<p>Well the snow was very bad news for my D2. Her college a cappella group was scheduled to sing at her old HS and it got cancelled due to the state-wide driving ban. She is oping it gets rescheduled. Her bad news continued with an allergic reaction to the antibiotics she was on for sinusitis and developed a rash all over her body. Just wish I could be there to give her a hug.</p>
<p>D1 leaves for South America next week. She and I are both panicking a bit. It is a very long program - she will not be back until mid-July. </p>
<p>So I am going to focus on my pile of work today and try to distract myself!</p>
<p>Best part of my dad - DD’16 called this morning to tell me how beautiful the snow is when looking at it out of the dorm window, but how nasty it is to walk through to get to class (She of the desert SW with no experience with the degredation of the winter wonderland).</p>
<p>Then, she breaks into 35 minutes of free thinking re her prospective majors. I didn’t have to say a word. She is a “humanities kid” who is looking past Literature and Poly. Sci. because she “doesn’t know what she would do with it,” but is considering Computer Sci! What? My kid? She is not a mathy/techy kid at all. I need a vacation.</p>
<p>What a great kid, glido! Love that liberal arts thinking, especially as an engineer mom. My LAC S has such a beautiful thought process, I admire it.</p>
<p>glido - my daughter is also enamored with computer science. I’ve been speaking to people in town and many who know think it’s a very creative area - starting with nothing and creating something. It’s all greek to me but I am very surprised my totally non-math/techy kid (she just got a smart phone forced on her when she left for college) is really enjoying the class. But isn’t that what college is for?</p>
<p>You mean there’s a band from VT besides Phish? Kidding, please don’t throw things. Snowflake, sounds like your S is taking advantage of all the opportunities he’s encountering in college. That’s really cool.</p>
<p>Snowstorm stories are interesting. Sorry to hear about the cancellation, though, 1012mom. It must’ve warmed up in Chicago–S never measured himself for the hat he had requested. Back to the macho “what weather?” attitude, I guess.</p>
<p>glido – The ‘what would I do with it’ bit is interesting. Could that possibly be the influence of other kids? That’s the only time I’ve heard mine express similar concerns.</p>
<p>5boys – Long time, no see. Will your S be hiking to school in the fall? :)</p>
<p>“5boys – Long time, no see. Will your S be hiking to school in the fall?”</p>
<p>When does he need to start the journey if hiking? :D</p>
<p>SteveC - from what people have told me, the most brutal part is the trek from dorm to class at Evanston. The windchill is supposed to be brutal.</p>
<p>Hi Steve C!! I know, I haven’t been around for awhile. Starting to feel like I’m back in the game now that DS is all officially enrolled and starting to look at his FYP classes. I know he can not wait to get to college. He is having a very rich and rewarding gap year and says it is the best thing EVER. Although, it can be somewhat frustrating to the rest of us who actually have to go to work and be in their Junior year of HS:) He finished his hike and did a Wilderness EMT class for a month and just had an interview with Joshua Tree National Park to be an EMT and SAR there. It would just be weekends. He is also working part time at a small outdoor outfitting store, and he just turned in his resume for an internship/job on a swiss organic farm for the month of July. So no times a wasting with this kid.</p>
<p>Snowflake… happy to hear the news on the kids at SLU. I feel more than ever that this is the perfect school for DS. Did you see on their FB page the tent that someone set up in the library? I had to chuckle at that… so great!</p>
<p>I thought I’d check in with all of you. Good to see some familiar names. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your S’s path in the years ahead, 5boys.</p>
<p>Anyone else accidentally check into the HS class of 2016? I started reading and with the unfamiliar names and formerly familiar topics, I quickly discovered I was in the wrong place! I’m so happy to be done with that part of my children’s life.</p>
<p>S seems to be in a good spot. Busy with school, sports and work but doing well in all of them. We spoke with him last weekend and he asked us to send his old pair of duct-taped shoes, since he’d managed to tear a hole into his month-old new shoes. I think we’ll need to do some shoe shopping over spring break. I think we can manage two pairs of working shoes for him, so he has options in case of emergency. ;)</p>
<p>St. Thomas just appointed its first woman/first lay president in 128 years and my daughter is so excited…you’d almost think she had developed a social conscience or something :). It’s great to see her engaged in what’s going on, both on campus and in the wider world. Definitely a change from high school apathy. [More</a> St. Thomas growth: First woman lay president | StarTribune.com](<a href=“http://www.startribune.com/local/191210751.html?refer=y]More”>http://www.startribune.com/local/191210751.html?refer=y)</p>
<p>texaspg – Yup. I told him the wind off Lake Michigan could cut him in two … and there’s nothing between his dorm and the lake but a few trees. I understand from a PM that it hasn’t even really been cold yet, either. :D</p>
<p>S finally acknowledged he was glad he brought his down winter coat back to Evanston after winter break. The layers of light jackets and fleece weren’t enough. He still sees no need for winter boots.</p>
<p>NU people - it was 15 below zero a few weeks ago - how has it not been cold yet? Snow has been low to average but temps have been quite cold. My daughter loved the blizzard of 2011 when they closed school and but she’s not so found of the bitter cold. She’s a senior and so done with Evanston winters!</p>
<p>I know, crazy kid! He knows better coming from an even colder clime. I think it is a strange kind of machismo, I hope that sanity will set in as he gets older.</p>
<p>I have a question for those of you who had kids rushing for fraternities or soroities. If your S/D lives in a dorm and is rushing this semester and gets in, do they automatically move into the “house” or are they just getting their spot for next year?</p>
<p>I ask because my S moved into his new dorm room a week and a half ago and made a comment the other night that he still hasn’t met the 3rd RM because he is rushing. I assumed rushing was over and everyone had their place. I know every where is different but S has no interest in rushing so we don’t know much about it. I just figured they rush, get their bids and next year have the new living arrangements.</p>
<p>Not a big deal at all-just curious and I seem to have a lot of time on my hands and this is a random thing floating through my mind.</p>
<p>Every school is different but generally they stay where they are until the next school year. Sometimes being in a greek house doesn’t even include a guarantee to live in the house! My guess is that your son hasn’t met the third roommate yet because the boy is just so busy rushing and being abused. It does sound a bit odd to me, but then so much of what boys do sounds odd to me!</p>
<p>GeminiMom-he seems to be much less stressed. There was a lot of anomosity in the old room and it may have been getting to the point where it was going to blow. The new RM’s are very quiet and to themselves. S said they don’t seem to interact much with each other. And that is fine-he wanted a place where he can study and sleep in peace and that is what he has. These guys are all of an engineering “mind” and even the hall director (same one for both bldgs) seemed to think it was a better fit for my science S.</p>
<p>amtc-thanks for the answer. I may have been wrong about him actually meeting the third vs. spending any time in the room with him. I think at one point in all of my questions, the mystery one may have been sleeping which would have actually put him in the room. :-)</p>
<p>Just an observation about changing times… my kid never checks his mail box. He will go collect a package if he gets an email but I do not think he has opened his mailbox more than a few times since school started. I remember not missing a day checking my mail box way back when i went to college - I always wonder if he is missing some important communication from his school but he says that everything he needs gets emailed. </p>
<p>Obviously most kids no longer have typewritters or huge stereos either but that seemed the most striking change to me</p>
<p>Yes, when I send D2 a package I would have to tell her to go to the student union.</p>
<p>I am gently pushing D2 in getting a summer job. She is actually quite resourceful. She emailed her old private school (before we moved overseas) to see if they could match her up with an internship. They told her that if she donated $5 then she would be eligible for their alumni mentorship.</p>
Kidding, please don’t throw things. Snowflake, sounds like your S is taking advantage of all the opportunities he’s encountering in college. That’s really cool.</p>