So excited to have my D18 home until Saturday morning! She got in yesterday morning and we even got to watch her school’s basketball game together last night, just like old times. School is going great and she has settled in quite well. She is now officially a tour guide, and I may be biased, but prospective students and their families sure will get a very enthusiastic tour if she is their guide. She is thinking about being an RA in the coming years and got all the classes she wanted for next semester.
Even though all of her baking stuff is at school, she came home excited and ready to bake her homemade pound cake for Thanksgiving day festivities.
I also have my D15 home as well until Friday. She was in an accident on Friday and ended up with a concussion, so she is walking around in a hat and sunglasses looking like a reality star. Hopefully the concussion heals quickly because she has finals coming up and a jam packed final semester, along with an awesome internship.
I picked up my S on Friday and my D yesterday. We are looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family and then they go back on Sunday.
A few more weeks of school and then finals and a few concerts for S, then Christmas break.
I am glad that they are only 1-2 hours away.
Although winter weather can be unpredictable. Last week we had rain in one place, sleet in another and snow in the third one.
Yes, DD goes back early Sunday as well. She needs to take back a dorm fridge, as the roommate situation is still extremely iffy. At first the girl wanted to change rooms, now now she is talking about leaving school and going home where she can attend nearby.
Even if she decides to stay, DD said the fridge situation isn’t working. Since it is the other girls, and said they could share, there isn’t really any room for DD.
DD won’t even be having Thanksgiving dinner with us. She picked up additional hours at work as she will be paid double time for the day, so she said we just need to save her some of the “good stuff.”
My middle son is a senior at Bama and he hasn’t been home for Thanksgiving since freshman year. Fortunately he has friends who have taken him home for the holidays and I am very grateful for that. But it makes me sad every year.
So the shorter commute for DD has been working out very well. Though she will only be coming home on major breaks, it is so nice to be able to get her and return home in under 5 hours.
@laralei That’s interesting that your D is enjoying her linguistics class so much. My D enjoys her lit class the most. She likes the discussion.
Thanks to @mommdc and everyone who commiserated with me. D is doing much, much better. She has been relaxed and happy for the break.
I haven’t spent all that much time with her. She visited her favorite teachers at her high school on Wednesday and spent Friday and most of today with her friends. At least she’s healthy and happy and we had Thanksgiving together. Tomorrow morning we’re taking her back.
For now I think she will not change her major. She talked to a professor in another department about what she wants to do and he assured her that her current major will allow her to do the kind of research she is interested in and offer her good options.
Wife and son just left for Wilmington, DE, where he’s catching a ride back to Ithaca. He was around Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; he was hanging out with friends the rest of the time. His older brother, who is trying to go back to school after a year and a half, has finished his application. We sent his scores in over the break. It’s funny that McDaniel College, which we thought was the best match for S18, looks like a great match for his older brother.
Spent Thanksgiving in Charlotte with brother in law. DD and her California roommate came up and we spent the weekend together. Good time had by all. Yesterday my wife and I drove them back down to Clemson and bought them stuff to decorate their room for Christmas as well various goodies for the next 3 weeks.
DD has basically done pretty well and seems happy. One little hiccup when she and her roommate elected to stay on campus during the fall break in November. They felt lonely on the mostly empty campus and with no car a bit stranded.
Academically she claims to be making all A’s. She also informed me that she mapped out her classes going forward and expects to have enough credits to graduate after her first semester junior year with a major in BA Economics and minors in Political Science and Psychology. Thinking about a semester abroad second semester junior year and then starting graduate school in what would be her senior year. Clemson accepting all those AP credits saving us a year a of college tuition. That is a great thing.
Next weekend we are going to meet again in Charlotte to go to the Pitt Clemson ACC championship game. I guess I will have on my Pitt sweatshirt and Clemson hat…
Hopeful that everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! It was great to have out DD’12 and our DD’18 home together with their little brother (DS’23). Our DS’14 was not able to make it back, but we will see him soon enough. So thankful for all of you and for all of the help we have received on CC over the years.
For those whose kids had a HS boyfriend or girlfriend when they left for college, how’d they do? Was the “turkey drop” accurate, or are they still going strong? My D and her BF broke up a couple of weeks into the school year, but they spent the summer apart so it wasn’t all that surprising.
I am still debating about DD and the housing situation for next year.
The apartment style the school runs really isn’t that much more $ than the traditional but far from campus life, and from parents posting, the shuttles required to get to the academic quad are often late or full.
Do I let her go for the apartment style where she will have her own room, but could be more socially isolating? or strongly push the traditional where she is in the middle of campus life, classes, and activities, but is forced to deal w/ a roommate she does not know & might not get along with? Her current situation is very unpleasant.
We are going to have to decide on this very soon, as the housing for sophomore year opens during Xmas break.
@melvin123 DS18 is still going strong with his HS GF. Although they are the same age, she skipped a grade middle school so this is the second Thanksgiving I’ve held my breath! She left for Stanford when DS was starting his senior year. DS did a pre-college research program at UTD so they didn’t see each other much over the summer. Getting a chance to spend time together has been difficult. Their vaction times don’t always line up and they are both expected to spend some time while at home with family. Their Spring Breaks are off by a week this year so for a surprise Christmas gift we are giving DS the FF miles I’ve been saving so he can get a ticket to visit his GF in CA over his Spring Break. They are talking about a wedding in about 5 years, after they graduate and both have jobs.
I should add that both families are very supportive of their relationship and have met several times and get along very well.
D18 had been a bit homesick so I held my breath as she talked about school. All for not, thank goodness. Only one day at home when she told me she actually missed being at school. Talk about a deep sigh of relief! I may have even fogged up the car windows. I’m hoping all your kiddos are doing well and that you got some good squeezes in while you had them around :-*
Wow @3scoutsmom they are really devoted to each other to have survived the separation that long. And what a nice Xmas present. I hope it works out for them! My D has had 2 BFs so far and I’ve liked both of them. You just never know when they find the right person for them, so it’s always a relief to see your kid choosing good people to date.
@laralei you mentioned that the apartment is socially isolating and the shuttle is often full. What about taking the shuttle to campus early and studying in the library? And re socially isolating, since this is university housing, do the apartments maybe have their own social life? Personally I don’t like apartments because I don’t want my kid spending time on cooking, food shopping, cleaning and commuting. But I understand the lure of having your own room. Could she get a single in a traditional dorm? And what are her friends doing?
DD did not come home for Thanksgiving, her last final is next week, she will be home in early December. She was adopted by some school friends and taken to their home in Memphis for the holiday, she had a great time.
DD applied for and landed an Orientation Leader position for next summer. She is very excited as when she came home from orientation back in May, she said that being an OL was something she would really love to do. It means, spring break she will go somewhere with the group for training, when the spring term ends, she will return home for a couple of weeks and then return to school in Mid May where she will move to a different dorm and spend the summer. I’m kind of sad she will be gone but I am very excited for her and in reality, the past several summers she was away at Girlscout Camp for 8 weeks. She was able to come home periodically for a 24 hour break and was close enough to be able to do so, with school so far away, she won’t be hopping home. She was also offered a management position at Camp this year and while it was more money, we really encouraged her to take the OL position - she can always return to Girl Scouts but she will not always have the opportunity to be an OL.
Next, she is planning on applying to be an RA for next year - Since her scholarship includes housing, she did some digging and if she gets an RA position, she would actually be paid the value of her scholarship so its really a win/win.
@SnowflakeDogMom it sounds like our experiences are alike, in that our kids aren’t coming home very much. Sad for us, but great for them as they spread their wings and try out all sorts of things that are available during this time period in their lives.
My D didn’t come home for Thanksgiving either. It was a short break and it’s just too hard to get there from here with no direct flights. Luckily she has other family up north and enjoyed her time with them. I’m looking forward to Winter Break where I get her for 2 weeks. The rest of Winter Break she’s taking a short class to get a feel for other options at school. This summer my D is planning on studying abroad so I don’t expect to see her much then. Given her prospective major, it’s just too hard to study abroad during the regular school year due to various co-requisites/pre-requisites. If she goes down one career path she’ll look for summer internships at the end of Sophmore year by me, but if she goes down another path then there’s no relevant internship experiences for her here. It’s funny how different cities attract different kinds of businesses.
Last week my D had her first appointment with Career Services at school, and I think her second appointment is next week. My D said it doesn’t matter when you meet with them (Freshman, Sophmore, Junior or Senior), you still have to go through their same process of interviews and questionnaires, and then they help you with resumes, getting internships etc. I’m very happy with my D that she is focusing in on this even though she’s not applying for internships this year. I feel like she’s taking advantage of the wide variety of things that college offers and is managing her future. It sure does feel odd to hear about the process from the side-lines, but it sure feels good to see your kid capably managing their own life.
Hi all,
it’s nice to see everybody’s post, and see how their kids are doing. I wanted to update on my daughter who was seriously thinking of transferring and seemed miserable her first quarter at UCLA. I’m happy to say she is doing so much better, and seems to be enjoying school, finding different clubs to join/spike ball club, finding an outdoor recreation area she can study and swim at, and spending time at other activities that the school puts on. We held our breath over Thanksgiving, and just listened to see what she was thinking/feeling. When she started talking about things she wanted to do in the next couple of quarters and next year we breathed a sigh of relief. I think that her knowing that she would be supported either way, and talking to her older cousins who went through the same things has really helped. Phew!
Now, she’s talking about what she wants to do over the summer to make money, possibly work at a summer camp, or doing something on campus.
Thanks for all of your support!
She is thinking about being an RA in the coming years and got all the classes she wanted for next semester.