<p>First of all congrats for passing this milestone. I'm sure the vast majority reading this thread have achieved above and beyond your peer group and while being graduated from HS was never in question, you did so in a fashion that has opened doors not available to many and have a bright future ahead of you. </p>
<p>What are you up to this summer? I'm thinking ahead to next summer when my aspiring MT student will (hopefully) have an acceptance letter in one hand and a HS diploma in the other. This will have capped a year which began with summer MT camp answering the question, "Do I really want to spend four years of college doing this?" then prepping for auditions, then pre-screens, then applications, then auditions, then follow-up visits, etc. Oh yeah, don't forget about grades and those final two AP classes. </p>
<p>Is next summer going to be the last summer I can have my child unencumbered? Walt Griswald stereotype be damned, is next summer my last chance to rent an RV and spend a week or two driving around the great American West? Who wants to see the world's largest hot dog which happens to be in Bailey, CO?!</p>
<p>This December I told my son I wanted him to earn some money this summer. Later after better understanding what prep work he was going to need to do - don't forget about taking the ACT one more time in September - I said, "Forget it. You've got enough on your plate already." I presume next summer is the summer he can earn some cash during the day and have his fun at night before he heads off to the next chapter in his life. Am I correct there?</p>
<p>Am I also correct that the summer after HS is the last carefree summer? I just have visions that once he's in college there's going to be always something going on.</p>
<p>I’m thinking the same thing. My D tossed around doing different things but i figure this summer was probably the last one she will be more available. I get the feeling when she leaves the end of August that will be the last time shes home for any length of time.</p>
<p>Many HS seniors in our area (including my D) are getting into a show for the summer that also allows them to work and save some spending cash for college. There are some opportunities in our area to do show rehearsals from 6PM on - giving them time to work during the day. Hooray for that! My D has had to make choices about which shows she could audition for so that the timing allows her to work. We did not pressure her the summer before her senior year, to work for the same reasons you are presenting - there really is a bigger picture to focus on! Sounds like you are on target!</p>
<p>This is an interesting question that really hits home for me! My older kids had full-time summer jobs lined up well before h.s graduation, but my theater kid does not, and it isn’t bothering me, somehow. They each were heading into an open-ended liberal arts experience that would require much decision making, while my soon-to-be BFA acting major son is heading into a round-the-clock busy, highly structured program that will give him little time to come up for air. He needs to be both rested and in excellent physical shape when he gets there, too–in his program, every morning starts with an 8:00 dance class, so daily workouts will be crucial this summer. I guess I’m leaning toward encouraging whatever gets him prepared for his college program–it’s an investment, right?–and, as you say, broadway95, this may be the last summer he spends much time at home. In a couple of weeks, when graduation is over, we’ll see if I’m still so laid back! :)</p>
<p>The summer before college my daughter did her last community theater show and took voice and acting lessons from new teachers to get as prepared as possible. Some kids we know do come home and take it easy over the summer but especially if they go to school far from home they tend to find other things to do. This year she’s got a part-time job and a role in a professional production near her school. She will come home briefly to go to the dentist.</p>
<p>I want my son to work this summer - could really use the money in his bank account. He was told of two jobs by friends and family. Neither worked out so he says “the search continues!”</p>
<p>Let me tell ya, he ain’t searching! Unless someone pulls up to our house, honks the horn, drives him to a job and tells him what to do, he’s gonna be hanging around during the day (in show rehearsals at night).</p>
<p>I am hopeful that he gets something, however small, to put in his bank account. He is down for work study at school, so I know with his BFA work plus work study he will be straight out. I guess I’m leaning toward Times3’s thinking (let him relax a bit before Sept.).</p>
<p>We’re past this point in my family but I can answer with what we did in the past. </p>
<p>All the summers leading up to the last year of HS, my kids went away to summer programs. Both were expected to stay home the summer after high school ended before starting college and to earn spending money for college. My older daughter did that and had two jobs unrelated to her field, but that came in handy on her resume as work experience when she sought work one summer in college in France. My MT daughter graduated HS at age 16 and after junior year. She had the same expectations. She was home most of the summer except three weeks. While home, she earned money by being in a professional musical production and she (along with a friend also heading to a BFA program) started their own MT program for ages 10-15 locally and that was very lucrative. We did allow her to return for three weeks (not her usual six weeks) to her beloved theater camp away from home that she had attended for seven summers before that because she was after all, still 16. I am really glad we did that because when we made that decision the previous fall, we did not know she would be so severely injured the following spring and be out of her HS musical, dance shows, and everything for months and so returning to theater camp allowed her to return to her life on stage after a horrendous experience. It all worked as she earned a bunch of money that summer. </p>
<p>My kids never lived at home again once they began college and got jobs in their fields away from home every summer in college. As well, they never came home once they finished their higher educations. Be prepared for that!</p>
<p>I should have said they never came home TO LIVE once they finished their educations. They do visit, though I visit them more than they come here due to their busy lives.</p>
<p>As an aside, for example, I just came back from seeing D1’s graduate school graduation in CA. I am now leaving for NYC to see both daughters and to see D2’s Off Broadway debut. Then, D1 is coming home to VT to visit. Soon after that, I am meeting D1 on vacation in South America. It’s all good. But they have never lived at home, not even for a summer, once they began college.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to Stagedoor (her favorite place on the planet) for 6 weeks. Opposite of Soozie, she’s always done 3 weeks but always HATED leaving and wished she could do 6 weeks. This year, her last year there, she’s getting her wish. Graduation present. Then home for a month with no plans yet, then off to college!</p>
<p>My son will be in a musical this summer with a youth community theatre program, and he’s hoping to be a camp counselor for the local youth theater camp (he hasn’t heard yet if he got the job). We also have two vacations planned, around his show. Finally, we’re hoping he’ll take some dance classes, as dance is his weakness, and taking a daily dance class next year is going to be a rude awakening for him.</p>
<p>Sounds like all of your kids have great summer plans! And soozievt, your daughters sound like perfect role models for being independent and hardworking students/professionals. So cool that they have traveled so much too! I’d love to travel a lot someday.</p>
<p>As for me, I’m staying busy; I’m already in rehearsals for the regional debut of Carrie: the Musical, and Godspell. I was very surprised to get cast in Godspell but so excited to have my first professional credit before entering college! I’m also still in desperate need of a job - it’s tough to find a weekday-only job for just a few months. I’m also looking for dance classes and I’m continuing my voice lessons. I also have my scholarship orientation in late June and on-campus orientation in July. Lots to look forward to!</p>
<p>I didn’t think I would feel this way, but I am SO ready to move onto campus already! Can’t believe we still have to wait a few more months.</p>
<p>Break a leg and best of luck to you all and your children! :-)</p>
<p>Good for you Steamedartichoke (gosh, still the best dang name!). I know you will keep that level of enthusiasm as you start your college adventure.</p>
<p>My two theatre kids (one incoming college freshman and one incoming college junior) are both working as counselors at the local children’s theatre camp. In addition, the freshman is also in A Year with Frog and Toad so he will be performing on weekends and then goes right in Speech and Debate. My junior is exhausted from a very show heavy/stressful year at school so she is enjoying just working, no performances. I hope my kids come home during the summer for as long as it is feasible. They will be gone soon enough.</p>
<p>My son is working during the day and participating in a Community Theatre production of Les Mis in a larger city (evening rehearsals/performances) about 1 hour from our house. So lots of driving is in his summer plans.</p>
<p>An update on our summer. My D landed her first job - and it is a full time gig. She is so driven to save money for college and wants to work all the way through college so she can have some money to “start” her life after college. I think this is really great! She has had a lifetime of full summers of shows and fun - and now she has both. A show with rehearsals at night - and a job during the days to give her the spending money she has never had. To do this, she had to say “no” to the dance programs and theatre training programs she has done every summer and dearly loves. It may not be what every family wants - but I am really proud of her for this choice.</p>