Oh @carolinamom2boys <3 I hope you enjoy the summer with him.
@InfiniteWaves which NY schools are on the list now?
Thanks @mom2twogirls
Seniors at our school are done now too, they take finals next week and then graduate. Today we had a college admissions sessions for the Juniors, and the counselors basically told the kids and parents to get a grip on everything right now and get to work asap.
I was surprised at few parents even bothered to show up. I knew most of everything but I learned a couple of tidbits.
I was hoping to hear what the counselors thought of the Coalition App, but it was never mentioned, it was all Common App everything.
Seniors graduated last night. The incoming seniors had their traditional Hawaiian tailgate this morning. All dressed in Hawaiian gear and hanging out in the parking lot at 6:30 this morning. Student council brought bagels and juice and music. I think itās hitting S19 now. Heās seems a bit pensive. I had to remind him that heās not leaving for college for another 15 months!
Yesterday was the last day for seniors and today is the Spring Olympics at Sons high school. Apparently the seniors are to dress all in black for a senior black out at the Olympics and there was a shirt they were selling for the rising seniors. Did my son buy it? NO! UGHā¦ talked to the class advisor and sent in money for a shirt. Hoping he bought the shirt this morning. He is on the downhill of IB requirements. He turned in his Math IA today, had his Orals for English and French, turned in Written Task 1 and had his History group presentation this morning. Next week he has his TOK presentation and then county quarterlies the first week of June. So glad that he is winding down with work. Heās off to training and conditioning camp for the weekend and he is sooo happy he doesnāt have to take school work with him. LOLā¦
Canāt believe they are going to be seniors!
Oh and most exciting - our IB coordinator has set up a Danish Exchange program for next school year. Last night we picked a Danish student to host and their school is coming to visit the last week of September. My son got his 1st pick - a boy who also studies martial arts and likes movies. This boy described himself as shy but talks a lot when he gets to know people. My son felt he was a good match. The our kids will go to Denmark the last week of March and stay in their homes and go to their high school for a week and get to spend a day in Copenhagen.
Aww seniors! Canāt handle! Plus here weāre still slogging away for almost 3 more weeks. Our family is having a doozy of a weekendā¦two sets of overnight guests over the 3 days, a party with 50-75 guests on Sunday, and I just heard last night that DH invited people over Saturday night too. Heaven help me. I am procrastinating and admit I amā¦!
Ok Iāve got a few tips to tuck away for interviews. Just did another set last night for Eagle scouts. I love doing these. They are panel interviews with 3-4 adults and the Eagle candidate. So some quick tips ā dress well (no reason not to show up in a nice business casual outfit, unless your child has a much different personal style. But at a minimum, have clean, well-fitting clothes and newer shoes). Talk to your kiddo about avoiding certain verbal and behavioral crutches. Examples are the word ālikeā, which can really overpower some teenās speech when they are a bit nervous, and behaviors such as running your hand through longer hair or yawning. All are fine when kept to a minimum but can detract if overdone. Another tip is to practice. You can anticipate some standard questions (strengths/weaknesses, when showed leadership, when went against the grain, how overcame a challenge/failure, what career goals and why, who has influenced/inspired you, favorite experiences/classes, why this college, what will contribute here, etc.). And finally, ASK questions. Every single time at the Eagle interviews, the boys are asked what questions they have, and every single time, they pause, sometimes even say, āUmmmm,ā and then say they theyāre good, they have no questions. Especially at a college interview, theyāre going to expect you to ask questions. Have a half dozen ready to go. And finally, make eye contact and smile. My D19 is not going to be a superstar interviewer so Iāll be working with her on these in June before her first interviews in (aaack!) July.
@Kona2012 The exchange will be neat! Our schoolās German teacher facilitates an exchange every spring and my S21 really seemed to enjoy the crew of German kids this year. They stay for 5 weeks!
@mom2twogirls Fordham and Marist. I actually grew up in the NYC area so they donāt feel far away to me. I have family members and friends who went to both schools. And really, both are only around three hours from where we are in PA.
Mr. InfiniteWaves and I attended the same Jesuit college (not Fordham) and loved our experiences there. Weād really like for S19 to have at least one Jesuit school on his list. But our school does not check all the boxes. Fordham is the closest Jesuit school that does.
S19 is now open to visiting both schools though. And hey, Iāll take it. 
They passed the gavel this morning. They had a farewell ceremony for the theatre seniors last night before the show. The junior class writes letters to each of the graduating seniors and reads them out loud. DS19 wrote one regular letter, an obituary (set 50 years in the future), and a rap. Managed, apparently, to get through them without too many tears. They asked him to write one letter for a senior who none of the other juniors likes much, a guy on the spectrum. He wrote it, he did a good job, but now he is trying his best to actively avoid the guy for the rest of the year because they guy has gotten rather clingy. Itās just 3 more nights of the show and some graduation parties, he can manage it.
Kids at my Dās school take the state tests this week. School will end on June 15. >-)
@ninakatarina Kudos to your DS for writing the letter no one else wanted to write, and doing it so nicely.
@SDCounty3Mom DS19 is getting ready to sit for his Eagle Board of Review most likely in June. My oldest DS16 sat his Eagle Board of Review two days before a competitive interview for a major scholarship at one of his colleges where he was accepted . His college interview was a piece of cake after his Eagle BOR that lasted over 1 1/2 hrs. It was quite helpful to practice.
Iām working on planning the next college visit trip. Weāre going to see Lehigh and Lafayette in one day, and will need to spend the night before at a hotel. Which town would be better to stay in, Bethlehem or Easton? Better from the perspective of it being a town with some character, nice-ish restaurant, nice hotel. Weāre scheduled to see Lehigh in the morning and Lafayette in the afternoon, but could still swap the times of those if that ends up being more convenient. My daughterās never been anywhere in PA west of Philadelphia, so Iām hoping this trip will convince here that itās not all the boondocks, and there are some colleges in that area that have a traditional college campus feel without being too remote from (her version of) civilization.
My D goes to Lafayette. I have stayed in various places but last time stayed in an Airbnb with a wonderful host. Got two bedrooms with a shared bath for the cost of a hotel in a beautiful period home with wonderful host.The town of Easton is more concentrated, and we have had some really good meals there.
@soxmom Bethlehem is larger than Easton so it might feel less remote than other non-NYC center of the universe campuses. She can get some hip vibe seeing splashes of advertising for Bethlehemās Musikfest. (and in the small world category, my kidās great grandfather was chair of Beth Steele and a Lehigh trustee so there is a mountaintop lab named after him.)
Hotel Bethlehem is great. Have stayed there a number of times. In a cute part of time with lots of shops and restaurants in walking distance.
Thanks for the advice, Hotel Bethlehem it is!
So quiet here - I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!
This was the weekend of the final play of the year. We helped run the cast party last night and had a farewell to the graduating seniors. I am suffering from an emotional hangover, if that makes sense? Lots of laughing, lots of crying. And the senior moms kept saying, āNext year itās your turn!ā.
I donāt want it to end. Itās too soon.
My eldest is 30 and now well into his career, but it was really a long haul. He got a degree in Poly Sci and wanted to be an international humanitarian aid worker in crisis zones. Well thatās sort of what he described when he describe his dream activity/job when he was 21. I did a āgameā with him where I asked to imagine he was 30 and in a good āplaceā (not the ādreamā but in a job he likes and more or less a pretty good scenario). Describe your desk/or whereever you work, describe your co-workers, look out the window āwhat do you see?ā, what does your day look like more or less?
He was at the time thinking heād go into law though he hated the internship he had in law. His description of his āgoodā life at 30 did not involve law. It was more like Indy Jones with a tablet and social science degree. But he thought his dream would involve being poor (true) and heād never own a car or house (still true) and that the road there was too hard. In the end, he pursued his dream. There was a lot of living at home and sending out resumes.
After undergrad, 6 months studying for entrance exams and sending out scholarship apps to fund grad school in Poly Sci in another country (to get his international cred). After grad school, 6 months at home trying to network and sending out internships and making money since his internships would be unpaid. Years (was 2? I forget) of unpaid internships and working nights to cover rent in a shoebox. Moving from internship to internship every 6 months to move up the ladder and land the first real internship that put him on the pathway for as an analyst at a big NGO working in crisis zones. After 2 years, landed that internship and then 2 years or so in semi-paid training internship. Living out of a backpack but living the dream. As a parent, I wish that dream did not involve a significant risk of being kidnapped, but when you are young and want to work where the international headlines areā¦
Finally at age 30, landing a field job at one of the big NGOs (UN, WHO, type places).
I figure that his younger sibs will have similarly long roads and that living at home will be part of it.
Right there with you @ninakatarina . Itās so emotional realizing that our kids are the next ones to receive the senior cast party send-offs. Between that and the senior band send-off, I will be a mess.
S19 has been enthusiastic and motivated about college planning this weekend. We ran through all of the schools within a 300-mile radius that meet the revised criteria. He led the discussion and research. He looked up schools and talked things through with me (to get the budget perspective). He has a new list of prospects and Iāve scheduled a bunch of visits. The radius now spans from MA to DC. Fortunately, several visits are being incorporated into already-scheduled summer trips.
Lesson learned and noted for S21. A lot changes over the course of junior year. S19 is ready to think about it all now. Much more than he ever has been. And he is energized because heās leading the discussion. Heās maturing and I am learning how to transition into a new parenting role that comes with being the mom of a kid who will be 18-years-old in less than four months.
Okay, maybe Iām a mess now. :-S