@jellybean5 are you in TX with a D in AZ? I’m in AZ with a S in TX. Can your D take light rail to the airport? if not, give it some time. As their circles increase, they find more people who can give rides to the airport, for a meal or some gas money. My D19’s college was an hour from the airport and she always managed a ride. It got easier after the first year though. Other D used public transportation. We just were careful to book flights so she got in and out at times that coordinated with the trains and didn’t have her riding too early or late.
For the first time in several years I have all three kids coming home for Thanksgiving. Hoping the weather doesn’t screw it up. S19 is a music major, two instruments, and he just scheduled his juries, both for the Tuesday after thanksgiving. He may spend the whole time home practicing, which I’ll enjoy listening to.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone and safe travels to all.
Yes, @Parentof2014grad! I asked her if any of her friends would take her to the airport, offering some sort of payment, of course. She said nobody has a car with them; freshmen. The only problem w/ the light rail is that where she would get off at ASU, it’s pretty far from her dorm, like almost a mile. She and her friends took the light rail to Chase Field (Diamondbacks) in August. Said there were plenty of sketchy folks on there, so I’m not pushing it. She could take it when she gets back in January since her flight is due to land around 9am on a Sunday. I guess she could get a Lyft ride from the light rail drop off point if she doesn’t want to walk with all of her luggage!
Which school in Texas does your S go to? I’m steering D22 to stay in-state, for selfish reasons. D19 always wanted to get out of state, D22 could live at home the rest of her life, so it should be fine
After being home just Saturday-Sunday for a wedding, S19 showed up last night (Tuesday classes cancelled - one prof told them not to bother coming because the heat in the building would be turned off Monday night).
@InfiniteWaves Love the cleaning story! S19 is a slob at home - and continues to be on visits. But at school, he washes his trash can weekly, washes sheets bi-weekly, and is frustrated because his dormmate “collects” empty fast food containers on every horizontal surface for days on end.
@jellybean5 My son is at University of North Texas studying music. He loves it so far. I can’t comment much about the academics outside of music-he only has one non-music class. But that class is freshman english and it’s been great for him with a great teacher. All the music classes have been excellent as well and everything has gone smoothly. Denton is a nice city.
My D16 also went to Texas for college–she just graduated in May from Southwestern University in Georgetown. She had a great experience there and landed a dream job when she finished.
After my daughters left the state for college I thought S would be the one to stay local, he was very interested in one of the Arizona universities for music ed, but he ended up going away too.
The light rail here is actually quite safe, statistically speaking but I get the concern for a daughter traveling alone. ASU to airport and back really shouldn’t be a problem if she can make the trek to the station.
DD’s week off is pretty packed with socializing, but she was home yesterday afternoon alone. She played outside with our aging but still perky dog, then came in and wrote two monologues about it- one from her perspective and one from the dog’s. Made me laugh and cry. She’ll probably be able to use it sometime, with theatre as one of her majors.
On a different topic, when does a new “class of 20xx” thread get started? When the kids are about to enter high school? When there is an urgent need to discuss how junior’s 6th grade elective choice will affect his college application? When a parent can’t wait any longer? or what?!
It depends. The Co2022 thread started a several months earlier than the Co2023 thread (relatively speaking, of course), f’rex. Sometime during 8th grade seems to be the norm for when somebody gets it rolling, though.
My D went to the doctors the other day for a number of things, one of which was a burn. She got a second degree ice burn at gymnastics practice. Her coach saran wrapped an ice pack to her injured hamstring without a layer of anything between the ice and her skin, and my daughter, thinking it just lost its temperature when she stopped feeling the cold, left it on WAY too long. It’s an awful burn- huge, fist-sized blister. So now she is out of dance/gym/crew for the hamstring strain AND a nasty burn that makes it hurt to walk. I know she knows better too- she’s a competitive gymnast after all, so icing is second nature- she just wasn’t thinking.
@milgymfam oh no I hope that heals quickly! You’re being more gracious than I would be. A college coach didn’t know any better? That’s a issue. I expect S to get informed treatment from his college coaches and trainers.
I replied here but it was moderated for some reason.
Edited to try again:
@homerdog D is a club athlete, so this is a coach at a private gym that the school contracts for their training- he still should have known better. What made me mad, though, was that she only sought his help after being turned away at school. She can’t use the school clinic because our insurance doesn’t cover it, so she went to the club athletic trainer- but the trainer closed up shop until February because there wasn’t enough need. So she went to the varsity trainer at her team captain’s urging, and was turned away because he couldn’t spare the time for a club athlete. She trains six days a week and dances two- he could’ve spared five minutes for her. Clearly there aren’t club athletes beating down his door regularly, or the club trainer wouldn’t be closed until February for disuse. Sigh.
Side note, D decided to get her second tattoo last night. She figured if she’s healing her leg, she can heal her tattoo (on her ribs) at the same time. It’s economical. Ha.
@milgymfam I’m so sorry that happened. I’m surprised that the school’s clinic doesn’t accept your insurance or even that she would be charged for someone to take a quick look and give her some ice correctly. Are you 100 percent sure she couldn’t have gone to the school clinic for this for no charge? I thought all school clinics were free for the kids for drop in stuff like this. She wasn’t getting meds or xrays. If she comes down with a bad cold and thinks it’s strep or the flu, she can’t go to the school clinic for free?
@homerdog I’m fairly sure. They made sure to tell everyone to check with their insurance before the year started- ours doesn’t play nicely. She learned her lesson twice already. Once for a flu shot and once for a lice check (there were lice in her dorm common room, luckily she was clear). Both resulted in a bill, and one she had no idea what it would be until it arrived. Since her doctor is far enough from campus that she has to pay for an Uber, and she already has to go regularly for her adhd meds because the school psych refused to manage them for her- she really needs to watch her budget. Unfortunately I have no $$ to send her way to help out.
ETA: the tattoo was a gift- she’s not budgeting tattoos over doctors visits, I promise. Ha.
@milgymfam sounds like you’ve got it right then! I’m really surprised that a school clinic charges anything for a flu shot! S has been t the school clinic twice- once for a flu shot and once for a blood test to check his iron. We didn’t even get statements from our insurance that show that he went and we didn’t get a bill. I thought that, even if the visits were covered, we would get statements from our insurance company showing what the visit cost and what was covered and then I guess showing our balance is zero, but we got nothing!
@milgymfam I couldn’t let this go and looked it up on Bowdoin’s website!
“Health insurance is NOT required to use Health Services at Bowdoin but is needed for care or service off-campus.”
They do physical exams, flu shots, any sort of acute care (and list out things like fever, sprains/strains, headaches, bandaging/stitches) and anything about sexual health including free STI testing. Blood tests for pregnancy, strep, and urinalysis are done there and also free of charge. A student would have to use their insurance only if a blood test is sent to the hospital or to a specialist off campus if they need more than what the clinic offers. I thought it was like this in the dark ages when I was at NU as well. I’m surprised that Haverford isn’t the same!
@homerdog I just went and looked at their info again:
“Haverford’s Health Services office participates in a variety of health insurance plans. However, each of Health Services’ providers (nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, etc.) is covered by a limited number of plans from the list shown below. Although any given provider may participate in a plan, your actual out-of-pocket costs will vary depending on the specifics of your plan.”
There are also a list of common fees. We can’t afford out of pocket costs and our insurance (tricare) doesn’t work with any of their providers at all.
Honestly, Haverford doesn’t seem to offer a lot of the little perks that I would have thoughtlessly associated with “elite” schools.
Welcome back @JBSeattle ! I was hoping it was going well because as I recall our DDs were sort of in the same boat, resisting the regional public but ending up there anyway. My DD is loving hers too!
Today DD is going shopping with a friend. She’s just getting into driving in the city so hoping for the best. The mall isn’t too far in. Then tonight going half an hour in the opposite direction for a Friendsgiving. Lots of travelling, fortunately we only got a skiff of snow here last night.
