@burghdad My condolences, a beloved pet and Grandfather in a week is a lot to take. I am so sorry, cycle of life yes but still tough. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.
@burghdad So sorry that life has hit you with some real lows. I pray for peace and joyful memories to flood your family during this time.
@burghdad So sorry for your losses. When my FIL passed we had the extreme low of his passing followed by the birth of my daughter the very next day. It’s hard to process that range of emotions in a short time and it brings with it other emotions because you feel guilty for being happy during a sad time and vice versa. Ideally these life events happen on their own time but life doesn’t operate ideally.
Thinking of you and your family, @burghdad !
Hang in there, @burghdad. So sad for what your family is dealing with.
Just back from FSU orientation. I was very impressed. They run a tight ship. There was a student orientation and a parent orientation over about two days. I only saw S18 at meals and in a few joint sessions. There were many sessions, including health, safety, college traditions, FA, alcohol abuse and sexual harassment, emergency procedures etc… There were talks on how to let your kids deal with their own problems and grow up (Pro Tip-Don’t call the office of the University President to demand a roommate change for your child, LOL), talks about common freshman problems and how to address, and lots of practical and contact info. There was a nice session about how parents can connect to the university. I have to say, I feel much better connected and informed, at even this early stage, with FSU than I do with my D15’s college.
@vistajay – reading the part about “alcohol abuse” in your port reminded me of the Bama parents orientation where the police rep (I think it was the Bama police, maybe Tuscaloosa police) said, with emphasis, pot is illegal in all forms in Alabama, if you have it we have to arrest you. The way he said it sounded like he had been through this issue many times with OOS students … and that he didn’t necessarily agree with it. That may be my personal bias showing however … because I think that both alcohol and pot should be legalized at 18 years old (with penalties for DUI instead – basically, penalize significantly unsafe actions rather than mere possession/consumption).
We just returned yesterday after orientation at West Chester University. It was a beautiful day and we also had a very informative parent orientation, with the same topics @vistajay . I really enjoyed the session w/ the College of Sciences and Mathematics; students needing to take advantage of the knowledge that is offered, etc…I took notes!
She got to meet w/ her advisor and was told she can’t change her schedule until they open the drop/add option, which apparently will be when school starts. Like me, she wants it done, and hates waiting, but it is what it is. She still needs to contact someone about adding a minor. But she actually has a very nice schedule.
She toured w/ other students in her College. She said the girls were very nice and there was an incredibly handsome guy that was sort of distracting. 
Told her she should probably go to him if she needs help w/ their course work. She was happy as they were given water bottles from their college w/ their specific major. Apparently they were the only group that got them, from what she observed. We also visited the campus store to purchase a few “Golden Ram” clothing items (well at the prices, it was more like 2), but she was happy to start w/ something.
Thought we wouldn’t be back until move in, but apparently with campus construction, they are requesting students come early just to drop off their stuff, then return roughly a week later for actual move in. Guess they will have
different drop off days to control the chaos.
Oh, also, DD said they were told this freshman class has the largest Computer Science majors they have ever had.
@burghdad, I’m sorry for your losses.
My daughter just recently found out she is officially classified as a junior due to receiving credit for all her dual enrollment classes. While it sounds great some are simply free electives that really don’t fill any need. It will be nice though to have the credits for things like picking a spring schedule and housing for the following year. In reality she is a freshman with advanced credit standing. She may graduate in 3 years,do a dual major, do internship or coop, study abroad etc
Orientation was Wednesday/Thursday. I left early around 4pm to go to younger daughter’s 8th grade graduation from a k-8 school. At times it was a very emotional day. I was with my daughter until 12 then she was off on her own. I happened to walk by her twice when we were not together (just happened) and she wasn’t thrilled. Things that were stressed were while there is little crime, the police officer said in his 30 years working there theft has always been a crime of opportunity as in rooms being left wide open. The other thing was if kids call complaining/with issues etc don’t solve their problems for them but tell them to go see whatever department on campus if needed.
The school gives out schedules for the first semester. They do 4 classes at 4 credits each. There is also a required no credit freshman experience class. I don’t think the kids were happy when they were given a summer reading book. DD is in the honors program. She is an accounting major with a possible double major in finance. Her first class is perfect - honors intro to business. The other 3 classes though need to be figured out. One is economics - she has credit for micro and macro and only one is required but they put her in a 3rd one that no one’s heard of which they need to find out if it is a new requirement or a renaming or something.
DD took placement tests and has dual enrollment credit for Intermediate Spanish and Calculus 1. I think the schedule was made without looking at them. For instance she took the language placement test for Spanish. She was assigned Elementary French 1. For math they gave her a business Calculus. An advisor is finding out if Calc 1 counts as her math requirement where is wasn’t a business calc but is a higher level class. Language she should have the credit. The end result was hopefully she will have information and maybe a different schedule next week. Otherwise my daughter thought orientation was fun. She received her ipad and gets a new one junior year. She got a business department water bottle. At the orientation block party they got to have a name put on an orientation water bottle done by some heat thing. I had to laugh when I saw it and it said year 2918 - I guess she will be back in the future. Of course you can’t leave that campus without a tshirt so when I was with her she got a tshirt from the living learning community she is part of (doesn’t require living with them) which I got to carry around all day.
@burghdad - so sorry to hear of your loses. Boy, when it rains, it pours. You and yours are in our thoughts.
Reality really sets in when you do your June family vacation as in years past and both DS18 and DD20 have other plans and can’t go.
DS18 did orientation at Louisville while we were gone, then headed to Centre for a couple of weeks of Brown Fellows activities.
He scheduled his fall classes and everything worked out well. Looks like this:
Bio 240 Unity of Life (first year biology for biology majors)
Chem 201 General Chemistry I (honors first year chemistry for biology or chemistry majors) with labs
Psych 305 Brain and Behavior (key first class toward neuroscience major)
Phil 211 Critical Thinking (fulfills final gen ed requirement)
Econ 201 Principles of Microeconomics (just taking as an interesting elective)
Credit from AP Bio does not cover the required first year class for biology majors, but hopefully gives him the background to do well in the class.
He may have AP credit to cover the chemistry class (waiting on score), but either way they advise him to take regardless to make sure he has a solid foundation for organic chemistry sophomore year and later the MCAT.
A couple of months from now he will be living on campus. This is really happening isn’t it?
Yes, @LOUKYDAD, move in day will be here in a flash!
When DS went to Bama, he had never even flown before, and it is a 16 hour drive. So I knew we would not be seeing him much at all. The night before move in, he was sleeping and it hit me that he won’t be coming home with me. I cried something terrible. Luckily he slept through the whole meltdown! He did very well, made a lot of friends, and is so clearly use to living on his own now; another huge step away from us.
I know that I can certainly survive DD starting college as she will be only 2+ hours from home, so easy to get her home or get there if needed. She is still being treated for thyroid cancer, but will be done with everything by end of July, which is good as I hated to have her start her college career without being fully cleared.
I think she is looking forward to getting out on her own, but there will always be that bit of trepidation. Certainly exciting times ahead for all of them.
@laralei I don’t remember reading about your D’s cancer treatment. I’m sorry to hear. I’m sure it will be a relief to have that over before school starts.
My oldest is graduated and living about 12 hours from home. Not being able to stay on top of her medical care has been tough for me to let go of. Last time she went to the doctor alone, I copied some records from her specialists so important information was not overlooked, but she forgot to give it to the doctor. :-t
A box of swag arrived for S today from UNM Housing. He had no idea it was coming, and it actually had cool stuff in it. A plastic coffee cup with lid, a laundry bag, toothbrush cover, pen and notepad, Lobo shaped stress ball squeezy thing (lol), magnetic clips for sticking on your door, another magnet with helpful phone numbers on it, a key chain, etc.
We also (finally) got written confirmation of his housing assignment. He registered his room back before Memorial Day, but they don’t send out confirmations for several weeks in case changes need to be made. It was pretty nerve-wracking, actually. His portal had the super-not-helpful message “You do not have a room” for all four weeks of waiting.
His EMT class is going very well. He loves it, and he’s having a blast as the instructor’s favorite “victim” because he acts the scenarios well. The students playing responder have their backs to the instructor, who keeps eye contact with S. The instructor gives S hand signals that they’ve worked out ahead of time. If the responder team does everything right, it’s a fairly simple simulation. Chest pain = heart attack. Give oxygen, administer CPR and prep for transport.
Where S gets a kick out of it is when there’s a non-standard presentation, such as a mild heart attack where the vic is still sitting upright and pain is in the shoulder. So picture S holding his shoulder and saying his chest and shoulder hurt, he must have pulled something playing basketball. Responder team doesn’t ask the right questions and begins treatment for a shoulder injury. S gets a hand signal and starts to do labored breathing. Nobody preps oxygen. Instructor gives another signal and S crashes to the floor in pretend full cardiac arrest.
I’m probably not describing it well, but S is getting full use of his acting background and his EMS studies. 
@MACmiracle I hadn’t mentioned anything before. First she was doing the rounds with the specialists, then w/ diagnosis, everything moved very fast! All parties involved have been very helpful w/ getting treatments done/scheduled around all the school stuff, college and high school.
I so sympathize w/ you and your DD. My son also was diagnosed w/ an issue the year he graduated! He does not take care of himself properly while he is away and I hate to nag at him when he is home. Ugh.
Looks like they closed the passhe thread, so couldn’t post about WCU visit there. 
I ended up liking it a lot and it feels very vibrant and the larger campus is growing on me. I think she will be happy there.
I cant understand why they closed the PASSHE thread?
S18 finds out about his roommate and starts registering for classes in about 2 weeks. It’s getting real…
@bester1 It definitely didn’t get hit daily, but I thought it had some real value. Perhaps if it showed up under the “Latest Posts” it might have generated more discussion. I never understood why that happened either. ?
@burghdad I am sorry for your losses. It is great that you dau. had such a positive experience at orientation Hopefully, that helps her be able to cope better with the grief, and other stress. The trip to Hamilton sounds fantastic.