My D has finals coming up next week. Then 10 days off, during which she’s moving off campus (to a house rented with friends), and then her summer semester starts.
In other news, she now “hates her major” too much engineering and not enough chemistry for her liking, and after doing the various projects she’s realizing she’s not excited about designing cost-efficient chemical processes. She’s interested in nanotechnology, or maybe biochem. I asked her if she wanted to switch majors and she said no, she’s too far along with this one and doesn’t want to delay graduation. So we’ll see. If she doesn’t want to be a chemical engineer, then maybe she’ll decide to go to grad school and specialize in nanotech or something like that. At least she said she doesn’t have any big regrets of originally choosing ChemE over Chemistry, as ChemE provides a broad foundation for all kinds of specializations and better job prospects. Part of college is not only finding out what you want to do but also what you don’t want to do.
Yes @insanedreamer, college is the time to figure it out, and she is still so young, she has time to figure it out. Glad that she is doing well. And who knows how many times more that mind might change, and that’s okay.
@Insanedreamer Your D might want to check out Materials Engineeeing. I recommend this major to students who choose Chem E because they love chemistry. Materials Engineering actually involves more chemistry than Chem E does. A few electives in Materials might open the door for her, especially if she is considering grad school. Fortunately, Chem E is broad and she will be able to go in many directions once she is done.
My D is home for the week, and then she will be off to her summer internship. It is so nice to have her home. Even our dog is happier! How can they be juniors already?
One more week of finals for S but we won’t see him for awhile as he will stay to do some FSAE racing team stuff to prepare for a June competition. The good news is though, that he finally did get an internship and will be home for the rest of the summer. We will have both him and D, who is graduating from college this week, home all summer for the first time in 5 years!
That all sounds great @STEMFamily. So great to hear that your son was able to get an internship, his presistance paid off. Congrats to your daughter too, for graduating. Yeah to a special summer with your kids home!
Ooh that’s wonderful! I’m going to pick up D from school this week but she’ll only be home for a couple of weeks. Still, I’m very excited to have both chicks in the nest
It is great to have DS15 home! It is hard to believe that they are incoming juniors! He is doing well and enjoying most of his classes. He is home for a month before returning to school for summer research. Assuming he enjoys his summer research position, he will start looking more into grad schools.
The college search is peaking for DD18. I hope we find a couple of schools worth a visit this summer. With marching band we won’t be able to do any visits this fall.
@VMT I did suggest Materials to her, and it might have been a more suitable choice from the start. She doesn’t want to switch to that major now, but taking some Materials electives could be a good idea if she pursues grad school in that direction. Thanks!
Congrats to your D for her summer internship! Hope you enjoy a nice time together while she’s at home.
@insanedreamer my daughter was advised to add Materials Science as a second minor at her last advising session because it fits well with her BME major as well as the direction that she is thinking of going with her major. As they worked on her projected course sequence and looked back at what she had already taken, it turned out it was going to be relatively easy to complete the specific minor. Your daughter may have a similar option.
Good luck to all the kids returning home for much needed rest ; or those going to exciting internships and jobs! 2 more years and we will have graduates on our hand! I too believe time is going way too fast!
@KSMom1518 mine was talking GREs and grad school search too. Yikes. I was looking at Instagram photos of the graduation today at my daughter’s school. I need the tissues already.
D flew home last Thursday and it’s been great having her back in the nest! My son is graduating from high school so it’s an exiting time. We have two weeks to enjoy before she flies away for her summer abroad. Overall she is very happy that she chose ChemE over Chem as a major, but I can’t say she completely loves all of her classes. They are rigorous and challenging and by the end of every semester she is exhausted. I’ve said a hundred times that she should not feel pressured and can always change her major. She is the type who would put pressure on herself by presuming to read my mind (e.g., I thought you would be mad if I…), so I have to be clear with her. She likes the sense of accomplishment of meeting the challenges, and knows there will be opportunities for great jobs for her as a ChemE grad, so she is committed to staying with it.
My D turned 20 today! <:-P Where does the time go? She is finishing her class in Spain and then will have a week to herself before we fly to visit her for 10 days after her brother’s HS graduation. I am looking forward to the trip. After our visit, D is meeting a friend in Rome and they will spend 5 weeks traveling. She will fly home and be here for less than 2 weeks before heading to Chile for a semester abroad. It’s a crazy schedule, but she is very excited about her experiences and being fluent in Spanish by the time she returns.
@mtrosemom it all sounds so exciting and kind of glamorous! I enjoy living vicariously through all these kids. They are at such an amazing stage of life. What an amazing set of opportunities.
S has finals this week and will be home for 2wks starting Saturday and then its back to Iowa for the summer. He was supposed to have an interview with our local state gov’t for a job but they don’t do skype interviews so no luck. He is working Ameri-corp for the summer teaching kids to read. And then he’ll be home for about a week and off to London for a semester abroad.
Our local public school system just cancelled all trips out of the country for this year and next (one HS had a trip to the Galapagus Islands planned for next Spring break) due to safety concerns. I keep telling myself not to worry and Europe will be fine as long as he has some common sense (okay that’s another worry).
@Mom24boys, I think that you have to worry, but also let the kids explore to a degree. There are some places I told D she couldn’t go (unless in a large group) like Morocco, but western Europe is probably as good as it gets if you you want to experience other places and have a decent safety net. There were also places in South America I didn’t want her to do study abroad, like Venezuela (not sure there was even a program there) and Buenos Aires. She is going to Chile, south of Santiago to a smaller city. I am comfortable with that choice.
D15 finished up last Wednesday but had long planned on hanging out with friends at school, and especially her boyfriend, until Monday. Wife was a bit distressed that D would not be home for Mother’s Day. I found a direct flight and managed to get her to the house for 5pm Mother’s Day, without telling anyone else. She walked in and surprised everyone to tears. I made it out of the wife’s dog house, however temporarily.
D15 is here for a week then back out West for a 6 week theatre internship. Then will be home the rest of the summer. She even convinced me to try out with her for a local community theatre musical, and we both got cast! So that should be fun, if I can learn my lines!
too much engineering and not enough chemistry for her liking, and after doing the various projects she’s realizing she’s not excited about designing cost-efficient chemical processes. She’s interested in nanotechnology, or maybe biochem. I asked her if she wanted to switch majors and she said no, she’s too far along with this one and doesn’t want to delay graduation. So we’ll see. If she doesn’t want to be a chemical engineer, then maybe she’ll decide to go to grad school and specialize in nanotech or something like that. At least she said she doesn’t have any big regrets of originally choosing ChemE over Chemistry, as ChemE provides a broad foundation for all kinds of specializations and better job prospects. Part of college is not only finding out what you want to do but also what you don’t want to do.