<p>@austinareadad - UT Law?</p>
<p>Overtheedge – yes, a long time ago.</p>
<p>I also wanted to pop in and give update on D, she is very happy where she is at. She loves the school, her roommate, happy with most of her classes and is already talking about what she will do for next year - going for a suite style and cook more often. I get a lot of text messages from her ranging from world politics (suddenly is more interested in what’s happening around the world though she blamed us we sheltered her 
) to complaining about TA to why chemistry is not needed for a mechanical engineer major etc. Hopefully she will continue to enjoy and grow. </p>
<p>@austinareadad, I think it is more common to not come home for Thanksgiving though I didn’t expect that in the beginning. </p>
<p>My daughter is also not coming home for Thanksgiving. The time and travel is so close to finals that she doesn’t want to come home or even go to our relatives that’s about 5 hours away by bus. Also there’s a cost factor involved plus the fact that if she somehow miss her connecting flight, she might celebrate Thanksgiving at the airportor in the air. She said that it would be nice for the campus to be “empty” for a few days.</p>
<p>@austinareadad - Hook em horns 
</p>
<p>I went to law school at night while working full time during the day. Those were some rough years, and I remember spending all day Saturday and Sunday reading and reading and reading to prep for classes for the upcoming week. My long hours hitting the books prompted DS to pursue his PhD since I wasn’t much company in those days!</p>
<p>I am back online as our first “empty nest” vacation was a success. Both DS-11 and DD-14 survived our absence although we did call once and traded a few texts as we were out of the country. D has been doing fine in all classes except biology and has been really stressed about her grades (low C on the first exam). The good news during our absence was that the got an A on her bio midterm which changed her outlook on the class and helped her self confidence. She also was invited to the NROTC military/naval fall ball which was held last night at the Philadelphia Union Club. She said it was a beautiful evening and has already sent photos of her and her date/BF who is a freshman NROTC student. Next up is class registration for spring and then she comes home for Thanksgiving. It will be good to have one semester of classes and campus life in the books.</p>
<p>Good to hear of all the kids who are settled in and doing well. @2016BarnardMom - Glad to hear you are doing well and recovering.</p>
<p>Hello all!
I haven’t posted in a long while…wanted to pop in to say Hi and catch up ! It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is so close and before we know it the first semester will be over ! </p>
<p>My son is doing ok at UVM -loves the school -he has some tough classes this semester but I think he will end with a b average…chemistry and Bio are tough courses …he is breezing through Calc and doing very well in honors English. The Honors class is kind of a cross between English lit and Philosophy. He loves the class! …I do wish he get out more but that will come with time…</p>
<p>On another note …the last time I was on the board I had just quit my job…happy news is that I found an even better position that I am very excited about…DH and I are relocating to Vermont! It is hard to believe that it is all coming together …we are renting a home in Montpelier about 45 min from UVM. We didn’t want to live to close to our son…but we do love Burlington! …on days that I am in the office I will be able to walk to work ! </p>
<p>It has been a very long year…just a year ago I was starting a job with big hopes and now here I go again. My husbands works from home so he is able to join me right away in Vermont. We will be selling our home in Maine in the next several months. I feel so honored to be offered a great job and to be able to work for a great company! I guess things do work out in time …wish I didn’t worry so much…</p>
<p>Wishing much happiness to everyone! </p>
<p>@onlyonemom - Congratulations on the new position and the relocation to Vermont. I hope everything goes smoothly for you and your family during the move.</p>
<p>@onlyonemom congrats on the new job. I love Montpelier – I hope you will too! Will you be able to pay in-State rates at UVM? That would be a nice bonus. My S is quite happy at UVM. He is breezing through his engineering core classes, and is more challenged by his psych class (one level above intro, which he did via AP) and the honors college class. He had a couple of low grades in the psych class but then got an A on a test on material he was previously familiar with, so that helped his confidence (and his GPA ). I don’t know if he enjoys the HC class or not – I suspect not so much. He freaked out early in the semester about the amount of reading, but seems to have gotten into the rhythm of it all. He seems to be getting out semi-regularly, and he’s happy and comfortable, and I’m quite relieved. :)</p>
<p>Back from a weekend trip to see our son run in his conference championships. He was displeased with his performance – thought he should have run better . The team finished second so it will compete in the regional championships in a couple of weeks. Still, it was a very nice weekend. Went to dinner and a couple of lunches with him. He really loves college. The academics are a challenge, but he has settled into a daily routine that suits him well. Really likes being in a fraternity – this Saturday, he is doing a walk for Wounded Warriors, which is one of the charities that his fraternity supports. Wish he could come home for Turkey Day, but that will not happen because of cross country. But we look forward to his arrival in a month.</p>
<p>D comes home next Friday. She’s really getting into countdown mode and really wants to be home, sleep in her own bed, etc. I know she’s happy and fine there, but she definitely needs a break. She gets a week off, then goes back for 2 weeks and is home for a month. Any tips for to help her make it this next week and a half?</p>
<p>Eyemamom: I’m still into sending things through the mail. Why don’t you send her a card or little surprise each day? That would keep the countdown real, but gives her something special to look forward to.</p>
<p>Well, just when I thought we would not see our son until Christmas Break, I got a text the other day. He and his coach decided that he needed a break from running, so he will not participate in the regional or possible, national cross country races. He has not been running the way he’d like to run. He also has let the struggle in one class affect his focus. He has been pushing himself non-stop in running for more than a year, and it shows. So he’ll take a month off. Hopefully, that will recharge his batteries. That said, he asked if I could find a cheap flight, he could come home for Thanksgiving. I found something that works, so he will be home with us. </p>
<p>Interesting article about what to expect for the first visit home for a college freshman:
<a href=“Welcoming Your College Student Home for Break — What To Expect – College Parent Central”>Page not found – College Parent Central;
<p>DS won’t make it home for Thanksgiving, but we are counting the days until Christmas break! We already have his ticket home. Miss him so.</p>
<p>Registration happened. D took my advice about gen eds, but got closed out of the ones she wanted. AP/DE credits allowed her to register with the sophomores. I imagine it would’ve been worse if she’d have had to wait u til the freshmen registered. She got into one gen ed and then for the May term ( she has to take a class because her sport is still in season) she had to take something just to take something, a pure elective in a field she really doesn’t care for at all, but it was open. No problem at all getting into math and comp sci courses, (How different form high schools where it seemed like your academic worthiness was all tied up in what math class you were enrolled in! ). </p>
<p>^^ Highly likely some classes will open up (especially by May) and she will get the classes she wants. My daughter had a hold on her registration because the school claimed it did not receive her grad transcript (sent twice, they had them both, school’s fault the hold was on there). Many calls and visits to the registrar later, the hold was removed but by then the math class section she needed was full and that was the only way her schedule worked (she has two labs which take up most mornings, and has to be done with classes by 3 for practice each day). I told my panicked daughter not to worry, the coach would make sure she got into that section because otherwise DD would miss practice 4 days a week. Miracle! Two days later she’s in the class she needs at the time that doesn’t conflict with practice.</p>
<p>Haven’t checked in for a while. S is experimenting… Cut his hair in a modified Mohawk and pierced his ears. He is still feeling overwhelmed by tough math and chem classes and exploring a possible change in majors. I think he loves life at college but is unsure about his academic focus. We will see him at Thanksgiving. Can’t wait to really spend some time with him and see where his head is at.</p>
<p>Here’s hoping everybody’s kid has a coat! (at least those in the central part of the country). D does not have her winter coat. We almost never need one before Thanksgiving, so when she forgot to take one back at Fall break, nbd. It’d been pretty warm. WOW. What a change. Single digit lows. Today’s high? 13. And it’s windy. We had snow, too. Brrrr…</p>
<p>Nope…d didn’t bring her coat back either. She’s in the south and we all figured she could just get it when she came home for Thanksgiving. She comes back Friday so she just has to wear boots and sweatshirts. I know she anxious to come home and reconnect. We’ll be putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving before she heads back. </p>