<p>Great choice! congrats!</p>
<p>Awesomeness! Congratulations Kate and Daughter! Road trip Ohio keeps enlarging! Yippeee!</p>
<p>Iād like to add that one advantage to applying to college summer programs is that most require video auditions which are a great way to practice for video pre-screens. We learned a tremendous amount doing these before they really matter, and it made us feel a lot less anxious about doing the pre-screens.</p>
<p>Iāve been catching up reading about all of your kids - so happy for all of you & them!!! I wasnāt on CC last year for our audition year (college coach had warned us to stay away - stressful!), but got on this fall hoping to help out if I could after our experience. I am flying to Dayton tomorrow to drive home (itās 8 hours & a hard drive) the next day with D for the summer. Iām so looking forward to our drive - reminiscent of our audition trips, but without the STRESS! She has had a wonderful freshman year at a school that I had never heard of 2 years ago. Itās so hard to believe sheās finished with her first year of college. What a difference a year makes. </p>
<p>@weski2 - good point about college videos and prescreens! Helped us work some of the kinks outā¦actually it made me realize that hiring a videographer would be $$ well spent to help preserve my sanity. 8-> </p>
<p>Congrats kategrizz and dreamgirl! What heartfelt stories. Itās all learning, and more learning.</p>
<p>I just realized I forgot to mention that we used MTCA for college coaching - mainly to help with monologue selection, and they did vet the songs her local voice teacher selected - we attended mocks, and coached completely via Skype.- and we highly recommend them to anyone seeking college audition coaching. Very happy.</p>
<p>Since our daughters met at their very first audition (PPU), I have been following your daughterās CC journeyā¦and wondering where she would land. BW is a FABULOUS school and such a perfect fit for a performer that also plays the French Horn. Thanks for sharing your heartfelt story. CONGRATS!</p>
<p>@secondtimeohioā - As you know - my D counts your D as her First Audition Friend! Your D ended up in an equally fabulous program at Otterbein! My Dās voice teacherās son is an alumni of Otterbein! Iām so glad both girls wound up where they belonged! Congrats to you as well!</p>
<p>I started this thread back in February and have been keeping track of all the wonderful posts over the past few months. Congratulations to everyone!! May 1st is finally here and I am so happy for all of your talented kids! For those of you sending your first S or D off to college I can tell you from experience you will adjust to the empty room. Yes it is sad and I definitely let myself grieve when I felt the tears well up, but soon you will find a new normal. Thank goodness for text messaging, Skype etc., which truly helps you feel connected to their very busy new college life. We are sending our second/youngest off to college in the fall and will become empty nesters. Sighā¦ this will be I suspect an even bigger adjustment but Iām sure we will find another new normal. The joy you get from watching them successfully take on new challenges and responsibilities is worth every moment of sadness when you say your final goodbye. You will hardly recognize them when they come home for Christmas break, so mature and self reliant, and you will realize you did an amazing job raising them. Enjoy every second of your time with them over the summer but please donāt think of this as an ending. This is just the beginning of an incredible journey for you both!</p>
<p>@tcork128 thank you so much. I am crying right now LOL. I know it will be so worth it when we see them doing what they love the most in the world. This is our first one to go off to school. Very tough being a mom. My son and I are really close so it will be very hard for me. You are right with texting, face time and skype at least we will be in contact. We are only 3 hours away so if he needs anything we can be there pretty quickly. My husband keeps saying the same thing way til you see the change in him when he comes home for his Christmas break. Thanks again for sharing.</p>
<p>Happy decision day to you all! As I am not an applicant (yet) It has been gratifying to hear your stories. Congratulations to you all, and may a happy future be ahead of you!</p>
<p>@tcork128 that was a great post, you must be very proud of your sons doing what they love at great colleges! My D and I saw your oldest perform in Merrily We Roll Along at Rider last week (she knew who he was from a Stagedoor connection) and he was terrific! Hope you got to see that fantastic show. D is our second/youngest too so we will be empty nesters when she heads off to Rider in the fall but youāre right; itās a happy/sad with the kids doing what they love and the ability to keep connected via texts/Skype (and D will only be 2 1/2 hours away which will be much easier than my S who is a plane ride away) will surely help. Looking forward to the whole family beginning an incredible journey soon!</p>
<p>@cellomom51ā thank you for the kind words regarding my sonās performance! I am so happy that your D will be attending Rider! She will love it and Iām sure Rider will love her as well! Be sure your D introduces herself to my S, he would love to answer any questions she may have and introduce her around. He has been giving tours and answering questions over the past two years for prospective students and their families and I know he would be happy to help her get adjusted in any way he can. In addition, please feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns you may have. Wish your D good luck for me, she is in for a wonderful freshman year!!</p>
<p>@NewYorkSon when we returned home from dropping our S to Rider I immediately closed his bedroom door. I did not want to walk by his room and see it empty. It remained closed until Thanksgiving when he came home. When my S left to return to school I immediately went to close it again but realized it might be okay to keep the door open just a crack or two. After Christmas break (six weeks of seeing his handsome smile) he once again returned to what had quickly become his second home. I stood in the hallway, staring at his bedroom doorā¦ contemplatingā¦I ultimately decided to leave it wide open. After all, it was full of happy memories and where he would return to many times over the next four years. It was where he would tell me all about the amazing things that he was learning, the incredible new friends he was making and how grateful he was to us for making it possible for him to live his dream. I may have had an empty room to contend with but I also had a full heart! </p>
<p>Oh myā¦I teared up. I already miss my daughter! So hard. Her big sister is threatening to move into her room though, 
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<p>This will be the third of our three kids to head off to college, but I remember when our first left. I remember the text he sent us as we drove away from his dorm on Move-In Day, āLove you Mom and Dadā. I think I completely sunk for about two months! I literally stood in the shower and cried or God forbid, if I were alone in the car, I couldnāt help myself, I would just cry! I remember telling my friends it was like he died because he wasnāt home. BUT, and this is a big BUTā¦it changed. He became happy and successful at his new āhomeā and met amazing friends. We watched him grow up and and guess what? We enjoyed this! It became easier to be apart because of his new found independence and happiness, but it didnāt happen overnight. For those of you ālosingā your first to college this year, please know that it takes time, but it is rewarding and wonderful watching your kids become responsible adults. When our second child left for college (we live in California and she went to Texas) I remember not even being able to picture her living without usālike, how could she live in a dorm with a roommate (even though we had just done this the year before with our son). But the second time was easier and I trusted myself sooner to believe she would thrive and be happy. Just know it is ok to cry and be sad. Our kids lived with us for 18 years, right? Itās hard to remember ālifeā before we had them. But, with time, it will be FUN watching your son or daughter enjoy their new life! Now that I said all of this just watchā¦our MT daughter (number 3) leaves in August, and Iāll probably have to eat my words! 
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<p>Your killing me @tcork128. You are so very right though. What awesome memories we have and will continue to have. @Dradsmom my daughter did the same thing with my son. His room is decorated with all Broadway pics, autographs and pics from all his musical he framed. He is super creative and she wants that room. LOL I told her no way it is going to be there when he comes home for breaks!!</p>
<p>I canāt even read these without crying, Iām going to be a mess. S said to me āmy friends keep asking what you are going to do when I go to schoolā I said āIām going to run a muck like I used to, I cleaned it up while you were aroundā laughter through tears is my favorite emotions.</p>
<p>@MTMajorCook you are so funny. I know I am not going to do well at all with him leaving. I keep trying to be excited which I am for him but I cannot imagine him not being here. My son keeps saying you better start getting a hobby LOL. My hobby has been driving him everywhere for how many years. My daughter will be a senior next year so I have to go through all this college stuff again. She isnāt an MT but will still have the same issues. Not sure my body can take this!!</p>
<p>āA ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.ā </p>