D heads out on her own for Europe today. Nervous for her!
@Booajo Wow, she is heading out early. I have my fingers crossed for her that everything goes well.
My D is going to China this summer, and the planning is a bit overwhelming - more than I had expected when she signed up for this. She isnāt leaving until June, but I know I will be a nervous wreck until I hear than she made it there to the dorm, with all her luggage, and everything is fine.
Our D16 is staying at school over the summer. She has her apartment, and the lease goes thru the summer months. She has her job, and friends who are staying too.
Iām glad she is building a life for herself. We get a text message here & there, but not a lot of communication. I continue to send pictures of the dog.
Seems like it was not long ago that I was checking the āChecklist for Incoming Freshmen Listā. Time has flown. D has grown into an adult and her parents have grown into the next phase of life as empty- nesters. I never thought I would be glad for her that she landed some position that kept her away from home even longer. Now, I am very happy that she secured a summer research position that will help her achieve her career goals. That now seems more important than spending more time at home.
She texted me that she was successful with GPA this semester and has the grades to get into med school. So, I started researching how wwe are going to pay for that. Big bummer is it looks like we are going to have to keep filing that damn FAFSA form for an additional 5 years.
As she prepares for the next step, she added health care volunteer to her research position during the school year. The bittersweet result is that she will be quitting college dance team and this has been a huge part of her life, really since she was 5 years old. She has very advanced training and was considering dancing professionally at one time. Her dance studio from high school is still going strong and will be performing at World of Dance on May 29- so we still root for the team there and are excited for them.
So, the next item to be checked off: MCAT exam. It feels a little like starting all over with the whole SAT/ ACT , college search, & financial aid research. Except that now we have a mature adult student and experienced parent and student doing the research on these things.
Glad to hear everyoneās updates. It seems like our kids are each finding their own way.
Doing the happy dance here because DS16 got the summer internship he really wanted!!! I guess those juniors he was in line behind declined. He kept in touch all these months after his initial interview and it paid off. So thrilled for him!!
Congrats @Cheeringsection
Thank you @carolinamom2boys !
Congrats @Cheeringsection. I wish more kids believed in perseverance. Mine think Iām simply nagging when I try to explain the importance of networking, relationships and following up. Kudos to you!
Thanks @cardinal2020mom ! Letās just hope he enjoys the work.
S19 has finished junior year and as I picked him up in front of the school theater, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia for D16s HS years and all the productions we went to. Felt a bit queasy thinking about next year being Sās last year. D16 is doing well in her first research internship, which she is doing at school. Looks like she will continue working in the lab in fall and head to a conference with her lab in winter. The eldest, S06, has landed the job with a big international NGO, which has been his goal for ages. Heās been working internationally for years, and looks like itāll continue. Iām hoping that D16 will decided to go to grad school on the west coast at least. S19 is determined to head far away. Soon we may be empty nesters with none of our kids in the same time zone. At least we now have texting. We have a family chat and we share news bits most every day. S06 got his first dog, and pictures of his puppy will dominate the family chat now for some time.
Hard to believe our 2016ers are halfway!
Itās still somewhat startling to me how quickly and abruptly the kids spread their wings & flew the nest.
Our 2016 student came home to go to a concert with some friends. She spent very little time with us, and thatās the new normal.
She seems happy and is doing well in school.
DS has reached the downhill side of summer break. He is enjoying his summer internship (and the money) but missing his friends and campus life. I think he will be happy to go back when the time comes.
@Cheeringsection same here .
Well my D is apparently having the time of her life. She is over in Shanghai, and so far most pictures she has sent me are of her with friends out on the town. Drinking age in a China is 18 and she is living it up. I also got a short video clip of her celebrating her 20th birthday. And, oh yeah, there are classes which she says are really good. She skipped a level of Chinese when they did the placement evaluations so she is very happy about that, and she has a very interesting class in international economics with the focus on the Chinese-American economic relationship. Quite timely. And finally she has an internship with a well known consulting firm. I donāt think she will want to come home.
Happy that our S was able to spend a few days home over his 4th of July break. We tried out the sous vide setup I got for Christmas. Wow. Now heās back in Palo Alto enjoying his internship. Heāll be home again for a few weeks ahead of the fall quarter, so we have that going for usā¦ 
D16 has pretty much chilled this summer. Iām ok with that. Next year she is supposed to go to Japan because she double majored in Japanese and Food science. I love to hear her talk and tell me about the culture she is learning. Super cool!
DS16 departs for campus tomorrow. Training for his on campus job starts Monday. Junior year here he comes!
I canāt believe DS16 will be a junior.
Me neither @carolinamom2boys! These 4 years will go quickly and then they will really be off on their own. I am a bit sad that he wants to do all the move in alone this time but Iāve been so busy at the office that it is probably for the best. Tours with DD20 will get me on a college campus soon enough this fall.