<p>As I am getting ready to fly across the country (H, S and I) to launch son in his College Career, and as I read of other parents adventures in the same, I can't help but think of the contrast to my own 'launch.'</p>
<p>We lived in NYC at the time and my parents operated a labor intensive small store. I don't think it ever occurred to them that they could be part of my launch in any shape or form. I worked at the store all summer, doing minimal shopping for sheets and such when I could, until the day before I left.</p>
<p>I took a cab to the airport alone, flew to Chicago with my two baby blue Samsonite hardside suitcases (of which I was mighty proud) on a reservation I had made over the phone (remember that?), was picked up by a family friend at whose house I spent the night. He drove me to school, helped the suitcases into my dorm room, and left. That was it. </p>
<p>I have no recollection of what was in the suitcases (comforter? pillow? micro-fridge?) but that was all I took. </p>
<p>What was your launch like 25-30+ years ago?</p>
<p>My freshman year I went to a local university. My “launch” consisted of walking to the train station and catching the train to school for the day. At the end of the day I rode the train home, then went to work. Sophomore year I transferred to a school a couple hours away. My parents drove me there and helped me get settled - there was no on-campus housing available so I had a room in someone’s attic. Mercifully, 2 days later a dorm room opened up and I was able to move on campus, so I handled the actual “moving into the dorm” on my own. I just had clothes, toiletries and school supplies, though, so it wasn’t a difficult move. No frig, microwave (they didn’t exist!), TV, etc. I’m sure my kids’ launch (still a couple years away) will be a major production in comparison.</p>
<p>My parents were living in Tanzania. I flew from there spending a night or two with my aunt and uncle who were about 20 minutes from my college. I had a couple of suitcases and a small steamer trunk which I had to go to customs to pick up. No fridge, microwave or stereo. I bought an electric typewriter the first weekend I was there. Eventually I got an electric kettle for tea. My birthday fell during orientation and my aunt and uncle brought me a cake to share with my new friends.</p>
<p>I was a commuter; my mom didn’t want me to go away (I’m an only child) and played the guilt card. Looking back, I could have had a lot of opportunities (I was a NMSF) but no one told me about them, and the whole internet thing wasn’t around yet. I got in my car, drove down the Garden State Parkway, drove through lovely East Orange and arrived on the Seton Hall campus to notice a lot of brand new cars while I was driving a 72 Cutlass S (whose entire exhaust system fell off on the way to school one day :)</p>
<p>Aside from my mom telling me I couldn’t go away, I don’t think they had any idea what I did. I even managed to transfer & withdraw from SH without them knowing until I mentioned it after it was completed.</p>
<p>I hopped a plane from Portland Ore. Having shipped my bright orange steamer trunk full of bedding, I had 2 samsonite suitcases. Took the bus from O’hare to Evanston and walked from the bus drop to “north campus” to see my roomie had moved in since she was from the area. She is still a good friend. And it was snowing (spitting a little) in Portland (midnight flight) and I was dressed in a lovely blue wool leisure/pants suit (tunic top) that my mom had made and it was 90 and wet in Chicago. I almost walked up campus in my bra only since I was so hot!</p>
<p>Need I mention parents did NOT fly. The DORM did not have microwaves or refrigerators much less the rooms having them.</p>
<p>My parents and younger sister drove me (about 300 miles). Everything fit into an Olds 98. Really, just clothing and toiletries. You didn’t need to buy anything when you got to campus – whatever for? They carried the suitcases up to the room, maybe helped me put a few things away, shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with roommate’s parents, hugged me goodbye. I don’t think they had any contact with the school whatsoever other than paying the bills. Certainly no parent orientation. </p>
<p>My parents were ahead of the game in that they had a 1 800 number I could call them at, but otherwise you talked to your parents once a week for a relatively short time. Maybe on a grandparent’s birthday you’d call them.</p>
<p>I had the baby blue soft sided Samsonite luggage. In fact I just put the tote bag in the Goodwill bin. It held up well. I know I took the two suitcases and a trunk. I’m not sure what was inside them, probably just clothes and school supplies. My mom and dad drove me the two hours to college and helped me unload. I just wrote on another thread that I remember bringing a stereo way back then. I brought my son to school yesterday and I saw lots of refrigerators, microwaves, televisions, and gaming systems, but I didn’t see any large speakers or stereo systems. I guess they are a thing of the past. I’m feeling pretty old right now.</p>
<p>I got American Tourister luggage for hs graduation, similar to the Samsonite you are describing. I helped a friend’s D move out of Vanderbilt last year and I have to say, kids bring SO much more stuff these days. In our sorority houses, we moved rooms once a quarter. Really, it was just clothing, bedding and personal toiletries. I don’t recall people bringing furniture or shelving.</p>
<p>I attended local cc, so I “launched” as a junior. Parents drove me down, we unloaded the car, went and had lunch and they left. Parents had already sent my 2 older siblings to school, so no big deal. As soon as they left and my stuff (lots less than today’s students) was put away , I called 2 guy friends who lived in the next dorm and we made plans to hit the parties on fraternity row together. No tears shed.</p>
<p>I got on the plane in NJ and flew to Colorado, took the bus to school and that was it. My family was able to come to graduation (they couldn’t afford to fly out any other time).</p>
<p>I was told I couldn’t go “away” to school from day 1 (my dad was a prof. at the local univ.) so I never researched colleges or had any goals or dreams of going anywhere. At literally the last minute, my dad, knowing I was dying to get away from our small town, agreed that if I could get a scholarship at college X (one he had attended and thought I might like), the cost might be the same as if I lived at home and attended the local school. So I quickly applied, did get an academic scholarship, and went to the school of my dreams - the NOT local school! We packed the Suburban and dad drove me the 6 hours to school, moved everything into my room, then said a quick goodbye and got back on the road for his 6 hour drive back. (My family never stayed in hotel rooms, ever.)</p>
<p>So I was alone in my room with a gazillion boxes with my roommate’s name on them, someone I had never met nor heard from ( I don’t remember that being an option), and thinking for the first time ever, “What did I get myself into???” I quickly got out of the room to be around other scared freshmen and that worked like a charm. Everyone at the snack shop was in the same boat and people chatted politely with each other. When I finally went back to my room, my roommate was back. She was a sophomore (negative) and had a boyfriend in the dorm next door from back home (double negative) and I immediately thought things were not going to go very well. I was 100% wrong in my assumptions. She was and still is a terrific person and we’re still close friends 30 years later.</p>
<p>I brought a hot pot, clothes and a desk lamp. We got a small fridge. That was it.</p>
<p>For reasons that remain circumspect, the only letter received from flagship public (aside from my acceptance of course) provided just my dormitory and room number. Parents dropped me off, handed me five-dollars, and left. Students in my dorm were surprised that I hadn’t attended Freshman Orientation, hadn’t registered for classes, hadn’t contacted my advisor, hadn’t ordered books, etcetera. Cobbling together a class schedule took two weeks (as part of Add-Drop, where freshmen had lowest priority). Each week thereafter a letter arrived with another five-dollar bill … cash that was intended to cover weekend meals, incidentals, and social life. </p>
<p>When other parents ask why I don’t let my kids handle college-related responsibilities, I relate my experience. Most think I’m making it up!</p>
<p>My junior year, I decided to switch to a single from a double without asking my parents up front. They only discovered it when the bill came in the fall. My father was not pleased but didn’t make too much of a fuss. I did spend the summer sweating that moment though.</p>
<p>All these minimalist stories might help us keep current version of launches in perspective. Not. ;)</p>
<p>NewHope: I too was not preregistered for any classes. Had taken a gap year and got dropped somewhere. Fortunately, I managed to get all the classes I needed but my stomach did drop when a fellow student said ‘you didn’t register for any classes?’ shortly after my nondescript arrival.</p>
<p>I used a footlocker to pack up most of the stuff and put the rest of the clothes into the brand new light blue American Tourister soft sided luggage. Other new purchases were a coffee percolator, a popcorn popper, sheets and a comfort (from Sears that I still use), a new (and large) teddy bear that was a birthday present from my father, and the manual typewriter that I got for graduation. I also remember bringing a few small pots&pans and dishes since I liked cooking—one was a tin angel food cake pan that my mom got in the 50’s as a “premium” for trying a cake mix and one was a 9 inch cast iron skillet that I had to beg my Momma to let me have. I still have (and use) both those pans.</p>
<p>We packed everything into our Chevy Impala. The challenges were: Get the small wire book case (that I used every year at W&M), a few plants, and the bike (with no bike rack on the car) into the car with enough room for me in the back seat.</p>
<p>Move-in was during a rain storm. After the rain ended it was hot and there was no A/C, except for the lobby in Botetourt.</p>
<p>When my parents left, Daddy got teary eyed, Momma didn’t.</p>
<p>Like psychmomma, my dad was a professor at our local university (UT-Austin), but I ALWAYS wanted to be a Longhorn. It was the only school I applied to. My parents borrowed a van and we piled my stuff in it, drove across town, and unloaded. I don’t remember much about move-in, but it was brief, and my parents drove off with no further ado. I do recall sitting alone in my room after they left, scared to death! I knew my roommate was pledging a sorority and suspected (rightly) that we wouldn’t have much in common. But the next day I met the girl who became my best friend and roommate the last three years of school.</p>
<p>I remember having to go to the main tower to pay my tuition bill (with my mom’s check) and figuring out all my classes on my own. </p>
<p>I wonder why things have changed so much in 30 years?</p>
<p>I got luggage for high school graduation and a typewriter. My luggage was blue, too, along with a light blue trunk. I remember that day as clear as a bell. I remember being intoxicated by the possibilities of being “on my own.” I had very strict parents. I remember I had on plaid pants and a white LaCoste shirt with Dr. Scholl’s sandals…my roommates all had armfulls of Janis Joplin bracelets and guaze shirts and came from different parts of the country. 4 kids were sitting on the floor in the next suite making cocktails (we were all legal)…it was simply one of the most exciting days in my life.</p>
<p>I got a little typewriter for my graduation. I think I packed up everything in an old steamer trunk that had belonged to my dad. I also took along some wooden orange crates (the kind with paper labels on the end depicting the fruit on the trees) so that I could stack them and organize my stuff. </p>
<p>I owned the coolest car at the time, purchased for a couple of hundred dollars: a 1947 Chevrolet. It was an antique even then, 22 years old, black with whitewall tires. I drove myself to college. I don’t think it occurred to either of my parents to come along.</p>
<p>
The time when I realized the world had utterly changed occurred years ago, back when my oldest child learned to ride a bike. When I was a kid, we all rode our bikes everywhere around town without supervision. We would ride to a friend’s house, and maybe ride together downtown to the soda fountain, or ride to the movie theater or the local pool. But after I taught my daughter to ride a bike, we quickly learned that no one in our town does this anymore. Kids’ activities have become completely scheduled by the adults, and most of the kids I know have lost the kind of independence I had as a child.</p>
<p>My parents drove me 500+ miles to school (which I had never visited before). Flying was never considered (I had never been on a plane at that point) and the space in the car was needed to bring my stereo and records. After unloading the car and meeting my roommate my dad looked in the yellow pages to find a restaurant for dinner. He picked one which had an ad saying they were open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner thinking it would be akin to a Big Boy. When we pulled up we saw the sign for the valet parking. Dad left mom and me in the car and asked if we could get a table dressed as we were (me - jeans and a tee shirt) and the graciously seated us. This ended up being the first true fine dining that I had ever experienced and was a great introduction to my new home of Atlanta (not that I ever ate there again). My parents played tourist for another day or two and then I did not see them again until winter break (I was too far away to come home for Thanksgiving).</p>
<p>Yep, got on a plane and flew by myself to Chicago (from Orange County). Had already shipped a trunk with all my bedding, etc. When I arrived, I remember thinking it was strange that so many parents were there? What on earth for? I didn’t go home until Xmas. Last week, grandma and I flew with D to drop her off in DC. We weren’t planning on letting her come home for Thanksgiving, but H is starting to waver. Our kids are definitely more coddled.</p>