@SammoJ wow he’s done early! S19 has class through this Wed and then finals start on Monday. Not sure how quickly he will find out his semester grades. Profs not putting anything in the grade book so he only has a vague idea of where he stands.
@sammoJ my son had almost the same thing happen. Doing well in four classes but bombed the only test he had in his fifth class. Papers and projects brought his grade up to a low B so as long as he gets a B on final, he will be ok. He started finals today too. He has two today, none tomorrow. Not sure whether he has two Wed or two Thurs but his last final is Thurs in the class he needs the B in. Unlike your son, he hated the class (Pysch). Said the professor was sooooo boring. Just lectured the entire time and wasn’t at all engaging. S19 did go to see him after bombing the test and got some tips to help him prepare for the final.
@homerdog, D17 always has finals all the way up until the Friday before Christmas. She’s on the west coast so had to take red eye home last year, got home Saturday morning and slept all day. Then only had three days to get her Christmas shopping done. This semester she’s been studying abroad and finished earlier than if she had been on campus. She’s also in finals this week and flies back on Friday so she will have a whole week extra off compared to her friends back at school.
It’s been so quiet here. Dh has been on a two week business trip. He gets back Friday night also. I’m driving to NJ to pick D17 up at Newark airport then getting a hotel room and going into Manhattan with her for dinner and a little shopping. Then we will pick S19 up from his friend’s house Saturday morning (also in NJ) before we head back home to the DC area. Going to be weird having all six of us home on the same day. We haven’t all been together since early August!
I’m trying to get all my Christmas decor up before I leave on Friday so when we all get home it is nice and festive. I bought our tree last week but have it sitting in a bucket of water outside. Going to see if my neighbor can bring it inside for me on Wednesday.
Good luck to the 2019s as they finish up their first semester of college!
D has regular classes this week. Next week is finals week. Her school has self-scheduled finals, but her only class with a final is at another school that has scheduled finals (hers is on Tuesday morning). Her other classes all have papers or presentations in lieu of a final, due on the last day of the semester (the 20th). She could technically leave next Tuesday after her final, but we can’t go pick her up until Saturday just before the dorms close.
@4kids4us Wishing the best for your son on the Psych test!
@homerdog S19 is not quite done, the important test just happened to be the first day of finals week. Every day the rest of the week a paper or project or presentation is due.
Got a funny text from him last night. I ordered a couple of items from JCrew, used his account (he said I could to use some deal he had), and accidentally forgot to change shipping address, so he received the box at school. Opened it. Saw shirt I bought for him for Christmas. Texted - “Hey, can I use this for my big presentation tomorrow?” Uh, sure, just take a selfie and I’ll wrap that for under the tree.
@SammoJ at least he was still at school to receive the package and it didn’t sit there all break!
DD sends Snapchat streaks during the day and right before bed, so we know when she’s still up. This morning DH says “DD must have been up late studying because I swear I heard Snapchat go off at 3 am.” (Yep, she did send them then.) I said “Do you really think she was studying?”
Ha, at least you know he likes the shirt! And he will look smashing for his presentation and hopefully get a really good grade!
Son19 is coming home for a few days to study and then going back to finish his last exam early next week. I think he’s had a good semester, seems to be doing well in all of his classes, made some friends, as far as I know did not puke his brains out partying, did not get expelled/arrested nor got anyone pregnant. Solid start.
He has been training a lot with his team, and has enjoyed being part of a group that play tests the new Lego Mindstorms stuff. They have access to all of the new Mindstorms gear and software and use it in one of their classes, I guess they have a partnership with Lego. So he’s constantly building all sorts of neat things and he films them and texts us to show what he’s learning. I think that’s the class he likes the most, but he has also liked his English/writing class.
DD finished finals on Monday night and we drove out to get her on Tuesday. She is by far the first of her friends to be back, and is enjoying a little down time before she returns to her job at a local cafe on Saturday.
DD truly loves school (she’s at Binghamton), has made many new friends, has earned fantastic grades so far, and is in the running to be an RA for next year. It is so nice when they find their place!
Hope everyone has a joyous holiday season and is able to enjoy some quality family time!
Great updates about your kids’ first semesters!
S is currently on a bus from Nashville so I’ll get to see him in a few hours. He had a rough sleep deprived week so I’m sure he will get some much needed rest tonight. Yesterday he had an Econ final during the day, a Calc final at night and then had to stay up to 4 am finishing a paper.
I checked in with D17 and she’s still finishing up. She said she’s written 61 pages for finals so far with another 8-10 page paper to go! The life of an English major. 
Better them than me!
S19 will just be home for the weekend and then is headed to Chicago to see his gf and another friend and then to MI to see his dad. At least I’ll get him back on the 23rd. It’s hard to not be selfish about it since I miss having him around so much.
My D sent me the following text today, which made my day- she started by saying it’s been exactly one year since she was accepted ED.
“It has been amazing! I really love college. It’s so fun, even with classes being stressful sometimes. It’s honestly less stressful than high school was! And it’s cheesy, but true, that I feel like I’m learning a lot about myself too.”
@elena13 a girlfriend in Chicago? Is this a Vandy thing? Has he been here before? Hope they have fun!!
@homerdog, yes it is a new college girlfriend. This will be his first time in Chicago and thanks!
And she’s home! (After a full day GTR-ATL-MSP-ANC.)
D will be home later today. Sent her to a slightly further airport that side so she could get a direct flight to our closest airport.
She has two official semester grades so far, an A and an A-. 3rd should be a B+ or (she is hoping) an A (she got an A on the midterm). The final one is the one she bombed the midterm on so no idea … will be a little stressful till we know I guess.
My D is home! So happy to have her under the roof again. Trying to make her adjustment to living in her parents’ house as easy as possible. I added a comfy nesting spot to her room so she can cocoon in there & video chat with all her college buds, will let her use the car as much as she needs, and try to cook her favorite foods/ desserts.
I remember how stifling it was after the freedom of college to return to my childhood prison. (That’s how it felt - with the warden being my mom.)
D is home, everyone happy! She seems in a good space about college at the moment, and is happily chatting about plans for next semester, etc.
The airport was actually very vibey this evening - loads of college kids coming home, college sweatshirts from all over, lots of smiley reunions and excited chatter. D said a bunch of the people on her flight back were also college kids.
S19 has been home since before Thanksgiving. His school has a 6-week break–before Thanksgiving to week after New Years. He was sick as a dog for the first week and then started working (odd jobs) to make money for the next quarter and a spring break trip he wants to go on. He’s been quite busy with that for the last 2 weeks.
He seems to have enjoyed the first quarter though the academics were harder than he expected. Many late nights in the library. He’d expected that the social side would be hard—putting himself out there a lot, and that has been the case. He’s involved in a bunch of clubs so that’s good, but says it’s hard not yet having close friends.
@liska21 tell your son he’s not the only one thinking school is harder than expected. S19 has been in the library all semester if he’s not in class, eating, or at practice. He goes out on Sat nights but hasn’t been really drinking at all because he has to get up and be really productive on Sundays! Your S is taking some stem classes too. I think some of those mixed with humanities classes with big papers is a lot and stressful. S19 also reporting everyone is so wicked smart. He’s holding his own but it’s been a ton of work.
Hope your S finds his people soon. Of course it can take a while …
DD finished finals Thursday morning but has to stay and fill a few days before going on tour. Friday she went to the Humane Society and walked a dog that she fell in love with. Saturday she went to her BF’s wrestling meet and watched him win his weight class!
So…today we drove down to spend the afternoon with her, get some things to take home for her, and watch her play. Early afternoon she found out the performance was cancelled due to snow. Funny thing is the touring show doesn’t normally do a public performance on campus, but DH requested it! Sad we didn’t get to see it but it was nice to come home earlier in the snow. We got to drive past her apartment house for next year, and play board games in the cafe she wants to work at. And it’s always nice spending time with her. She’ll be home Friday.
Oh, and finals went really well and she ended the semester with a 4.0.
@SJ2727 glad your girl is home and in good spirits. It can really be an up and down ride with emotions this year, so I’m happy she’s feeling good right now. Yes, I had know idea picking kids up from the airport during holiday times would be so fun. It’s really nice to see all the family reunions. When I picked D19 up on Wednesday afternoon someone even brought their new puppy to meet the college kid. It was beyond cute.
Enjoy the holidays everyone!!!