<p>So how are our Hawkeye freshmen doing? Mine seems happy, really busy, ton of work to do already.</p>
<p>Izzie - nice update. Our D’s doing fine too. See my “Move In” post.</p>
<p>B10P</p>
<p>Thanks for these updates!</p>
<p>One thing that’s become really clear is that my son is NOT homesick, judging from the almost total lack of communication from him. Most attempts at arranging a phone call or Skype session have been met with “if I have time.” His text responses seldom exceed 4 words, unless they’re a list of things he’s asking us to send from home. But he’s enjoying it, that’s very clear (once you string together all the responses). Seems really happy with the kids on his floor (boys and girls - this still kills me), has been to the rec center a couple times and, judging from the hits on his cash card, been getting around Iowa City a bit. This lead to a “teaching moment” about budgeting his money for the semester (didn’t he hear this when we talked about it at home?) rather than spending it all in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>I have to say that wife and I have been wondering (as the lad’s not what you’d call well-organized) CRIPE! Is he actually making it to class? Is he getting his work done? What will that first batch of grades look like? This is a little unnerving as I can’t help but wondering if his classes (first year engineering) might not hit him like a ton of bricks and leave him in a deep hole at about week 4. But I remind myself: this is why we sent him AWAY to school - to make it harder for me to overfunction and scrutinize everything and to force him to become a better manager of his own affairs.</p>
<p>Interesting to see how he spends his first (er, second!) weekend in IC. Hopefully he’ll get settled, catch his breath and give us a call. I’m glad he’s living his new life but we’re really curious about it!</p>
<p>As with many other threads, very interesting how uniform everyone’s experience is. Partly a testament to how effectively the administration manages things, making information available, being consistent, etc. Partly because I think the university attracts a certain profile of student. </p>
<p>Anyway, from the similar sporadic communications we’ve had with kiddo, everything is extremely consistent with B10P, Izzie, and Beastie. Pieced together through a hodge podge of texts, emails, Skype conversations, and even friend/relative reports, she seems to be adjusting well. As I think as B10 mentioned, she also is both meeting a lot of nice people but also experiencing the pain of meeting everyone anew. </p>
<p>We can relate to the anxiety over organization, but so far so good…knowing we are not nearby to manage everything, she seems to be doing a lot more on her own, and staying on top of things so far, seeming to use reasonable judgment (although the semester is young), etc. </p>
<p>Seems little tinges of homesickness, but nothing major and to be expected. Overall, things are very positive so far, and we are glad to be through drop off, New Student Week and first week of classes without any major issues. </p>
<p>Taking a moment to think about the checklist Iowa sent when the acceptance came, and all that led up to that – PSAT/SAT/ACT, visits, forming lists, applying, deciding, then the checklist…ICON, sending lists, getting housing, registering, etc. Then packing, moving, etc…PHEW, hard to believe what it takes, but so great to be at the point and watching them spread their wings and fly!</p>