure I want to do Bio for a major, even if it’s combined. I would obviously stay on the premed track- and I understand it’s a lot, which is why I’m trying to hit the ground running this summer so I’m able to do things a little more easily come the fall. /thoughtful, sighing
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I’ll add to parentologists terrific post:
Forget calculus. It will be there when you are ready, I promise. If there are holes in your math prep (which I suspect there are), the most important thing is for you to figure out what those are, and address them.
Fractions? Percentages? How to break down a word problem? Calculating the area of a triangle?
The actual calculating part (getting to the right answer) is nowhere near as important as having a solid conceptual grounding on basic math skills. I am sure you can add and subtract and multiply just fine; it’s the somewhat hazy “how do I figure out when John and Suzie are going to meet if he leaves St. Louis driving 50 miles per hour and she leaves Chicago driving 35 miles per hour” which is going to cause you grief and anxiety in college.
I’d even suggest forgetting about chem this summer. There is no single skill more powerful for you right now than compensating for your math struggles. You conquer that- the hard parts of chem, the complicated parts of bio, everything clears up.
My life changed substantially when I got over my math struggles (the summer before graduate school. ) The program required that I get a B or better in “Kindergarten through First Year Calculus” which was the university’s remedial math course. I wish I had taken it after HS! Fantastic professor whose specialty was remedial math; he made everything easy and fun and understandable even stuff I had been faking (geometry? Who the heck cares about right angles?)
Hugs to you!
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Yeah- I know from just my past experience that I make a LOT of careless mistakes (typically small mistakes that just snowball, causing me to lose points) either out of stress or anxiety- and word problems are also definitely my “nemesis” of sorts, although I’m working that out with my current tutor. I tend to do better with visual concepts than algebraic concepts, which is interesting considering my spatial reasoning is poor. /thoughtful, also stressed
I avoided anything in college having to do with math because even though I scraped through HS with A’s in “college prep” level classes, I knew deep down I didn’t really understand the word problems.
That professor really changed my life. EVERYTHING in the real world is a word problem of sorts- I work in HR and a very frequent question is “If we hired 10% fewer people last year, why did our recruiting budget increase by 7%?”. Classic word problem. Now I see word problems wherever I go (and am delighted by them). Last week one of the controls on my oven broke. Do I spend $300 to fix it, or $900 for a new oven? I just changed my health insurer- do I buy the lower premium option with the higher co-pay, or the “deluxe” option with a smaller co-pay; which plan will cost less over the next year?
You were probably absent the day the teacher explained how to tackle a word problem, and have been playing catchup ever since without knowing it!
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I appreciate the warm words. I’m just not thrilled with my grades at all so I’m trying to figure out how to get them up. /sighing, appreciative though
At this point you’re in at NEU so learning is more important than your final grade.
Mainly you’re paying $80k a year to leave on weekends to hang out at home is simply another head scratcher.
You go to college to experience new people, new things. But to run back to your home family and friends.
It’s clear your dad is controlling you and frankly this is sad.
If I were spending $80k to do what you described in these most recent messages - I’d be at community college.
College isn’t a Monday - Friday job. And don’t know but assume some of equestrian stuff will be on weekends. Certainly study groups, group project work and other things will be.
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I’m sorry, I’m going to be blunt. My dad has only ever done the best for me. None of this is my father’s doing. He works his butt off for us and honestly he’s not involved in my academics, I just update him periodically on my grades. He isn’t controlling me- it’s the complete opposite. He gives pretty much all the freedom, but he does want to see good grades (A’s + B’s). He’s literally traveling next week for work and is HAPPY about my grades- I literally told him this morning in passing and he was like “Great job, keep it up!” -and in all honesty, I’m a perfectionist. That’s just me, so I always want to do better. I always strive to be better. My motto is “My best today, better tomorrow.” It shocks me that you’d jump to a conclusion like that. /honest, a little pissed, calm and civil though
My family is really important to me, so yeah, some weekends I will be home, and other weekends, I’ll be showing or at school with friends. I go home to spend time with my brother and my dog, both of whom are growing up. It’s honestly my choice, and I’m extremely excited for NEU. /honest
The equestrian stuff is spread out- lessons, team workouts + meetings on weekdays, and shows on weekends. /adding on
That being said, please do not make any assumptions about me or my family. Period. I adore my family like nobody’s business, and making assumptions doesn’t do anyone any good. /honest
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I will reiterate again- don’t make assumptions when you don’t know me or my family. Period.
I am a perfectionist, and that happens to be something I’m working on- but it’s also hazard of the trade when you know what you want to do so early on.
/firmly and honest
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