<p>My D says she's "tenting" for 6 weeks, with 1/3 nights "off". What's a mom (helicopter, or otherwise), likely to want to know about this?</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, 0ur son did this freshman year. I thought it was quite bizarre. It turned to have been great for him. Please feel free to PM!</p>
<p>anyone who knows anything about duke knows about the tenting tradition. one of the best parts about going to duke.</p>
<p>mafool, I may take you up on that. D seems to think it's "crazy" ( as does her roomate), but that it will be "great" for her as well....</p>
<p>DBD, I was hoping to hear the scoop from an ex-tenter, or one of their parents. First semester has had a few twists and turns, and I'm womdering where this will fit in. For example, a whole lot of kids in a small space sounds like an opportunity to spread colds. And will any of the tenters be studying? Will there be much inebriation and vomiting? My D was not a big fan of the vomiting last spring during a visit...although she seems to be able to laugh about it now....</p>
<p>Tenting is not first semester...unless you are crazy. I don't want to go through all the rules and periods, but if your daughter wants the "easy" way, just do white tenting and it's not a big deal at all. It's honestly almost easier than a walkup line. Literally 15 total hours in a tent spread out over a week and a half, plus 2 nights in a tent, plus 2 personal check nights where everybody (esp freshmen) is in k-ville anyways, so it's not a big deal. Now, blue tenting, is more effort as it's longer and you need 8 out of the 12 people in your tent every night (white you only need 2); although once white starts, "blue" tents also only need 2 people in the tent at night. People study in their tents (there are ethernet hookups in the lampposts), and they've been getting more and more lenient with grace (i.e. nobody has to be in the tent) when it's cold weather. Honestly, some people get more work done in the tent as there are fewer distractions in some ways. Let your daughter figure it out for herself though...She's the only one that knows how into it she is. It's generally fun, although I wouldn't want to personally tent for months on end. I'd say one month is my limit. And, yes, illnesses do spread easier. And some people choose to drink a lot - others do not. Except personal checks - since that's just a huge party essentially. In any event, don't worry about tenting. Freshmen are usually the most into it and then it subsides except for the really into basketball crowd. I found tenting fun.</p>
<p>Thank you, and yeah, she's talking about blue tenting ( 6 weeks) next semester. I don't tell her what to do, but I want to know what to expect. She's got asthma that only flares up when she gets a cold and she sometimes waits too long to start taking care of it....</p>
<p>@op </p>
<p>your daughter is in college, most likely 18+, and your still worrying about whether shell get a runny nose/cold by tenting in the cold..</p>
<p>let it go, shell be fine...im sure if she can manage getting into duke she can manage tenting..</p>
<p>Thank you. Really. I'm glad I don't say any of this to her! </p>
<p>BTW, you don't get colds from being "in the cold", it's being in a small space which increases the liklihood of sharing viruses......and it's the reactive airways, not a runny nose that I'm worried about.</p>
<p>But okay....letting go.....</p>
<p>Walking by, I used to see some of the first groups sitting outside there for months. It always looked like the same people there all the time. Personally you couldn't pay me to sit out there in the cold for that long or even live in that type of environment during better weather. But it does seem like people really enjoy it and get into it. Hopefully it will at least be a good game so it's not all a waste of time.</p>
<p>I am sure you parents don't want to hear this but "tenting" was really quite an excuse for experimenting with alcohol, pot and sex while being exposed to the liabilities of doing it on campus. Also, this would coincide with a lot of GPAs dropping off. Still, this is an important part of declaring independence for your children and all you can do is hope that they don't mess it up too badly or get an STD or something.</p>
<p>This was true in Madison, I don't know if it holds true for Duke.</p>