<p>Our college students are heading home for winter break. Aside from erratic and bumbling communication, which seems to be the norm for a certain gender, how are they doing? </p>
<p>My S will arrive in a few days, thrilled to have finished final papers and exams and thinking he did well. He liked his classes and has only good things to say about his professors–from psych (400 students) to English comp (20 students). He’s excited about his second-semester schedule, though he has to get up for an 8:30 class–but that course might be his favorite, so it’ll work. He and his roommate (randomly assigned) seem to be a perfect match. He’s having fun (but not dangerously so) and has made some good friends. And he and his HS girlfriend have survived the 1,000-mile separation. So what doesn’t he like? I keep waiting for the bad news, but I haven’t heard any yet–except that it’s far colder than he expected and there are no good pastrami sandwiches in town.</p>
<p>Tell me, what do they do for a whole month, anyway? I’m wondering what it’ll feel like having him home for so long. Will I want my time and space back? Freak out at the mess that hasn’t been there since August? Get irritated because he’s sleeping and I’m working? Maybe not. I’m just looking forward to hearing his cheery voice.</p>
<p>My S had a good first semester and is looking forward to some interesting classes next semester. This is finals week: he is halfway done with them, and will come home this weekend. He likes his school, his friends, most of his classes, and most of his professors. Finding a girlfriend certainly helped the transition. He is happy with his decision, and generally doesn’t seem to mind being so far from home. </p>
<p>He’ll be here for a month, too, and I really have no idea what to expect. If his brief visit over Thanksgiving is any indication, I’m guessing he will sleep in, hang out with friends, eat a lot, and constantly text his GF.</p>
<p>My son got home last week after finishing his first quarter. We had not seen him for three months so it was great to see him. The first thing I noticed was that he had a new air of confidence about himself. I could tell he felt good about himself and felt good about his first quarter at college. He felt that he had been successful in his classes and was waiting to get his grades. He had a great experience with the school newspaper and is looking forward to writing more articles next quarter. He is keeping odd hours as he stays up late and sleeps in. He has gotten together with his friends that are still in high school and most of his college friends get back this week. He spent some time at his high school and middle school as he related his college experience with the teachers that helped him succeed. We taped him a Twilight Zone marathon which he watched and he is reading a novel. Enjoying all of the Christmas traditions that our family has. I can tell that he is looking forward to getting back to school and being with college friends. He is also excited to have gotten a ticket to the Inauguration so he is planning his trip DC</p>
<p>^^^ How lucky, how did he get a ticket? My son inquired with our congressmen but was told no more tickets were available. He’s still going, however.</p>
<p>We call or text-message our son once or twice each week and he has been home twice. He seems to really be enjoying every aspect of college life. As a parent, I’m having some issues with his school. Am I allowed to have issues? My two issues are a dramatic increase in crime on campus and the surrounding area and bedbugs on his dorm floor (15 rooms vacated). As long as neither has affected him directly, I’ll just keep my mouth shut.</p>
<p>Last year when I visited my daughter’s dorm, I noticed the bathroom was not as clean as it should be. I called the school’s housekeeping and it improved for a little while. Sheesh, for what we are paying for their school, they could make their dorm livable.</p>
<p>DD has been home since Thanksgiving (yay for the funky quarter system she’s on!) Her grades were good (no worries about keeping her scholarship), she’s making new friends, and she loves the city’s she’s in. Her only complaint is that her boyfriend is far away (actually back home - which I like, since his presence here lures her back home to visit.)</p>
<p>It’s been WONDERFUL having her home, and she doesn’t seem bored at all. Not only does she seem more mature, but she is so appreciative now of everything that her father and I do for her. I have never heard so many “thank you’s” - and last week, she just blurted out that it’s “no longer embarrassing” to be seen with her mother in public. Wow! What a change from those surly middle school years.</p>
<p>D is happy with her school choice (last minute decision for state flagship after spending the previous year plotting to get far, far away); she’s struggled some with the academic adjustment (she likes things in black and white and has struggled with nebulous expectations and feedback in some of the courses) but thinks she is very fortunate in her dorm situation (her roommate situation is not ideal, but they co-exist okay and she loves her learning community) and seems to have made lots of friends.</p>
<p>She too has a month off and is already moaning about how long it seems and how boring the last week is likely to be because most of her friends are at other U’s that go back a week earlier.</p>
<p>Son got off to a bumpy start but did quite well after dropping an economics course that was giving him fits. The net result was a change in majors from business to psychology (with a math minor) and a GPA half a point higher than anything he achieved in high school. He is showing a lot more confidence in himself than he has for a quite a while and has resumed communicating in complete sentences and the occasional paragraph rather than the surly grunts and sarcastic monosyllables to which we had grown accustomed over the last few years.</p>
<p>Rather than gaining the freshman 15, he has dropped about 10 pounds due to joining the ultimate frisbee club and having to walk everywhere he needs to go. That combined with his guitar playing and songwriting skills has apparently attracted the attention of some of the young ladies on campus, which may explain part of his enthusiasm for the start of the next semester.</p>
<p>S2 got home last Wednesday!! He had a very good semester…except for the 2 weeks in October when he was pretty sick! (They tested him for everything from meningitis to mono and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but decided it was “just” an ugly virus!)</p>
<p>He and his roommate get along fine, but are very different–still it’s working out. </p>
<p>He has made many friends, played intermural soccer, is writing for the sports desk of the student newspaper and definitely like his classes. He also is very excited about his schedule for next semester!</p>
<p>Sounds like the CC freshmen have adjusted rather well!! Must be how they were raised!</p>
<p>I once started a thread about when to know it’s time to give up and bring the freshman home. She survived the first semester. She’s taken the blows of Mean Girls II-the College Years. The roommate situation remains but both of them like the room and location more than they hate each other so they will stay. Academically she’s done very well. She is debating and has more wins than any other member of the team but for reasons I can’t fathom doesn’t think she’s all that good. So many of you talk about the confidence your returning student is showing but mine seems to have less. On the other hand, she is returning for another semester. She is not excited about going back but is determined to continue to get good grades and kick butt in debate. Her high school friends are not home yet but will be by the weekend so she is resting up, reading, shopping, and enjoying life at home where she gets her laundry done for her!</p>
<p>Good news/Bad news here…Good news…S2 loves his school, gets along with his roommate, has made new friends, has not gained weight (h.s football lineman didn’t need extra pounds),played flag football, social life was great, enjoys the new freedom. </p>
<p>Bad News…enjoyed the new freedom waayy too much. Started sleeping in and missing classes/classwork midway through semester, grades plummeted, kept telling us things were fine, thought he would pull off a recovery at the end but did not, will be on academic probation for spring semester. If he doesn’t meet gpa standards in Spring, he will be suspended and will have to come home and live with Mom and Dad. </p>
<p>Good news…It’s not video games,Admits his mistakes and says he really wants to stay in school. He has been in touch with his advisor (yesterday) regarding his dismal perfomance. They made a game plan for what he should do in the spring. His school allows three fresh. level classes to be retaken for grade replacement. He has been online and changed his schedule to include those classes. He agreed to have more contact with his advisor during the Spring. </p>
<p>My D had all the normal ups and downs. Some roommate issues. Wondering whether to break up with the old BF. A challenging course. But she also made great friends, took care of herself very well, made great decisions, studied hard, and ended the semester on a high note. Is happy to be home, will be happy to go back.</p>
<p>zoey - you have a daughter with real character there, you should be proud of her. It is nice to come home to get some TLC. Next Spring may be better because at least she’ll know what to expect.</p>
<p>I have yet to learn how the freshman grades will be…except for chemistry which we are happy with.
what is with mean girls ? I though that stuff stopped in middle school ?</p>
<p>Slow start academically for D, and then hit her stride. Her honors European Civilization class was a challenge throughout the entire semester. Note to other parents- this class really required that you take AP English and AP world history in high school, but nobody told us. The professor was shocked when she found out D hadn’t taken those AP classes. If your child makes the honors college at a public, but hasn’t taken a lot of AP classes, ask questions to make sure they can keep up. It undermined D’s confidence. She did end up getting a B in the class, but a less motivated student probably would have dropped it after getting a D on the first test and a C- on the first paper.</p>
<p>Her grades were good enough to keep her scholarship. Loves her friends and her school. Hates doing her own laundry. :-)</p>
<p>My D is at an in-state public about 3 hours from home. She has been spending way too much time talking to BF and coming home to visit him. As a result, her mid-term grades were not good. She is still taking finals so we won’t know semester grades until next week. She will have a class at 8 every day next semester, so she’s not very happy about that. I think she is eating soup, ramen, and easy mac in her room more than she is eating in the dining hall.</p>
<p>Daughter one home from Junior Year, old hat now… She is bored and antsy to get back, on the phone or computer constantly with friends and boyfriend. Went out with old HS friends one night, no contact since. This is her usual pattern, she’ll calm down and settle in about the time to go back. </p>
<p>Daughter two home from Freshman year, loving having privacy and time to chill. Seems thrilled with school, chats with boyfriend from school daily but not constantly. Really seems to have grown and thrived. Some horror stories about roommates, but shrugs it off and says it will be better next year when she can choose suitmates. </p>
<p>Both had good grades, no winter break jobs, but volunteering and helping around home, visiting, etc. All that said, both are heading back up to college and college area this weekend for final rounds of holiday get togethers with classmates. Both have classmates and boyfriends heading down our way after Christmas for New Years. </p>
<p>Oldest brought home very little from dorm, younghest brought nearly everything home! Including her “suma baby” as she calls the groaning dirty laundry bag!</p>
<p>Me- loving having them home but not loving all the chaos, noise, drama of two teenage girls in a small house.</p>
<p>Asked how he got ticket to Inauguration. He worked very hard on the Obama campaign and his school Democrat Club was allocated tickets. </p>
<p>Last night son talked about his eating habits at school. I did not realize how popular Mozzarella Sticks with Marineira Sauce was. He said it is the only item that they put up a sign with a sad face when they run out. Also, learned about the Breakfast Bomb. Which is the most unhealthy thing you could possible eat. White bread with four fried eggs, two sausage patties, mozzarella cheese, three strips of bacon, and two hash brown patties. Son says he likes to top it off with Salsa. Says he enjoys a large bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and a Jolt soda while writing his final papers. Ahh to be young and have clean arteries.</p>
He is happy with his decision, and generally doesn’t seem to mind being so far from home. </p>