Already Year 2 is here for us; it all has felt like it’s gone by so incredibly fast. Year 1 was fantastic for our kid, and already the chosen major has switched from engineering to CS even though they never took CS or did CS activities in high school, so that was a bit of surprise. Fortunately the school is one that doesn’t make students declare majors until they’ve gone through the core curriculum, so that’s one bit of pre-college filtering that worked out. It looks like the upcoming year will be quite busy with classes and jobs, as well as the needed down time to recharge. In a new dorm this year and they have a single room that’s part of a 3-single room suite with a common bathroom and common living room area. It’s not fancy but comfortable, livable, and two minutes closer to the academic buildings so they can roll out of bed a tiny bit later. In addition they are a dorm mentor for the incoming freshmen and have been very busy with orientation plans this week, so the new school year is starting off with a bang. This position helps to set up the possibility of being an RA in subsequent years if they choose to go that route.
The summer was spent mostly working on a CS research paper that was submitted to a journal last week, as well as being an afternoon camp counselor for kids 7-14 at a computer camp. I think the second job was the more exhausting, especially for an only child, but they gained a lot of good experience from it. We ended up not going on any major trips like I had hoped for, but did spend weekends doing local activities plus they spent time with old HS friends too. And they got to craft and spent a lot of time on my sewing machine making costumes for LARP (live action role play).
The house is quiet again which is again sad for me and H. I know as parents our job is to raise our kid right and help them find their own way forward, but how bittersweet that is.
My D22 transferred last year for Spring 2023 and seems to really like her new school. She is more academically challenged at the new school and it seems to have better help with internships and job placement. It was one that she had applied to and been accepted at previously. She has a girlfriend there and has already been up to see her girlfriend who moved in early, but she moves in on Sunday.
Summer did go by very fast here for us too. We did a lot, but didn’t get it all done. D22 has her own car, but my husband and I will be driving up with her on Sunday, too, in our car to help with move in. Not sure it would all fit in D22’s small car.
It’s been great having her here for the summer. I can tell she has matured a lot over this past year and I’m excited for what this next year brings for her.
And I am so glad our kids are HS class of 2022 and get the full college experience and had the COVID years during high school instead.
S22 says his classes all seem fine. He’s not 100% sure he won’t end up dropping something, but will see how it goes. He is pretty good at making use of his free time between classes during the day, so if that’s enough to make a good dent in everything, he will be fine. Otherwise, he’ll go down a class and still be fine.
So far, he hasn’t been cooking much, but he needs to be. I was fine with covering eating out during band camp because I know it’s a section bonding experience. But now it’s all on him
S22 is our last child, so know what you mean about the house going quiet! But we did not have much time to even decide if we enjoyed the quietness, as my in laws came to stay with us for 2 weeks unexpectedly, and now by BIL and my nephew are in town for a visit. At least we have to space to host.
S22 has a kitchen in his apt this year and has really been enjoying cooking for himself and his GF, even sending us pictures of near every meal, and calling for recipe advice. Fun to see him enjoying learning a new skill.
Dropping off this second year was definitely easier but I’m still aching a bit from the empty nest again. I just miss having my kids around.
S22 is in a small studio apartment this year after being in a suite of 5 last year and is really enjoying having his own space. He’s cooking for himself and as far as I can tell it consists of Hamburger Helper types meals every day.
He likes a couple of classes but wants to switch out one that he described as “horrible.” I think it has more to do with the subject matter than the actual professor. He’s also applying to a bunch of clubs but it’s very competitive at his university so he has very little chance of getting in. But can’t hurt to try.
He’s just very happy to be back on campus and with his friends again. Wishing everyone a super sophomore year.
We just went through a medical scare with D22. I am so thankful she is in a city with great medical care. Over the past 24 hrs she saw two amazing doctors and thankfully the prognosis is as good as it can be considering the circumstances. I told D24 that strong and plentiful medical care has to be a top priority as she picks schools. It’s also the first time I wished we weren’t a plane ride away. I was getting ready to hop on a plane but looks like that’s not needed at least as of now. Thrilled Parents’ weekend is next weekend and that I decided to go this year too
Hope all is well soon. Glad she was able to navigate the medical system. That can be scary.
I did finally get My D22 to do the Healthcare Power of Attorney and HIPAA this year. Meant to last year, but just never did it. Hope we don’t need it, but good to have it done just in case. I did it through MamaBear although I think you can DIY cheaper. I just didn’t want to have to figure out what to do. A friend’s daughter had medical issues last year and her mom was so glad they had done it so she could talk to the doctors on her daughter’s behalf and at her request.
We got all the legal paperwork done before she left in Fall 2022. While this situation was unfolding I was grateful that we had done it. Very thankful it wasn’t needed but I now fully understand its importance.
I’m sorry about your D’s health scare. Glad you’ll get to see her.
On the good news front, my D was offered a high-paying internship with a prestigious company for the summer of 2025 based upon the strength of an internship she did this summer. In neither case did the employer recruit from her college and she got these internships on her own. While many people fixate on college names and rankings, I firmly believe students can be successful based on their own initiative and merit.
I’m so glad that your daughter is going to be okay.!! That’s so scary to be far away and not able to help her navigate the medical establishment, especially if she was unwell. We are also a flight away from our kid and it’s not easy being so far away. I do know that the Healthcare POA is essential. My daughter’s roommate is a nurse at a pediatric hospital near a university and she said they encounter this issue all the time because they serve young people, including college kids, through age 21. If parents call, she can’t reveal anything if the patient is over 18 and parents don’t have a POA. Enjoy your parents weekend with her!
Only if there are employers he wants to learn about (has specific questions), or to discover firms he doesn’t know exist. I really see these as the main reasons for a student to go to a career fair these days, and he probably doesn’t need to go to more than one. Occasionally, some of the employers will do a quick read through of the resume and tell you if it’s likely to be a good mutual fit or not, but this is rare (most employers manning the booths are overwhelmed with the flood of students stopping by and can’t give much individual attention).
The main action takes place online these days. If he goes to employers’ websites and submits his resume there, he’ll get just as good a response as handing his resume in person to someone at the fair (and many employers don’t want to do this anymore, as paper copies need to be scanned and uploaded to the internal recruiting site to be useful). In fact, employers at the fair might just tell him to go to their website anyway.
Some schools willr allow resumes to be submitted to all the visiting employers through Handshake or some such app. Check if that’s an option.
I think this depends on the school. The companies that go to Purdue’s job fair do their first round of interviewing while they are on site. My D was offered her co-op the day after her interview.
First, have him talk to Prof, how they feel about the lab vs. accommodating the conflicting career fair. It’s a perfectly valid, reasonable question for him to raise.
Generally, some labs are near impossible to “make up” - the Prof will help make that determination. My daughter’s first internship was a contact from such a fair, about a project she had not been aware of - so they can be well worth attending, but not necessarily at the detriment of an important/difficult class.
TBH, my son never attended any on camps job fairs primarily due to class conflicts. He was contacted directly via LinkedIn and was also contacted after discussions when presenting his projects at class poster sessions.
I think it has more to do with the subject matter than the actual professor. He’s also applying to a bunch of clubs but it’s very competitive at his university so he has very little chance of getting in. But can’t hurt to try. 
