@fretfulmother There is a pretty large number of Jewish students with a very strong student organization , Hillel and a synagogue within several blocks of campus at CofC.
@carolinamom2boys - that is great to know! These things change every few years, I find, so itâs important to get the skinny from other moms who know. 
My sweet girl is dealing with some serious pollen allergies this week! And the screw came out of her glasses so she only has contact lenses. She said she woke this morning and her eyes were swollen 
Hopefully she can get her glasses fixed in Georgetown tomorrow [-O<
Wow a lot of people with kids that are finished early. Mine has three more weeks, which is probably good since she hasnât figured out the logistics of moving out of her dorm in the 20 hours she has between her last final and her flight home (which is a mere hours before her dorm closes). Iâm getting stressed about it.
My D is working a regular job this summer and has a required 4 week class next summer that will probably prevent her from getting an internship next year. (The class is residential at the schoolâs campus in the Rockies). The goal for the summer is to see if we can afford an extremely used car for her to take back so she can at least get some relevant volunteer experience under her belt during the school year.
@HappyFace2018 I tend to agree with your daughter on this one (the study abroad issue): if she refuses to do things from fear sheâll miss out on so much! I may have gone the complete other direction with mine, in fact- our mantra has always been âalways do the things that scare youâ.
On a related note, S is still planning to apply for an internship in London next summer- itâs the program that sealed the decision to attend his current uni. Last summer there was a stabbing near the house the kids live in; then there was the attack on Parliament recently. Yeah, it makes me nervous for him, but I think that goes with parenting in general. Heâs thoroughly excited about spending two semesters in Britain. (Canât blame him- I would be, too.)
Now, for the update: D16 is still waiting to get the word on her very last piece of pre-enlistment paperwork (Iâm told the delays and paperwork are just a preview of her next six years). Meantime, sheâs working and saving money and has actually been an absolute pleasure to have around. Sheâs been going to the gym and running, but since she also just bought a ton of Easter candy, weâll see how that works for her.
S16 started his summer internship over spring break (long story) and has been texting me with funny stories from the office. Heâs enjoying it tremendously and apparently itâs even worth having to shave, which is high praise indeed from my son-slash-pet-werewolf.
He still finds the dining hall tolerable, though thatâs probably to do with the fact that they cook Southern and he will eat anything if itâs covered with enough fat and carbs. Despite that, heâs lost a good bit of his freshman fifteen and looks great. His dorm next fall will have a kitchen (the suiteâs apartment-style, two small bedrooms and a shared lounge/kitchen), so weâre getting a crockpot, a panini maker, and a much smaller meal plan. I foresee a lot of Cuban sandwiches in his future.
School is out in two weeks, and so is his internship (though they want him back in the fall if /when he can), so heâll probably be spending the summer doing menial labor somewhere, playing in his band, and hanging out with his girlfriend and the friends who are just graduating. Itâs pretty good to be nineteen.
@fretfulmother Charleston has a very old Jewish community (one of the oldest in the country) so the kosher connection at CoC is a pretty safe bet if youâre looking for that.
@eh1234 My sweet girl wonât be done until 5/13. We are heading to D.C. on 5/14 and she has to be out by 5/17. Many of her friends started at the beginning of August.
She was going to return to the same job she had last summer but this internship opportunity, albeit unpaid, is in her field and sets her up for future connections/opportunities and D.C. internships. The interviewer said she is âhighly qualifiedâ which is worth its weight in gold considering her age.
I think sheâll get her license this summer. Sheâs just had no interest in getting it because she does not need a car in DC (and most likely wonât for a while).
@petrichor11 Itâs completely up to herâŠwhich means sheâs heading to France. The first time she did an exchange trip to France I about lost my mine. The second time was a little better. Iâll have to pray for her safety and peace/calm on my part. By the time she heads abroad Iâll be good and retired and traveling with my hubby. Heâll keep me busy
Not much communication from DD this past week. We did get one facetime with a stove crisis. Couldnât really figure out what the issue was so she said okay gotta go. Last exams are this week. Her residential collegeâs servery stops food on May 3rd and they have to be out of the room that Friday. Most of her time will be spent packing, studying, and moving things to her apartment. She has an opportunity to work through May 13th so I think she will stay and work as much as she can. Summer classes are still up in the air but we are hoping that she will have that opportunity. This first year has had some definite challenges but I think we have managed to survive.
@petrichor11 thank you!!
D will be home on Friday after her last final. We went to see her sing this weekendâsheâs an hour awayâand we packed up the van. She has laundry, clothes, sheets and makeup to take back in her Jeep. The flex dollarsâCardinal Cash- will be good at the bookstore on sale merchandise.
I know what Iâm getting for Motherâs Day!!!
D is just about finished. One more exam to go. I head to Pittsburgh on Thursday to go pick her up.
Life is pretty good for her. Academics have continued to go very well. The housing situation ended up working out with the 4 girls getting moved from their forced triple suite into a regular quad. She has obtained an internship (unpaid) at our local county DAâs office. It sounds really interesting. Sheâs been told that the interns do everything but litigate. It should be great experience for my potential future lawyer. We have told her that she needs to get a paying job also so she can earn spending money for school. That will be her main concern next week.
@me29034 Outstanding! So proud of her! To get an internship in her field as a rising sophomore is awesome! =D>
Wahoo! @me29034
Thursday! My D isnât done until Saturday.
@me29034 Thatâs great for your daughter. DS16 may be working at the movies this summer . Waiting until next year for internships until he gets more coding experience. Your daughter may want to look into a job at the movies if you have one near you. The pay is slightly more than minimum wage and if the movies serve alcohol, employees need to be 18 which limits the competition with HS kids. Good luck to her.
Thanks all.
@carolinamom2boys I never had heard of theaters that serve alcohol before. I just googled and I guess there is one about 30 minutes away from us. I think D can find work closer than that but itâs an interesting idea.
Looks like S has a month to go based on his exam schedule, which feels like a long time at this point since we got to see him twice right around the end of March and mid-April. He surprised me by reaching out to his old job to ask if they had internships in his major. Heâs preparing a resume and more information about his programming skillsâŠhopefully it will work out. I suggested he drop by the career center on his campus to see if they could give him some tips on what to include in it. D18 has a camp counselor job that pays a flat fee of about $200 a week for 40 hours (not sure how they can do that?) but she loved going to camp there so sheâs excited about it. Problem is she still doesnât have her license and with S16 working, it will be me shuttling her to/from work each day.
D16 will be working at the summer day camp at the school where I work. She just got her hours and Iâm really excited because a) she is working 40 hours a week and b) we have the same start time so we can ride together at least one way (I work reduced hours in the summer. Yay me!). With a potential 5 drivers and 2 cars this summer and 4 of those drivers employed it should be interesting.
We live in the suburbs with limited options for getting around on public transit. I get frustrated that we all âneedâ a car. We are 4 when the kids are both home from school, with 3 cars. Having that 3rd car is a luxury for us. We make the kids share and ferry each other around.
Our oldest is graduating this May, and she has her eye on moving to a major city where she wonât need a car. Whew.
Good luck with Operation Transportation!
Re: bars in movie theaters. I just recently discovered this fun fact when I went downtown to see the Oscar nominated Animated Shorts, then Live Shorts. I had some time to burn between shows, and to my surprised delight, there was a comfy dark bar.