Mom of fellow introvert. D hit the wall yesterday. Too much stimulation and socialization. She had a day of not getting out of her jammies, shutting the world out. Did not even want to leave her room for food. No classes today. Plans for homework, working out and reading for pleasure.
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I work at a public institution and Iām teaching today! Iām not super optimistic about attendanceā¦
Clemson has class every year on labor day
Classes havenāt started for my D, but today is full force with orientation activities. After a week of pre-orientation and now this week of orientation she will need a vacation to recharge for classwork! She has been going non-stop and at some point she is going to crash and crash hard. But Iām so grateful she is busy having fun and making connections. Her birthday was last Friday and 15 kids joined her for dinner at a restaurant to celebrate. It made it a little easier being away from her on her birthday.
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My son has convocation today but classes donāt start until 9/8 despite being on a semester schedule. Iām glad the school allows for the kids to have a few days of activities before school starts but first year had a ton of meetings and orientation, as well as meeting with advisor and peer advisor. I think my son needed the easing in but also a ton of activities the first two days so that he could be over with activities the subsequent two days. 
Speaking of spices for kids with a different palette, after a couple of days of dorm food (I tried it the first day for dinner and it was not too bad), he asked me to get him Maggi sauce. We found an Asian grocery store nearby so we grabbed him that, Japanese ramen pepper powder, kewpie Mayo, sriracha, and some ramen. My friend makes hot chili oil so we did bring that in a mason canning jar from home, as well as furikake. He said he got a bunch of chicken breasts and rice from the all you can eat dining hall (they allow this) and ended up making chicken and ramen in the kitchen at 1am the third night.
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My daughterās schedule is now in full swing- and itās a full-time job for me as her driver, basically. Ha! She ended up switching a class after the (super short) drop period, so sheās appealing getting that off her bill. Her advisor had told her to take the wrong class for her major. Sheās got five classes, works two days on campus at the gym, works two days at an amusement park a few towns over, works two days at the desk of her ballet studio, and dances six days a week. Ah, to be young again, because that schedule would kill me. 
Today, though, she is taking her dad and her sister to her amusement park to enjoy the last day of the water park and do some much earned relaxing.
Sheās started saving for a car, so hopefully by next summer I am no longer chauffeur and can get on with a job and a me-life.
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You guys are making feel better because I think D21 hit a wall this weekend too. I was worried because when I talked to her yesterday she kept saying everything was boring - classes, pretty boring - food, kind of bored of it- football game, sort of boring. 
Her roommate and some other friends left for the weekend plus it was bid day yesterday (she did not rush) so I think that was a big factor in the boredom. She said she was actually happy to have the alone time in her room, she was invited to a fraternity party last night and said she was probably going to skip just to enjoy the quiet time.
I will say she has been having some fun - she went on a beautiful half day long hike to a gorgeous lake last week and did go to the football game Friday night even though she does not like sports. I heard the two girls she went to the game with met some boys at the bus stop on the way there and D21 kind of felt like a 5th wheel so that could be why she was bored there.
She has tons of homework, sounds like way more than my D19 at Tulane. Not sure if it is the classes they take, the teachers or the way my kids work but D21 is always working. She has no classes today but still had two things due last night.
Hoping once her roommate gets back she will perk up again. I am trying to convince her to go see Harry Styles Tuesday night who normally would be an immediate yes but she says sheās not sure because she has a later class that day.
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Two of my sons classes have a lot of reading and writing and take up a lot of his time.
My son is so excited for the football home opener next Saturday. Now that football season has started, I predict I will hear even less from him. He is the type that thrives being super busy, but I do worry about burn out.
On another note, boys and dorm cleaning: any tried-and-true recommendations for potential fungus in suite shower? Something very simple, like a spray that can be found at the grocery/amazon? Will something basic like Tilex do?
I used Tilex with Clorox at home and it works. I say anything with Clorox in it will do the job if they clean consistently.
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YesāI think D needed a break after the pace and constant socialization of orientation, but she felt like she āshouldā be doing activities all weekend since it was the first weekend etc. Luckily, sheās not finding classes to be stressful!
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Well I got the joy of doing a good deed. I met a mom on Texas Techās parent fb page and we text sometimes. Well her vaxxed son developed a low grade fever and cold symptoms. He did antigen test: positive. So the school put him in a hotel but does not provide meals. I was able to take him groceries and check on him. What a precious boy! And give his mom piece of mind as she is 5 hours away.
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This warms my heart. 
If anyone has a kiddo in Atlanta in similar circumstances I am happy to do the same. My D is 7 hours away from me so Iād hope for that for her. I noticed several parents on her schoolās FB page last year offering to check in on kids whose parents were far awayā¦ I love that sense of community. It takes a village, folks!
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D21 had a good first day, but the very long orientation (somewhat unstructured) has taken a bit of toll on her as she has not found anyone in particular to go to meals with. Hoping that classes starting on 9/8 will help. She is an ambivert. Introvert at first, but becomes an extrovert when she finds her tribe(s). She looked very sad today, and said she wanted to come home on Friday for the weekend. I am hoping that she finds friends and/or activities on campus and changes her mind by Thursday.
S seems to be doing ok but is exercising feverishly and studying hard - just kind of intimidated. Heās decided he doesnāt want to drink so heāll have to work a bit to find his people perhaps. He has signed up to join several things and has lunch every day with people from the dorm. His international student roommate has a lot of stress and might? be in over his head academically. They get a long well, but I donāt think thatās helping my Sā comfort level any. I think after a few weeks and hopefully some good grades my S will be feeling better. He ended up going to a liberal arts college for computer science 
and seems to feel pretty confident about his skills relative to the group on that front. 
Iām gently encouraging him to take his roommate to the library to study and try a restaurant in town, etc.
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S21 came home Friday for the long weekend, left Monday morning. I sent him back with lots of homemade single serve meals for his freezer that he can warm up in his microwave. It was busy weekend of work and cooking for him but food is my love language lol. I got a text from him last night asking if I would make make banana chocolate chip bread when he comes home for Thanksgivingā¦I think Iāll make him some and mail him a care package next week
Other than that, his classes seem to be going well, heās taking full advantage of tutoring/supplemental instruction sessions for his Math class. He said the prof is less than idealā¦I told him he doesnāt need to be besties with her lol.
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Encourage her to stay on campus for at least the first month before coming home. Spending the weekend at home in the early weeks really might just exacerbate the situation as far as meeting and connecting with people.
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My son is also not happy with his Calc professor. He said she is terrible and you canāt understand her, now he is questioning his major because he heard the other professors are just as bad.
My kid is very happy overall with the school so far and friends he is making but at this stage not being overly challenged. After being home for so long, just happy to be around other kids his age.
Tested out of a few classes but there is a limit as to how much credit you can get and the system is not straightforward and the advisors do not seem to be overly knowledgeable. Hoping it gets a bit tougher/more interesting as the semester progresses.
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Yes, my kid at Amherst College had class, but my kid at Williams College did not. 