<p>I love this thread…it’s a GOOD NEWS thread. DD’s graduation isn’t until June 12, but she presented her senior engineering design project and won an award…and was VERY surprised. She will now attend the engineering awards event the day before graduation!!</p>
<p>I am so proud of all of our recent graduates! Curmudgeon and Fireflyscout, I remember the days when we toiled over the computer for hours researching, asking questions and sharing our school visit experiences with one another. Splash graduated two days ago and we are so very proud of her. We’ll help her move out of her apartment at the end of the month and she’ll come home for a while. Her plan is to take one year off school before starting law school. She’s sent out letters and resumes and is planning to hit the pavement and find a job as soon as she gets home. She has had an amazing four years and was not excited (at all!) about graduation. She referred to it as “that day in May”. She LOVED her school, her friends and her job. Now that it has happened, I think she is embracing her future. Congratulations to us all!</p>
<p>Fun to read about these kids four years later.</p>
<p>My son is off to the West Coast for his Phd. Going to his undergrad safety and chasing the money ended up not hurting him in his phd. search. He had a number of great choices.</p>
<p>He wanted warm weather. No snow. Where did I go wrong?</p>
<p>He is home for the summer. I am afraid this is it though. He is a california kind of kid. Laid back and easy going. I don’t think he will ever come back. One weekend visit and he was putty in their hands. His sister plans on moving in with him in a year. Ugh…</p>
<p>Cur, the location is great – right where my d. wanted to be. (She’s staying on the east coast – for her career interests that’s probably a better choice – but she does plan to come home for at least a short visit in June or July).</p>
<p>S1 came home on Sunday and his graduation ceremonies are the 23rd, so we get to see him for a week. He leaves for his job on the 24th, which will be overseas. The firm is headquartered in Rio and he doesn’t expect to be back to the U.S. again except for vacation, at least for the foreseeable future. His first assignment is in Brisbane, Australia for 3-6 months. He and the other consultants (several of whom he knows already since he worked for this firm while doing a study abroad last year) will live in a hotel, but each room has a kitchenette and is more like a suite. </p>
<p>Even though he technically starts next week, he has basically started work already via emails and skype. Thinking this week would be somewhat slow, he signed up to take the GMATs on Thursday and needs to think about packing. For college, he filled an entire SUV and borrowed stuff from home as needed. For this job, he needs to fit everything in a single suitcase that hopefully stays under the airline weight limits as he travels from country to country. He is very energized by work, whereas college was only a so-so experience for him. It’s wonderful to see him so happy.</p>
<p>It’s great to read all the exciting “coming of age” news. My son graduated last weekend, and while he earned honors and entry into PBK, we were one of the few families among his friends at graduation who didn’t have an employed graduate (seriously). When mine told everyone who asked about his plans that he was waiting to hear back from the California Capital Fellows program, I’d wince silently because I knew it was a longshot. It’s what he really wanted, though, so he didn’t have much in the way of a back-up plan.</p>
<p>Today he learned he was selected. We’re so happy for him! California needs these idealistic kids with energy and a keen interest in public policy. It means he’ll be moving to Sacramento for the year, and he’ll be there when the new Governor is sworn in, in January. He doesn’t know which agency or department he’ll be working for yet, but it should be very exciting and an amazing learning experience in any case.</p>
<p>Sax
I feel your pain. After a wonderful graduation weekend, I just dropped my daughter off at the airport for a backpacking trip through Europe. When she gets back, she leaves for grad school in Boston. I feel very sad - she is truly gone!! I am very proud and happy at the woman she has become but geez- I will so miss her. Here come the tears again. :(</p>
<p>I graduated Saturday, and I’m home for a week (unfortunately, with an AWFUL cough that I am now on antibiotics for–I must say, I never knew just how awesome breathing is!), working remotely on research and finishing up a distance ed course while seeing a couple friends. I head back to college town next week where I’ll work more or less full time on research until the end of July (hoping it get around 4 publications out). I then plan to begin the ~2000 mile trek to grad school to start my PhD program in August.</p>
<p>Just got back from Duke graduation for our son (REALLY hot, but the rain held off until Monday!). What a weekend. Wow. During baccalaureate I was overwhelmed by the thought of the collective effort involved in the all these graduates. Our son starts his new job June 1 in another state, just bought a car in his college town, needs to move…lots of logistics. It would be easy to loose sight of the significance of this event, but I am too sappy for that.</p>
<p>Awww, what awesome stories from all of you. I remember reading about these kids 4 years ago (my D2 is a year behind, so I was seeking wisdom).
Crossing fingers, toes, and everything else that next year’s grads can find <em>something</em> productive to do.</p>
<p>janie, I know! They turn into such interesting, funny, wonderful people…and they are gone. </p>
<p>But that was the point all along, right?</p>
<p>I recently told a friend with a young child to not send her to Kindergarten: it is the beginning of the end. </p>
<p>Just kidding, sort of.</p>
<p>SplashMom - yep, those were good times hangin’ out in the Rhodes forum! Congratulations to your graduate - hope she enjoys her year off.</p>
<p>Mafool
Yes, that was the point. I know that I did my parenting job well by how she has embraced life/new experiences. I am hoping that once she settles in a career and I retire - we can live in the same city again. Sighhhhhhhhh
Janie
PS Thank god for Skype!!</p>
<p>I don’t recommend your D be in Redhook. It is very remote and hard to get to. She will feel very isolated.</p>
<p>Heh…yes, that was the joke (I’m a NYC native). In any event, she’s going to be in DC. :)</p>
<p>amazing…such a pleasure to read about these passages in old posters lives…yeah for all your enterprising children!</p>