So glad to hear how well your students did this year!
D had a great first year as well. She did so many different things and made some great friends and mentors. She ended the year on a very nice note with a history department award for her performance in a 4000 level history class, which came with a nice scholarship.
She’s currently off on her next adventure. She is in Oxford taking an environmental economics class. From there she will go backpacking with a few friends. After that she’s off to Morocco for a summer intensive Arabic program and then will spend fall semester in Morocco through another program where she’ll take a couple of language courses and two content courses taught in Arabic. I won’t see her again until Christmas. Hopefully the time will go quickly (for me) and she has an amazing experience.
I’m enjoying reading everyone’s updates - it feels like coming full circle, so I thought I’d add one of my own. For those of you who remember our dilemma about whether to let DD drive her car from the Midwest to the West Coast at the end of her Christmas break, what ended up happening is the college classmate who was going to drive with her backed out so we wouldn’t let her take the car, and then she had a high school friend who wanted to visit her, so he ending up driving the car out to her. Said DD is now in said car SLOWLY making her way home. She spent 7 night in Northern California visiting college friends, is currently visiting 4 national parks solo, and plans to reach our door in about another week.
On the college front, we’re still not sure whether she will return to her college in the fall, or whether she will transfer to a large state U. From our point of view, she had a very successful year and made some lifelong friends. I would really like to see her continue at her college, as I’m not sure she’ll have as many opportunities at a large state U. But as DH says, her happiness is the most important factor.
My daughter finished her first year and is at beach week, headed home tomorrow. D chose to attend college within a 2.5 hour drive and I think she is definitely glad that she didn’t choose to go across to the west coast. With her migraines, she was able to get accommodations and used them to reschedule some exams, so all good there. Academically it was a good year. Lots of ups and downs socially and emotionally. Roommate situation did not work out, but it was a learning experience. She joined a sorority and it has been a good thing so far. She will move off-campus to an apartment with 3 new friends. Thankfully, she has a summer job lined up.
D finished her first year at a Vandy and is doing a paid research in a lab in Vandy’s medical school for 10 weeks this summer before coming home late July. She is going to continue CS/premed. First year grades in, all As, except A- on Cal 3. (She elected to have A-, and didn’t take the final)
Between my DH and I, we have been to Vandy six times, most times driving for 8 , 9 hours one way. Lately, we got to meet her friends parents every time we were there, so it was good for the parents to know and talk to each other. It is nice to know how her friends perceive her, apparently she has an evil twin!!
Oh, the unexpected was that we had to ship a new laptop to her just before finals week…her old one acted up and she couldn’t access her notes!
Glad all of your DCs have had a good year, and for the ones who are still going, best of luck in the finals and finish strong!
@SincererLove I got the laptop SOS back in the fall from D. Her brand new laptop she had just bought was showing the black screen of death. Had to FedEx her old one so she could use it while the new one was shipped back to company for repair.
@apraxiamom good luck to your son. Before you know it you will be sharing all the details of his freshman year and he will be a sophomore in college. Seems like I just moved my D into her dorm and now she has a full summer planed at BU before her sophomore year begins.
DS finished 2nd semester just as strong as 1st. Grade-wise our pleasant surprise from our engineering wired student was his success in his required first year writing seminars, earning his first A+. DS had a mid-year computer crisis as well, only his plastic casing broke at the hinge and had to be repaired for in insane amount of $. Thinking an aluminum type case would have held up to campus travel much better. DS has a busy summer ahead, wisdom teeth extraction next week, and back to campus 3 weeks later for a class and research in a lab. He has a couple of friends working on campus this summer, which makes it so much easier on me to know has company right away. He says he is living his dream, taking the classes in the subjects he has always wanted to. Great to hear the updates from all the DC!
Great to see everybody’s updates here. DD had an outstanding first year at Oberlin. She has a solid friend group, did well academically, took advantage of leadership opportunities, even got a couple of part-time on-campus jobs. I love the confidence and maturity that she’s developed! She came home a week ago and will be spending the summer with us. I suspect this will be the last as she’s hoping for an internship of some type next summer and that might be far from home. I also have a D21 and they are happy to be reunited. D21 just finished her freshman year strong at a new school that has been very challenging academically and a great fit. It doesn’t get any better than that! Well, it could. The laundry is nearly done.
@cleoforshort I wouldn’t dare open the suitcase, but the comforter is just stuffed in the laundry basket, so I won’t be able to resist washing it after seeing it. LoL
Looking for quick advice from my “parent of girls” friends out there (I have three boys).
My cousin’s daughter just graduated HS and is headed to Roger Williams U in Rhode Island. Never heard of it, looked it up, looks pretty cool, very happy for her. She is having a graduation party and is requesting miscellaneous dorm items (no list given) as gifts.
Any ideas from you girl experts? Maybe something that few others will think of? Something you wish you had thought of? Looking to spend LESS than $100.
@stem2017 PBDorm has some no nail wall decor, maybe the triangular photo holder? On the practical side, a Brita pitcher and extra filters many students come to appreciate. Good luck to her!
@STEM2017 My daughter liked really enjoyed her string light photo holder–super easy to decorate a dorm room with photos of friends and family. They are quite inexpensive. Along the photo theme…believe it or not, my daughter asked for a polaroid camera for Christmas. They come in fun colors and she really likes it. They are about $60-70 and the film is like $10-15.
Hopefully the time will go quickly (for me) and she has an amazing experience.
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