I am not a very superstitious person, but I do hope that trouble doesn’t really come in threes…
DD '17’s dorm was evacuated again earlier this week. This time there was no smell of smoke, but when she got to the ground floor, firefighters (from the burned fire station?) we actively fighting a small fire in a retail complex on the ground floor of her dorm. The fire was in an area that was under construction. At least it was at a more civil hour of 8 PM. The new procedures for getting back into the dorm worked reasonably well but still took some time since the made the students use the elevators. The firefighters were working in the stairwells.
For calm today, she and her suitemates went to the LA women’s march.
DS17 is packing up to head to his dorm. His winter break was a month long. DS19 will be going to a school with 6 week winter break so he will stay home even longer next winter. More laundry I guess.
DS17 has not applied for housing next year and seems not to be actively looking for a place or a mate. I guess he could commute from home.
DS just learned a lot. He was responsible for making room assignments for the 60 guys in the frat house. Most were staying with their current roommates so that was good but with 4 new guys moving in mid semester and one that left school they ended up with odd numbers and he had to make some tough decisions. It was a good learning moment. Also the executive school he went to at Northwestern was really good as was a weekend he got to spend getting to know their advisor and planning out the year!
@Dave_N I assume that dorm is in the new USC Village? How is that working out otherwise? Looks pretty nice.
Our son has had no dorm fires, but they’ve been affected twice within a year by poor air quality from nearby wildfires (Skirball fire and Malibu).
Hi all! Another “it’s been a while, here’s an update” post! D17 is doing well at Temple. She changed her major in fall from BioE to EE, and may do a CS concentration or even change to ECE. Spring semester started last Monday.
So jealous of everyone who had their children over winter break - of the 4 weeks off, I saw DD for a total of 6 days as she preferred to stay in her housing at college (1 1/2 hour drive away). Of course, I saw my DS15 even less. She’s home this weekend to work an outdoor festival. She currently looks like the Michelin man with about 5 layers on, heading out into -18 with windchill.
@youcee Yes, I think my DD, like many HS kids who enjoy bio. think “I’ll do bioengineering!” (or biomedical eng). Then they get to college and find that there’s more options for summer internships/co-ops for mechE and EE and CS majors and go… hmmm. I think three of four in her freshman suite were bioengineering and have changed.
For my DD, seeing the job listings – combined with discovering she really enjoyed both the EE and ECE rotations in the freshman “intro to engineering” class where they survey all the engineering options helped lead her to change her plans.
@stencils yep. My daughter originally thought the same. “I love biology and the human body, therefore I will do bioengineering.” I’m thankful for her school which really spent time showing them what a “real career” in each engineering discipline looks like. She realized very quickly she didn’t want to do research, wasn’t pre-Med and didn’t want to be in device sales. She saw that very few actually end up doing “tissue engineering” and designing medical equipment. That point was further brought home at a co-op/internship fair when she saw I think just three companies who were there for BioE positions.
I’m another one who hasn’t updated here in a long time - it’s nice to read about your kids and their journeys thus far! My D had a nice long break this time - she was actually supposed to head back up today but the weather in upstate NY is so brutal right now (a foot of snow and a high of 3 today) and Amtrak is a bit of a zoo today. So since D’s actual first class doesn’t start until Wednesday, she’s going to take the train up tomorrow when things have calmed down from this winter storm a bit more.
She’s still loving school. It’s been quite an adjustment for me to the fact that she really more or less lives up there now and having her home is just temporary. Looks like she’s going to be declaring a double major in math and geoscience. This summer she’s signed up to do some field work, which is an exciting opportunity, even though it means we’ll see her even less. I miss having her home, but at the same time I’m happy that she seems to be thriving and growing up and pretty much having the experience we’d hoped for in sending her away.
Time for me to update as well. My D is really thriving at Oberlin. She has declared two majors, has held multiple on-campus jobs and leadership positions, and has been brought into a professor’s research project. She is currently applying to summer jobs and internships, which means we probably won’t see much of her this summer. She is constantly making new friends and consolidating those friendships. It has been a great choice all around and while the students are certainly invested in social justice, it has not seemed over the top to me and it hasn’t stifled classroom debate.
My D21 took the PSAT this year so the college spam now has resumed in our house. It won’t be long before the trickle is a torrent. I can’t believe we’re gearing up for this process again! Different kid, different parameters, different set of schools. Onward!
Hello all! Can I get some of you to chime in with your always loving and insightful thoughts. Like @mamaedefamilia’s D, S is now looking for summer jobs and internships. Now here’s the dilemma - should he focus on getting a job (paid) or getting an internship (sometimes unpaid)? Is there a difference? Last week he got an incredible internship offer at a FinTech startup in lower Manhattan (blocks away from our home). Here’s the issue - they can’t pay cash, they said they can try to help him get credit (ain’t happening). The experience would be invaluable, but he really wants to make money to help out with his off-campus apartment bill - and it will look great on his resume.
On the other hand, he could go for a paying job (like J Crew, Starbucks, or even our church).
What would you folks encourage? A job that offers less learning but more money, or an internship that would be a great learning experience but possibly no money.
True paid internships are very hard to get, especially for sophomores, so I want to give him good advice.
@STEM2017 I’ve recently came back to cc for D19 and saw your post. First of all congrats to your son, that is awesome that he got an internship. I think he should take the internship. Particularly because he will be able to live at home and not have expenses. Will the internship be full time and the whole summer? Depending of start and end dates and daily hours he needs to be at his internship he might be able to get a flexible pt job if time allows so he can save.
I see it as an investment in your S’s future and it will not only give him an edge, it will also provide insight into his chosen field. Another thing to consider is that it will expand his network for future opportunities and give him “work experience” in his major.
My S17 also got an internship, it is paid but he has to pay for his housing (he will be out in the middle of nowhere, well almost) and expenses. So at the end of the day who knows how much money that will take from his pay but again we see it as a great opportunity to get experience and really get insight into his major.
Best of luck to him!
Edit: Maybe he can consider applying for scholarships that will lower his tuition and that savings can be put towards his off campus apartment.
Hi @itsgettingreal17 ! Money is only a concern because he and his friends chose a $600/month apartment over a $400/month option for its newness and proximity to campus. So he feels like he should find a way to cover the extra $2,000. I applaud him for this, but we could handle the bill without his help.
I am leaning towards getting the internship. The loss of $$ may be a short temporary pill to swallow but the internship might open doors to him down the road which is very important.
@STEM2017 – I would take the unpaid internship for the reasons @letsshare posted above. " I see it as an investment in your S’s future and it will not only give him an edge, it will also provide insight into his chosen field. Another thing to consider is that it will expand his network for future opportunities and give him “work experience” in his major."
If his hours are not crazy, he might be able to supplement with some side gigs on weekends. (Babysitting, tutoring, dog walking? No shortage of people hiring for services in Manhattan, although difficult to obtain on a very temporary and P/T basis.)
I cannot remember where he is at school, but $600/month is less than my college grad paid when renting an apartment, and he had to pay rent for 12 months.
Definitely the internship. The Experience on the resume will help when he goes to get a job after graduation and might get him the connections he needs.
Is there a possibility he could do the internship three days a week and then work a part-time job like you mentioned the rest of the week? Seems to me if it is an unpaid internship then he should be able to negotiate his time.
@STEM2017 sounds like a pretty responsible and conscientious son. I think being close to campus is important and worth the extra money. Is that $600 just for his share?
She is constantly making new friends and consolidating those friendships. It has been a great choice all around and while the students are certainly invested in social justice, it has not seemed over the top to me and it hasn’t stifled classroom debate.