Very exciting, @albert69! I hope it is wonderful.
It is going great so far, haha.
And I’m also am really enjoying physics. Which is good, considering that’s essentially what I’ll be doing for the next few years. 
Today I got that call that all parents of college-age kids dread. My daughter was in the ER after a stupid college kid trick.
Right up front, she is okay.
Erin was on her way to class this morning on her new push-scooter (an adult size version of a Razor scooter, but with hand brakes and foot brakes) on one of the university’s many footpaths. That particular path is steep, crosses a road, and there directly to the class building where she was heading.
However, this hill was steeper than others she had taken, and she realized two things: the hill was too much for her brakes and they weren’t slowing her down at all, and a bus was coming.
She said she had a split second to make a decision; bail out and take a tumble, or hit the bus (or the bus would hit her, she wasn’t sure).
Luckily her sense of physics was working efficiently, and she bailed out. She hit the ground and took a nasty tumble, landing in the street on the sidewalk - but not in the lane where the bus was.
Several students who had witnessed her crash helped her out of the street, but she was woozy and couldn’t stand up. Someone called 911. she said it wouldn’t have been so bad if there weren’t a small group of students laughing.
It was the shortest ambulance ride ever - the university medical center was on the other side of the class building, no more than a few hundred feet away - but there was no direct route.
She has bruises and scrapes - her hands, knees, and a long scrape down her face. Her jeans are more fashionable now - torn knees. No head injury - her wooziness was probably from shock. But the most serious wound is to her pride.
The doctors had her take the rest of the day off to recover, so by dinner she was back at her dorms relaxing.
Oh, and the scooter didn’t even get a scratch.
@LadyArwyn, yup the call nobody wants to get, except the only injuries were bruises, scrapes, and embarrassment. I’l take that over anything more serious any day of the week. Hope she feels better soon and your heart slides back down to where it belongs in your chest soon.
@LadyArwyn, I am very glad she is ok. And hopefully lesson learned. As my ski racer daughter was taught, scout before blasting down an unknown run or park. I hope her injuries heal quickly.
Glad to hear she’s ok @LadyArwyn … we’re always nervous about those same calls coming with 2 of our 3 kids being in school OOS. So far so good, but college days are a long way from being over so we keep our fingers crossed and say our prayers. [-O<
Lady Arwyn, too bad, but thank goodness the injuries were minor and catastrophe averted.
We got one of those calls. Campus police drove S to emergency room when his leg was injured in futsal game. It was Friday night Halloween weekend in a college town, so you can imagine what the emergency room was like. An all nighter in a hallway for us. Doctor refused to MRI his knee and misdiagnosed injury as simple muscle strain. We found out a few days later from his regular doctor, after a cross town drive to the only MRI with an open time, that his meniscus had torn completely loose and wedged in the space in front of knee, which is why he couldn’t straighten the knee. Turns out it was a worsening of an old recurring injury that had long been misdiagnosed as a hamstring problem, but that’s another story. So he had repair surgery and a month+ in rigid brace and has ongoing PT. No soccer or basketball for some months to come. Moved home from dorm as walking around campus was very difficult and he couldn’t climb into his lofted bed. I chauffeured him back and forth to classes daily and everywhere else. He wasn’t allowed to drive and couldn’t walk to the bus stop even if the sidewalks hadn’t been sheets of ice.
Now he is back in dorm since classes started 3 weeks ago. All I can say is thank goodness he ignored my pleas to go to an OOS full scholarship school and insisted on attending the flagship 3 miles down the road. Not sure how we would have handled all this from OOS.
On the plus side he is making lots of new friends but also still connected to the HS bunch, is in classes and study groups with several of them and was doing rec sports with many more until the injury. Grades were stellar to my total amazement as he had quite slacked off the last year or 2 of HS so we expected a tough adjustment first semester. He just buckled down and worked hard. Stil scratching my head about how that happened.
Have to admit I’m happy to have him in town even without all the injury complications. He comes home on Sundays to work at his YMCA job, do laundry, and get home cooked meals. It’s so nice to get to talk and see him regularly.
Wow @celesteroberts. Great things worked out as they have! Hopefully he is getting around campus now without trouble.
I had to take a quarter off when I was in college. I tore cartilage in my knee, had surgery, and had to have a cast on my leg for two months. I was 6 1/2 hours from home, and had to have my family come and get me. It worked out ok (I was a dance major at the time), but it definitely put me behind. I took three colleges/three majors and seven years to graduate. That happened at the private school that I attended for two years. I later transferred to the local state university because it was less expensive.
Making an impromptu trip to Minneapolis to visit S. Younger S has a long weekend so I thought - why not? It’s about a 6 hour drive each way and we’ll get a snow storm while we’re up there. Not the nicest destination in February but if he was in a warm place I wouldn’t be able to do a last-minute trip like this. Baked a new recipe - Revel Bars (oatmeal cookie base, fudge and nuts and top) to take up with us.
Have a wonderful time @singermom4. I wish we could do that too. Skype is going to have to do though. I must admit it is a lot easier emotionally this second half of the year. Can only go forward, can’t look back.
Skype is pretty great though - we try to skype once a week. I find I get a much better sense of how he is doing by being able to see him rather than just hear his voice or thru texts. I think if they are content where they are, it eases the parental anxiety greatly.
S will also come back for a week mid-March and we will drive him back and spend a few days then as well as younger S will be starting his spring break then.
Have fun singermom. D had a mid semester break starting the 20th for a week and is flying home. It will be nice to see her in person! She has lined up an 8 week internship for the summer, so I don’t know if or for how long we will get to see her then.
Can’t recall who on here has the UK student? Just wondering if they are aware of the devastating cuts to higher ed the KY Governor is proposing and the preposterous set of requirements that they are considering universities meet in order to access what remains of funding. There is a rally being planned for Feb. 29 at the state capitol - if anyone live in KY or knows anyone in KY going to school there, pass the word! There is a FB page set up to give details, but I don’t think I can post a link. My daughter is at Murray State and these cuts would have a HUGE impact on our finances as they could mean significant jumps in tuition and fees as well as cuts in classrooms, faculty and services.
That is not good news @ILMom13579. Thanks for the heads up of others in Kentucky.
@ILMom13579 … Our D2 is a freshman at UKy. She had mentioned to us that we might hear about protests on campus, etc. regarding the proposed budget.
It’ll be a shame if the proposed cuts do come to pass, but from what I’ve read I don’t think it will impact D2’s scholarship. Her scholarship will increase if tuition goes up, and the proposed cuts would primarily impact need-based scholarships. Her Patterson Scholarship is strictly merit based. It’s always possible that some changes could come about, but pre-existing scholarship offers to current students usually aren’t modified mid-stream. It’s the future students that generally take the brunt of the punishment.
Hi all. I hope everyone’s kids are having good second semesters, or gap years, or whatever all our kids are up to now 
D’s doing well. Applying for summer internships and research positions, and has figured out that the library is the place to study as she gets a lot more done in a lot less time, resulting in more time for clubs or just doing nothing (without undone work hanging over her head). I won’t see her for spring break but she did give me her finals schedule today so I can make plans for pickup and move-out.
Seems crazy that we’ve come this far after that junior year of tests and grade worry and college visits and the senior year app and decision drama and the BBB sheet shopping and empty nest worries!
How is everyone else doing?
D sent me a paper she just turned in because she knew the subject would interest me. Since she always had me do a final proofread on her high school papers I’m very familiar with her writing style but this was the first college writing I had seen. It was so cool to see how her writing has grown so much in such a short time and I thought she was a fantastic writer before.
I also loved the fact that she made sure to point out that she had already turned in the paper so she wasn’t looking for any proofreading comments.
This has been a great year for our D. She adjusted well to living on campus with the exception of dorm food :(( which was not unexpected. Classes have been good, but I think for her the best part has been the opportunity to explore a new city and that so many new events and activities that are open to her. Easy transportation. She even joined a club sport, which is new for her. Best part for us is seeing that she is happy. Love the adult conversations we have now, and almost every day I am thankful for modern communication that makes it so easy to stay in touch.
Skype is awesome!