<p>D’12 is splitting time between home and her off campus apartment this summer. Her main job is only a couple miles from campus and she became a school ambassador part time also, leading tours and handling other recruiting efforts. Fun stuff! She’s mostly here, but stays down town when she has to be to work by 8:00 AM. That only happens once or twice a week. Otherwise, she mostly works noon to 8.</p>
<p>Dean’s list this spring also! So, we avoided the cliche’d “sophomore slump” She’s busy planning spring 2015 abroad.</p>
<p>Hope every one is doing well! This in my 1000th post!</p>
<p>My kids are all home for the summer, working 50hrs a week and making tuition money for the fall. And then we make the boys do all the heavy labor around the house that we have been saving up for them, since my husband isn’t up for much of that. They will probably be very glad to go back to school in the fall…</p>
<p>Big news for us is that RIT son joined ROTC this year (didn’t tell us until Spring Break) and loves it. He is a Criminal Justice/International Relations double major (Arabic minor), and wanted to work in the gov’t and is now talking Army Intelligence. And they liked him so much that he was offered a full scholarship for the remaining two years of school, but he has to sign on for 8 years. He is off to a month of “camp” at Fort Knox and will decide after that. He seems happy and very focused. It is a little daunting for his parents, as we never envisioned this.</p>
<p>F&M dd has decided on a Sociology/Women&Gender studies joint major (this was my animal behavior child). This is her very conservative father’s worst nightmare. So far he is doing a good job holding his tongue. </p>
<p>UNH son is as always, no changes, no surprises. He is my rock child, I guess. </p>
<p>It is nice to have them home. I get to bake a lot - and there is someone to eat and appreciate cookies again!</p>
<p>My kid isn’t home this summer. She had a 6-week paid McNair research project on campus as soon as classes ended and then immediately went from there to do an internship in the state capital city about an hour from her college. One of her big scholarships requires two summer paid internships (the program pays for it) and this is her second one so will be good to have that big requirement checked off her list! </p>
<p>Get this… she is actually now staying at the welcoming home of a member of this parents group during the length of her summer internship 1000 miles from home. THIS IS THE BEST CC GROUP EVER!!! </p>
<p>Just back from visiting DD at her overseas internship. She is settling in now and the anxiety level is down. She is beginning to know her way around, get used to all the boys and men hissing at her, and find the fun in it all. It was great to take her out for a good dinner and visit some of the tourist sites. </p>
<p>She has an interesting conundrum that I might pose as a question on the larger list. She is an IR major and was planning a semester abroad next spring. However, she now has an opportunity to participate in a special, once in a lifetime type of music production at school that she would miss if she goes abroad. She is considering going abroad senior fall - but that is not ideal. She is also considering not studying abroad for a semester at all, but taking a particular highly regarded 6 week summer academic course in a country of high interest. On one hand it is weird to be an IR major without a semester abroad, on the other hand between the internship and summer class she would have spent 16 weeks of her college years living overseas. Music is not a career goal, but it is her passion, and one that will be more difficult to pursue after college. Thoughts?</p>
<p>@1012mom I’d let her make her own decision, but my heart would be hoping she chose the music production as that will definitely be more difficult to ever reproduce. Then the 6 week summer course…</p>
<p>1012mom – I’d have her talk to the career services people at her school and/or her advisor and see what they think the long term implications of her choice are.</p>
<p>Well I haven’t been on here for a long time. Kind of come on when I am thinking about something serious.</p>
<p>DS had a great sophomore year, and is going on a trip to Ghana in a week, which we are all a bit nervous/excited about.</p>
<p>He also just came out to us as Gay. We have suspected it for a while, just due to the lack of girlfriends and other stuff, but it was still a shock. We all are very much okay with it, but I think we are still working on it.</p>
<p>hawkeyes55 - Kudos to you and your family for providing a loving environment in which your S felt safe enough to come out to you. That is sadly not always the case. </p>
<p>My nephew came out to his parents last summer (he is 26) and it did not go well. He was devastated. He called me crying and so worried that his parents no longer loved him - it was awful. The good news is, after some time they did come to terms with it and now, they are all doing much better. </p>
<p>Hugs to you as you deal with this new normal. And, most importantly, great news about the successful sophomore year and trip to Ghana - so exciting!! Sounds like he is doing well and happy - and after all, that is all that really matters! </p>
<p>@hawkeyes55 I imagine the trip to Ghana will be eye opening. My guy will be in the Ivory Coast about then.</p>
<p>We’ve told all three of ours (more than once) that NO MATTER WHAT they are always welcome at our place and in our family. Should drug use or something be part of the picture, we reserve the right to try to get them help, but there’s literally no scenario I can think of where I’d turn them away. I love them too much.</p>
<p>Kudos to Hawkeye family for being supportive. I can’t imagine how difficult this was for your S to tell you, but I am sure he glad it is out in the open. So wonderful too that he is doing so well in school and in taking advantage of world travel.</p>
<p>Summer is coming to a close. Not so much on the calendar (thank goodness!) But it is when you look at the schedule. It’s been a wonderful 6 weeks that D’12 has been mostly home, :)>- commiserating with friends and family between work and other obligations. Next week she’s flying out to visit a friend in LA, B-) then home again for a week. Then she’s off on a 10 day mission trip that will satisfy her core requirement of 40 hours of community service O:-) then back for another week before fully moving into her off campus apartment to start fall ambassador training and roll into Junior year! All while managing to find ways to cover her hours and keep her part time job. :D</p>
<p>My daughter gets home tomorrow. She’ll be home for 4 weeks.</p>
<p>She was home around 60 hours in May between school and her summer research internship, so this will be really the first time I’ve had significant time with her since she was home for 3 weeks at Christmas.</p>
<p>She’s headed off for study abroad this fall.</p>
<p>Seems like the college student is getting more world traveling in than the parents. </p>
<p>D2 is finishing up her summer internship at legal aid. i wondered if it would be too mentally draining for her. As it turned out, she loved her experience and felt she learned a lot over the summer. She will be home for 6 weeks before she heads over to London. I will be taking her there to get her settled. We’ll visit her over Thanksgiving. Can’t believe our kids are going to be juniors next year. Soon, they will be interviewing for internship/job or applying to graduate school. D2 plans to take her LSAT next spring. Not sure if I am ready for the next round of school applications.</p>
<p>D was home for a couple of weeks in May, during which time we took a week long Caribbean cruise with her. That was a lovely vacation. Since then she’s been on a pretty intense study abroad program in France. I can tell it has benefited her a lot, but with just over a week left to go, she’s starting to feel ready to come home. Her dad and I are looking forward to seeing her a LOT. She’ll be here almost three weeks before heading back to college and even manage to squeeze in a week’s work at her local day camp job, where she is loved. She hit some rough patches during sophomore year on campus, so fingers are crossed that her junior year will be happier. Her living situation should be a huge improvement over last year, and I am hopeful that her summer in France will leave her more mature and confident to tackle campus life as an upperclassman. </p>
<p>Glad to hear some updates-sounds like summer is going well and the kids are well traveled! My guy also did a summer abroad in Italy and had a fabulous time. He was lucky enough to land an internship when he got home and that is also going very well. All in all, a very productive summer!</p>
<p>@weatherga -hoping for a much improved junior year for your D!</p>
<p>Heads up…At my kid’s school, if you want to participate in on campus recruiting for junior internship you need to sign up in NOv/Dec, therefore if your kid is traveling abroad, he/she would need to do it while overseas. D1 almost missed it when she was a junior. Remind your kid if he/she is studying abroad this fall. If your kid is studying abroad next spring then he/she maybe eligible for interviews in the fall. A lot of students are not aware or proactive about it.</p>
<p>D2 is finishing up her internship in few weeks. I reminded her to ask her manager to write her a recommendation letter now while she is still fresh on her manager’s mind. It may come in handy later on.</p>
</p>
Not so much on the calendar (thank goodness!) But it is when you look at the schedule. It’s been a wonderful 6 weeks that D’12 has been mostly home, :)>- commiserating with friends and family between work and other obligations. Next week she’s flying out to visit a friend in LA, B-) then home again for a week. Then she’s off on a 10 day mission trip that will satisfy her core requirement of 40 hours of community service O:-) then back for another week before fully moving into her off campus apartment to start fall ambassador training and roll into Junior year! All while managing to find ways to cover her hours and keep her part time job. :D</p>