@vistajay I would not assume that Camp Counselor isn’t considered a valuable activity.
@DiotimaDM That’s genius.
Good call on nixing the politics @dadotwoboys; you’re right - not the correct direction to steer this thread. Thanks for keeping us in check! [-X
D18 leaves for the Conrad finals in FL next week, so we’ll get to test out what an empty nest feels like!
Re: Summer plans…
I have a week-long writing retreat in San Diego one month, then another in Lake Tahoe a different month. I’m trying to finish a novel. 
S will be starting classes for his EMT certification, spending time with his gf and hopefully participating in the local UC’s Future Physician Leaders program.
Aha! That explains the engrossing trip reports.
Summer? Trying to manage spring stuff still. Picking up D16 from college in 1 week so I better get my act together.
Ok, lets see. He will work as lifeguard at local pool. Forcing S17 on at least 1 college visit, probably Wash U since I have to take D24 (10 year old) to camp in Missouri anyway. Maybe XC camp–contemplating running in college. Going to FBLA nationals in Anaheim. I’m jealous of the fun my kids (and spouse who is an educator) will have while I’m working.
DD will work - hopefully 20 hours per week and take an online class which will enable her to take more band classes as a senior. I also would love for her to start on her college essays. I doubt it will happen, but we will try. She will also spend way too much time watching Netflix. I would like to go look at a couple more colleges. We saw one today and hopefully will come up with a plan this weekend to determine where to look next.
@KSMom1518 – same here. We want D18 will start her essays during the summer but we know that she’ll wait until the last minute. She has a PhD in Procrastination.
I’m sure there’s a Netflix Anonymous group somewhere. :))
@bearcatfan - Isn’t the first step admitting you have a problem? She says no problem here!
DS15 was the King of Procrastination. The only college application he submitted more then 2 hours before the due date was our state safety. And he submitted that on the last day to be considered for scholarships.
I’m too busy to tell my kid to work on his essays. Have too many episodes of Peaky Blinders and Bojack Horseman to catch up on.
S18 has a job, XC practices, the IB Extended Essay, college essays, and a fun trip planned with his friends to go beach camping for a week.
After the SAT & ACT in early June, my D’18 has a week of HS cheer camp. She will take two online courses Econ & US Gov that last about 5 weeks and will not count toward her GPA so I am pretty confident she is just aiming to pass all so she can have an off period in her senior schedule. Then she will be spending the summer floating on the Frio, laying in her bed or on the sofa watching netflix or scrolling through social media, snarfing on Evol Risotto, hanging with her boyfriend and friends at the beach doing some stuff I really probably don’t want to know about, maybe we will slip a trip in to visit some colleges/universities and meet up with @carolinamom2boys, untill 2 a day, for cheer, start up in August. No humanitarian missions, finding the cure to cancer, building the next space station, writing the next NYT bestseller or composing and playing a symphonic masterpiece.
Sounds like a great well balanced summer @labegg . The calm before the storm. Looking forward to meeting up with you and your family.
D18 will be starting her first summer job (she is 16 until the end of summer, so last year she was too young to find one). She’ll be a camp counselor at the camp she’s attended for years. The pay is very low (I guess they can pay less than minimum wage and call it an internship??) but she loves it there. We have a few short trips planned, then she will take her first solo flight out to spend a week with a relative and travel around CO national parks right before school starts. The counselor role is nice because she can request her weeks off in advance so we don’t have to worry about work conflicting with family vacations. Hopefully she’ll have enough energy after camp to prep for August SATs and start on college applications, though!
We toured UMBC (UMD, Baltimore County) yesterday with D18 and DH. She was not impressed, and I think she probably won’t even apply. It seems like a great place for STEM majors, but it was very quiet on a weekend even though a large school event was taking place. Many of the campus amenities, like the bookstore, Starbucks, and other perks are closed on Saturdays, and since the campus isn’t next to a small town within walking distance, it felt a bit isolated if you needed to make a quick run to CVS or for something other than the dining hall. I think the campus has a fair number of commuters or kids who go home on the weekends, which I don’t think she plans to do. But, the campus grounds are very nice, the dorms are all suite-style, which means one bathroom shared by 2 double-rooms, and I think students there are very invested in learning and excelling. DH went there years ago and loved it, but he was a CS major. It was S16’s 2nd choice, but he is also a CS major. He picked a different college because it had a busier atmosphere on campus…I think D18 is looking for that as well.
No other tours planned until after school ends, I think!
Lifegarding, our impressions if UMBC were similar to yours. I think it has a strong academic focus and lots of student supports. Maybe it was extra quiet because it was the end of Easter week? A lot of kids live in the dorms.
@vistajay I would not assume that colleges don’t consider camp counselor as valuable experience. My D14 just had 2 internship opportunities for the summer come her way at her university, as well as her research assistant position at a psychology lab there during the year in part because of her experience as a camp counselor and supervisor.
One High School Prom in the rear view mirror! Phew.
“One High School Prom in the rear view mirror! Phew.”
Yes, double Phew!