Parents of the HS Class of 2016 (Part 1)

One concert down and one to go. VP Pence attended the Indianapolis 500 so security was very tight! She had a blast with her friends!!

DD had an extremely stressful academically, but otherwise successful year. She traveled to international competition in a foreign country, learned how to operate many machineries she have never heard of before, learned how to survive on 3 hours of sleep per night for weeks, started a humanitarian company with friends, run a marathon, become part of many organization on campus (more then she could handle sometimes, but this was a life lesson as well) She is home for the next two week and then will be back in Boston for the rest of the summer. She had two options for internships this summer and you can guess that she picked the one that is 3000 miles away and not the other one that was in CA. It seems that most of her friends choose to stay in Boston this summer so hopefully they will have some fun without worrying about homework and tests. At this age they can work full time and have energy for fun after work. Unfortunately not at my age anymore.

Had a great visit with DD over Memorial Day weekend. We were able to spend some quality time as well as some down time with her. And she went with me to pick out our new puppy. She said she wants to come home for a couple of weekends this summer :). I am going to be puppy-proofing our home in the next three weeks in preparation for bringing it home. Will be adding 2 gates inside, one on the deck, and picking out matching designer collars for the dogs- something to do with my free time as an empty-nester.

@Ballerina016, itā€™s wonderful to hear her update. I guess itā€™s nice that her winter internship allowed her some additional time at home, since the summer one will be at a distance. I am in awe of all the opportunities she has had. You really did make the right choice for her last year, though I know it was a difficult decision.

Update from DSā€™s experience with the ā€œreal worldā€: DS is enjoying his summer job thus far and is learning a lot. I overheard him and the GF trying to find time to spend together and realizing that with him working early shifts M-F and her working later ones during the week and lots on weekends, their mutual time off is limited. I think it is great practice for being true grown ups. I also think DS limited his employment search last summer to be ā€œavailableā€ on her schedule and has let her know that he wants to have more money saved for the next school year so he will have the funds to do a few more fun things. Great life lesson learned! So glad we did not just hand him a fun money budget for freshman year.

D has now been home for a week and her job does not start for another 3 weeks. She is focused on getting some chores out of the way, namely got her wisdom teeth out (oh, fun), did some training needed for her job, and next up is getting her driverā€™s license (finally). However, it seems to me that much time is being spent lounging about in bed (even before the wisdom teeth were removed). I am working on my mantra of ā€˜I shall not nag, I shall not nag, ā€¦ā€™. I was not particularly productive the summer after freshman year, and I try to remember that. I have not been 100% successful though relative to what is in my head, Iā€™ve been a rock-star.

Update on our S16: Weā€™re getting him evaluated for a possible learning disability after his inability to do any kind of academic writing resulted in only passing 3 classes his first year. The center a George Washington couldnā€™t see him until September, but they provided a list of recommended diagnosticians. One of them is a former colleague of mine, and she can see him later this month. Nearly everyone Iā€™ve talked to has either had similar issues themselves (including a successful author) or known someone who has. Apparently this is something hard to catch when the kid is extremely articulate (or in our sonā€™s case, exceptionally good at other types of writing). A coworker whose son has similar issues said she had a hard time catching it even though sheā€™s a special Ed teacher. Itā€™s rough when the only thing that gives you trouble is precisely the type of writing to do in order to get through college; if your problem is higher math then you can usually avoid taking it. Iā€™m hopeful that if his issue with writing is successfully addressed he will be able to eventually go back to Temple if thatā€™s what he wants. We have a highly regarded community college almost within walking distance where he would have the opportunity to get back on his feet.

Thank God for you in his life [-O<

@liska21 My sweet girl has decided to get her licenseā€¦sheā€™ll be 19 in a few weeks. It just wasnā€™t even on her radar until she came home. She hadnā€™t driven in a long time so she wanted to start light (her middle school parking lot). I said ā€œletā€™s jump on the freeway and head to the mall!ā€ She was game so off we went. She was a little nervous starting out but she calmed and did an awesome job. =D>

Good luck to all working on their drivers license. It really is a life skill unless you live somewhere with awesome public transportation.

So glad you are finding resources @mstomper. I hope it all works out.

Anybody else received their tuition bill for the fall already? I was a bit surprised by the email but for those taking advantage of the payment plan, I guess it is time. Tuition only went up 3.5% and we had budgeted for 5% so we are on track even with the increases in other things as well (meal plan, fees, etc).

Do we have to do health forms every year? If so, I guess we need to identify his next physician and get the recorded transferred from the pediatrician.

Slowly settling into summer life with S16 back home now that heā€™s been back almost 2 weeks. The first week was tough because he wasnā€™t working so heā€™d stay up almost until the time weā€™d be getting up for work, then sleeping in all day. But we had a fun get away with S16 and D18 over memorial day weekend, and now that heā€™s working he at least is going to bed by 1 or 2 am :). They seem to have found him some great internship activities - heā€™s spent 2 days developing an app to help automate some of their file deliveries, and next he gets to be an IT support person ensuring the log-in settings are updated on all computers in the company. He actually comes home and tells us all about what heā€™s doing, which is something thatā€™s never happened before, so I guess heā€™s found his niche! Now, if I can get back up to speed on cooking twice as much food as we do when heā€™s gone - heā€™s eating everything in site when he gets home from work each day!

Iā€™m hoping no health form updates. Most of what he completed last time was vaccination updatesā€¦which reminds me he still needs his meningitis B booster, plus dental and vision exams since those didnā€™t happen while he was at school.

@Cheeringsection Her main reason for not being in a hurry to get her license was because we are a one car family and she was heading to D.C. (Uber and great public transportation).

Regarding tuition, GWā€™s tuition is set for four years for incoming freshman so we know that wonā€™t change. However, the room will increase by $3,000 and Board will go down by $1,200. We should receive the bill soon.

We just received the fall semester bill email. Sā€™s tuition is locked for four years.

@psychmomma I think the locked in tuition is a fantastic benefit that some universities offer. I think ALL universities ought to adopt that policy.

This is one thing (maybe the only thing?) our state has done that is helpful to residents in recent years. Itā€™s a state law that public state colleges and universities freeze tuition for incoming freshman in-state student for their first four years. Fees are not subject to the freeze as far as I know. Sā€™s school also has a deal where your incoming room and board rates will stay frozen for up to four years if you stay in university housing consecutive years. If you switch dorms, you still use the prices from the first year.

@psychmomma That sounds lovely! Our tuition hasnā€™t gone up for next year, but itā€™s not frozen, either. S may have more scholarship money coming in this year though, so crossing fingers.

S has finished his first year and is now officially a junior according to the school. Heā€™s doing a dual BA/masterā€™s so he wonā€™t graduate early or anything, which is fine with me. Grades were good, Deanā€™s list both semesters; his internship went well, and they want him back in the fall.

D started at the junior college and is only slightly behind her classmates after taking a sort of quasi-gap-year (hooray for AP credit). She actually knows what she wants to do, so it was worth the delay and the false starts.

And so it goesā€¦things are settling in. Finally.

DDā€™16 claims to have been doing some pre studying for fall Statistics and Anatomy classes, not sure I believe her, but is sure would be nice.

Just scheduled early move-in time, reserved the fridge/micro and looked at flights to move her back inā€¦where does the time go!

DS heads back in 7 weeks. I have the hotel room booked and vacation days on my calendar (yes, ā€œdaysā€ he has to be back on a Tuesday). Physical is done and mailed. Bill needs paid by 8/15. I need to get him going on buying his books. Buying the fridge local or rentingā€“need to decide.

So Iā€™ve given my child an ultimatumā€¦by the end of his sophomore year he must be at or above a 3.0 or he wonā€™t go back to his university. A lot happened last year but this year should be differentā€¦hopefully. Hated giving an ultimatum but I had to do it. Any thoughts?