Reading all the recent posts makes me realize, even more, that this is a time in history we will never forget. D19 said it’s crazy to think her kids will read about this in their history books. As everyone does I wish we weren’t going through this but I hope in the end, it makes us better and maybe helps bring our very, very torn apart country together. I’ve had one or two gifts in very, very strange packages in my life and I’m hoping this will join that category.
We’re under “shelter in place” mandate in the Bay Area now, only supposed to leave our homes for essential things. I’m really hoping that that includes driving to LA next week to get my kid’s dorm items packed up and get her checked out of the dorm so we’re not on the hook for Spring quarter housing charges. She has 2 more at home finals this week so we really can’t go any sooner since her stress level is not small with math and bio finals looming on Friday.
Stay healthy everyone. This is a period of adjustment for everyone. Try to find the small silver linings where you can, be kinder than ever and patient with yourself and everyone around you. I’ve also found that ice cream helps. So much for my coronavirus get fit plans ; )
Thanks so much for forwarding this article @MWolf
Nice work to all of those who are doing what they can to support others at this time!
Every community needs a “Mutual Aid Spreadsheet!” It’s so beautiful seeing the good come out in times of crisis.
I especially loved this line in the article:
It is fitting that mutual aid is rooted in anarchist theory: typically, in times of crisis, war, or natural disaster, when institutions begin to fail, human altruism comes to the forefront.
Let’s have more human altruism come to the forefront. Together we’re stronger. Always.
D19’s bus that she was supposed to take home today was canceled yesterday, so she took the train last night instead. We’re glad to have her home sooner, and by a somewhat safer mode of transport. I booked her in business class, and she said it was pretty empty. Unsurprisingly, the New School decided yesterday to go online-only for the rest of the semester. We’ll have to go down at some point to get the rest of her stuff, but fortunately it’s no rush – the dorms are staying open. Professors are planning to spend the next couple of weeks figuring out how to do some remote version of the hands-on classes, like the drawing class D19 has this semester.
Things are pretty fine at home so far. I’m making sure to shower and get dressed before commuting down the hall to my home office. DW has S22 and now D19 on a routine of going out for runs with her. Now that my tennis club is closed, I’ll have to find a routine of my own, too. Already missing going out for dinner, movies, culture, life. But I shouldn’t complain, as we’re safely housed and healthy.
Today Swarthmore announced they are finishing the semester via distance learning. I’m guessing the other consortium schools are to follow soon behind. We are expecting our base to close soon, so D wouldn’t have been able to go back to school anyway, most likely. I am hoping haverford has a plan for the belongings of students who can’t get back to pack up and move out- yes, my D, but also her friends who have had to go home to Hawaii and China, etc.
@milgymfam I havde read about a few schools who are offering staff to pack up and ship your belongings if you can’t get back to campus - hoping Haverford does that!
Our town just declared state of emergency so we are on similar restrictions as many other places - bars shut down, restaurants are take out or delivery only, public parks and beaches shut down.
There was a little confusion as to why NYU is requiring students to move out by next week, but the speculation that the college will offer dorms as triage/temporary hospital units if necessary (following Gov Cuomo’s statement) has now been confirmed. This really feels like disaster movie stuff…
My kiddo is doing fine and on board with the shelter in place order here in the Bay Area , but is getting friends doing the “we”ll be alright, let’s hang out” thing. She’s just refusing and reiterating why to them.
She makes a good point about the frustration : they have gone from the complete freedom of being away at college, to the exact opposite of literally being stuck at home with their parents.
S19 had a full day of online classes yesterday and they went well. I was surprised that they had everything up and ready to go online and so far so good. S hasn’t tried to go see any friends or go out of the house. He feels like he should isolate himself based on other students having tested positive and what he’s read about other countries. He thinks there are a lot of young people who are positive but asymptomatic. We’ll see how long he can take it.
I just picked up my blood pressure medication.
@elena13 According to our Vandy student friend here, the kids were just given the option of taking classes pass/fail. It will be interesting to see if kids do that. Glad to hear the first day was a good one.
I’ve been talking to a friend about what it will be like if fall is still an issue. Will 2019ers continue to stay the course or will some take leave of absences? Will we pay full price for online classes or is there any chance the colleges will have different pricing (doubt that)? How are colleges going to make the decision to have kids back on campus?
I can’t imagine making S19 take a break from college. What would he even do for a whole semester if he’s not in school? Bowdoin doesn’t accept community college credits. He’s practically counting the weeks until he can at least get to Boston to visit his college friends and wants to get back to school asap.
He doesn’t start class until next Wed. All signs point to a good online experience but he has classes that are fairly conducive to it with no labs. I’m super curious to see how it goes.
My D’s classmates (many of them, anyway) are lobbying to have the semester be pass/fail. That is my daughter’s hope as well, as she really cannot absorb the info the same way that she could in live classes, with one on one tutorials. One class has started so far and it was full of glitches and she kinda hates it. Her scholarship is tied to a gpa threshold, so she’s extra worried about the affect of going online on her grades.
@homerdog Our parent site has a pass/fail discussion going now. Watching to see if this becomes fact.
I started thinking about the fall last week. Depending on what the situation is, I think we’d look at local options or an “experience”. There’s almost no point in researching since it’s so hard to predict.
A co-worker came in wearing a Navy suit last week. We joked that he wasn’t fooling anyone, he’d wasted his effort, missed the boat, no one was hiring right now. His response was humorous, but not politically correct. But it’s so surreal. In such a short span of time, planning is basically useless. I’d imagine for most of us on this site, that’s almost blasphemous. I’m going to take a stab at embracing it. Not doing so well so far.
I’m glad there is some positive online class feedback so far. D19 will find out next week.
@AlmostThere2018 not sure what kind of experience kids could have if they can’t even go back to school. Those options would be pretty limited if we are still social distancing.
I don’t know how I feel about pass fail. I guess it’s ok for it to be an option but I want S19 working hard for the remainder of this semester and I’m not sure pass fail is very motivating. I’m sure I sound like a broken record but we are paying so much money and I want him to get as full of an experience as possible for what’s left of the year. I totally understand wanting to take a class pass fail if merit money is in jeopardy.
@homerdog - Yes, S was pretty pleased about the pass/fail option. I know that many Vandy parents were talking about how pre-med students in particular need to show high grades for many of their courses so they were concerned about pass/fail. However, I like they way they are doing it - students have until April 10 to decide for each class. S knows he can get As in some of the classes but will want to get some feedback from a couple of professors before the deadline so he can decide. For the first half of the semester he was pretty consumed with pledging, so I’m guessing grades were not as high as they could be. He was planning on making up ground during this second half. But I guess that’s his usual way anyway. He’s definitely working hard now!
I have to hang onto hope that things will be back to normal for our kids in the fall.
One thing to note is that there can be a big difference between designing a class to be online and having to toss one online mid-semester. I’ve seen some great online classes - some with a live component and some with just video tutorials & help available within a 24-hr turn around window. I’ve also seen some really bad online classes - usually with busywork to take the place of meaningful in-person discussions.
Don’t judge online classes by the rest of this cobbled-together semester. Some professors will do well, but most are just trying to survive like the students are.
My D20 is upset, too. She’s currently trying to figure out where to live once her dorms close in a few days. Trying to concentrate on classes while packing & worrying about where you are going isn’t conducive to good learning. (The reality of what life is like for homeless kids has never been more real to me.)
@Reebtoor Agree about the variable quality of online.
I see that at S21’s high school, now online. His AP Calc and AP Chem courses are taught by a college prof, who previously taught an online course at a university. She quickly set up a system whereby the kids Skype in, and she has adapted PowerPoint as an online white board to work problems, a lot like Khan Academy. I listened in yesterday, it was a very good interactive class. The rest of his teachers, more likely to give weekly assignments involving reading and writing, turn in Friday.
All of S19’s profs are trying “live online” classes - because he is in Honors, none of his classes are more than 20 kids, and all of his profs this semester seem tech savvy, so it might work. S19 wants the courses to be graded, because he will be applying to a special program next year and believes that grades will be more of a discriminator than P/F.
Well, I said there was no rush getting D19’s stuff from her dorm, but life moves pretty fast these days – now the New School is closing its dorms as of next Monday. We’re going to drive down to get the rest of her stuff over the weekend. That’s complicated by our car being electric. Usually we make one high-speed charging stop on the way down, stay overnight or for the weekend at a hotel whose garage has an overnight charger, then reverse the process on the way home. But this time it doesn’t make sense to risk a hotel stay, so we’ll build in a couple more high-speed charging stops and do a round-trip in a day. Unlike ordinary trips, where we time those stops for a pleasant restaurant meal or some shopping, we’ll just have to sit in the car while we wait, social distancing. Better pack lunch and snacks.
I read an article that said we’re going to have to have waves of this same extreme social distancing for more than a year, until a vaccine is available and administered, or hospitals will be overwhelmed by new spikes of contagion. It’s not a matter of waiting a few weeks until things get better. So if this person is correct, the next school year won’t really be any more normal than this one. Scary to contemplate.
@Vineyarder Sorry you got the call to pack up with such short notice. Maybe you could rent a car for the trip? Just don;t forget to bring your wipes to wipe it all down before you drive. I thought I got everything when we rented a minivan to move D out, then I went to adjust the seat and realized I forgot to wipe down those buttons!
Good thought, @momtogkc, but I think the comfort of knowing we’re in our own car (and dealing only with wiping down the charging connectors) will outweigh the extra time it’ll take. Good to take restful breaks rather than force myself to do the drive straight through, anyway.
It finally happened here, DD’s school called it last night for online the rest of the semester. She needs to pick a date between now and the 29th to move out. Trying to decide if it will all fit in my vehicle- we took it down in two but the bike and guitar are already home. It’s the mini fridge that’s going to put a serious dent in the available space. We will be getting a prorated r&b refund which I estimate at $2500.
She is of course so sad. And having a hard time sitting at home. The weather has been crummy. Her BF isn’t allowed out or to have visitors (I would have let them see each other, it would be really good for her). Hopefully that will change before too long.
On the plus side, she got her dream summer job too yesterday and maybe she can start it early since they wanted it to be April-October. There are some things she can do from home. But again we’ll have to hope that things improve as it will involve a lot of working with kids groups in the summer.
Well California just declared “Stay at home” until April 19. Son has last online final tomorrow and then we are going back to UCLA and clearing out his room. Luckily we live close by.
He also just dined up for 4 classes/15 units for summer, oh my!
Stay safe everyone and hope all our kids get through this.
