I took a picture of both girls on their beds before we left. I note that roommate has new matching pink and gray everything. Then DD’s bed has a Supergirl pillowcase, a pink moon & stars pillowcase, gray & white sheets, her new blue/ivory map-theme comforter, an Animal Kingdom blanket, the butterfly blankie she’s had since age 2, the gray blanket DH gave her for Christmas, gray and white blanket, pink blanket, a rainbow zebra stripe body pillow, and four stuffed animals. It’s not coordinated, or organized, but it’s Home.
I was joking with my daughter that she packed too much stuff and that lots of people bring almost nothing and buy what they need near school. She was horrified. Not because of the money, she said, but because it wouldn’t be lived in or have stories. Her stuff makes her room her room.
@SammoJ sorry about the roommate situation. I hope it gets sorted out without too much angst. Of course for many of these students it’s the first time they are sharing living quarters and there is always stuff to figure out.
Hasn’t sunk in that it’s done and she’s moved in. After a rough couple of days of D19 mostly sleeping after returning from Asia, things got productive. We spent one evening just talking about D19’s summer, cooking and watching a Hallmark mystery movie (This, i’ll miss). Then dealt with teeth, driving lessons, lists, and strategic packing. Her lack of decision-making meant she ended up taking her 6 year old Mac to college. Her new one won’t arrive at her dorm until next week.
Move-in was smooth, and one of the underbed storage drawers was empty when we finished unpacking. @bjscheel Room was coordinated. I made furry and monogrammed pillows over the summer, but included fabric with characters, like Hello Kitty that she’d had forever. She decorated the walls with pics and a guided painting she’d made on a family outing. There had been a comment a couple weeks ago on the Facebook parent site that was anti- “Ole Miss rooms”, but I think it ended up cozy, not over the top. Orientation is about over tomorrow, and she finds out which classes she got. I don’t even know what she requested. New normal.
Oh, tonight the ice cream truck came through the neighborhood. Same truck and driver that we first met when it used to stop at her church pre-school years ago. Even when we didn’t really want anything, we’d always go out and patronize her. That darned tune got me emotional and I couldn’t go down.
@SammoJ Man, that sounds rough. I hope starting classes helps the situation & a talk with the RA sounds good, too.
Learnings so far from DD:
- Not every professor gives you a few days to get your books. One expected them to have them on Day 1. And this is one of the only classes without an online code/ e-text.
- Even professors sometimes end up in the wrong place. When one hadn’t shown up after class was supposed to have started, someone located her phone number & called. She was in the wrong room, by herself. Shockingly, only 3 kids had left (out of 20) by the time the prof arrived 35 minutes late.
- Retaking a class can solidify understanding & maybe bump your GPA, but it can also be mind-blowingly boring. Dd has two of these this semester. I’d make a suggestion that might help but would just be blown off, so I’m keeping my mouth shut.
I sent a package to her today. It included her robe, which she had forgotten, a UNO set, some oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies my H made yesterday, a notebook from a class she took last year, and some other odds & ends she asked for.
Her room has touches of home (like lots & lots of throw pillows & her sister’s art) but nothing on the walls. There were lots of warnings against putting stuff on the walls as even the tried & true methods supposedly cause damage. Of course, she & her suitemates think decorating is putting up post-it notes (on doors & windows) 
It’s like one of those classic good news/bad news stories…
My D19 got her perfectly balanced schedule set up at orientation last June. Hey, that’s good news!
But it was only as good as it was because Mississippi State didn’t take her transfer credit for first-semester composition. Oh, that’s bad news.
But she and I walked her schedule when I dropped her off on campus, and her comp class was perfectly placed between two other fairly distant classes. Hey, that’s good news!
But then yesterday night (important: classes started yesterday), she discovered that if she didn’t take an honors class her first semester, she’d be dropped from the Honors College—and both honors comp and honors calc were already full. Oh, that’s bad news.
But she could take an honors section of intro to philosophy, which she could simply plug in in place of her intro to logic class as a humanities gen-ed course. Hey, that’s good news!
But if she dropped intro to logic she wouldn’t be able to take a pair of advanced logic courses later on that she’d been desperately wanting to take since she first looked through her major. Oh, that’s bad news.
But then today she got word that the university accepted her comp class, and not only that, she got transfer credit for her entire first-year composition two-course sequence. Hey, that’s good news!
But she’d kind of been expecting/hoping that she’d get credit for the first semester, because there was room in honors comp II, but now that wasn’t an option for her anymore. Oh, that’s bad news.
But now that she could drop her comp class, honors physics I could fit into her schedule. Hey, that’s good news!
But physics is the one area of the sciences that she has absolutely no confidence in, and the thought of taking it as part of an 18-credit first-semester schedule was painfully stressful. Oh, that’s bad news.
But her mother majored in physics as an undergrad, and so can provide at the very least well-grounded empathy along the way. Hey, that’s good news!
[insert a breath here]
So her schedule now appears to be set, but it’s been a bit of a road getting there.
@dfbdfb Love it!
BTW, I know your daughter is engineering, but physics has been the biggest source of stress to D19 this summer. Would not have been a CS requirement at some schools, but since she landed in an engineering school, oh well. Hope it works out for both.
It’s really strange to think back to a year ago and all the things we were doing at the start of S’s senior year. There was so much going on with classes and his fall sport, and the college application stuff was really getting going. Now, it’s done and he’s gone and it feels weird. I keep expecting him to be here.
The move-in weekend was pretty fun but tiring. While I had picked up a lot of dorm items over the summer, S and I did have one productive trip to Ikea and he chose bedding, photos/posters, a rug etc. that coordinated (mostly gray, black, and white). I was kind of surprised that he had input about making the room homey and said he wanted to keep it clean (actually wanted a broom). Vanderbilt did a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and comfortable in a great community. I feel really good about what he will experience over the next four years and I especially loved the dorm system they have for the freshmen. They had a really nice dinner Saturday evening for all the families and students and then a farewell breakfast on Sunday followed by a parent orientation. It was a really nice weekend but it was hard to leave him.
So far, S has made a number of friends and likes his roommate. He started classes yesterday and thinks all of his professors seem good. Things are rolling along so far but I’m a bit out of sorts. Good luck to all the remaining parents/kids!
Almost our turn! S19 is 75% packed I would say. I’m doing a final load of laundry and he has to decide what he needs for the next four days and pack it separately from the rest of his things so we can get to them easier. Three Samsonite Tote a Ton bags and one rolling bag full. Probably one more Tote a Ton to fill and that’s it! His room is starting to look bare. Very eerie. I don’t like it one bit.
He’s very excited to decorate the room. Didn’t care about the bed so I picked that out but he’s got a ton of stuff to put up on the walls. 36 hours until we fly out.
I really love reading all of your move in stories! Thanks so much for sharing : )
Such an exciting time for our kids!!!
I love the move-in stories. Reminds me that I need to print some photos for S19’s room - he forgot to take them and wants them. @dfbdfb Your good news/bad news was too funny - and made me tired! @reebtoor Thanks for the book advice. S19 has been waiting on books - for what I’m not sure, the books required seem likely to be used (e.g., his Accounting workbook??) And of course, as of last night, one is out of stock.
And now…it all starts again with S21. He did a bit of SAT prep over summer (a very little bit) and does a full practice test this weekend. He has the potential to do very well with just a bit of effort.
We moved S19 into UAH last Friday - two Samsonite Tote-a-tons, two large rollers, and electronics and D&D books in our three carry ons. We also bought a lot of stuff in Huntsville. I’m glad we arrived in town Wednesday - shopping for cleaning supplies, fans, etc etc is tiring lol. We did online pickup orders for his tv and mini fridge, so that was easy at least. It was hot, but they had plenty of cold water bottles. We made it through :). I love the dorms, four single bedrooms share two bathrooms, a kitchenette, and living room. SO nice that he has his own space to retreat to.
Friday evening the Honors College had a mandatory student dinner with the Dean, so the FB parents page scheduled a get-together at a local Ale house. That was a lot of fun. Saturday AM we met him for breakfast on campus, then went back to his dorm for a bit before another event he had to go to.
Was tough leaving him, but he was ready lol. I asked, “You want us to get out of your hair?” “Yeah”. “OK” Hugs and we took off to our New Orleans road trip. THAT was a good idea… definitely helped ease the pain :). Also super happy that texting exists nowadays, and we don’t have to wait around for a letter that would probably never show lol!! There was a D&D night Sat night, which he ended up DMing at and made a few more friends, so that was good to hear. There were a ton of events all week - classes started Wednesday so he had time to get settled in. I think that’s a great way of doing it.
Still so weird to walk by his bedroom in the morning and it be empty. Grocery shopping was also really weird… empty nest, so just buying for us old people now. The bill’s better, but… you know. It’s weird.
Feels odd to read all the move-in stories when S19’s move-in day is still a month away. (They’re on the quarter system). He hasn’t finished his list of stuff yet.
@SammoJ I just got a similar text from my son about his roommate! My son arrived on campus 10 days before official move in, and has been in his dorm room/suite since Sunday. We assumed the five other suitemates were moving in tomorrow, but his actual roommate came yesterday. S19 texted me today saying his roommate is “weird” and when I asked in what way, he responded, “he played video games for four hours last night and got up earlier than me and started playing again.” The “earlier than me” part means the kid woke up before 6:30am b/c that’s when my son has to get up for practice! On the bright side, the way their room is set up, it’s a long narrow room with the closets separating in to two spaces. My son took the back space which has more privacy (you have to walk thru the front space to get to his part of the room). So when S19 is trying to sleep, he can’t see into the other part of the room. But, despite having his not exactly quiet fan on, he said he could hear the kid clicking his mouse nonstop. ?
I told him that he doesn’t have to be friends with his roommate, they just need to be able to coexist. I said hopefully once classes start, the kid will be busy. I think he might be in band or some other activity, because he wouldn’t have moved in early otherwise, so maybe that will keep him busy. And hopefully S19 will click with at least one of his other suitemates who haven’t yet arrived. In the meantime, one of his teammates lives directly across the hall so he has been hanging out in his teammate’s suite.
Fortunate S19 is pretty laid back and easy going and is friendly with kids who don’t necessarily share his interests (i.e. he has always been nice to kids at school who aren’t mainstream) so hopefully once everyone settles in, perhaps he and the roommate will interact a bit more. Or at least maybe his roommate is just gaming so much at the moment b/c there isn’t anything going on yet around campus with the bulk of kids not there yet.
Have things gotten any better for your son WRT his roommate? Hopefully they can work something out.
@4kids4us Well, I was just on the phone w S19 and all I could hear were roommate and a buddy playing video games. Classes started yesterday, son is giving it until tomorrow and then talking to roommate and the, if needed, RA.
@SammoJ So sorry to hear that your S19 is having to deal with that sort of thing! Hope the talk goes well…
I know my opinion is controversial but I hate those games. Just why? What a waste of time. Talk to people. Go to sporting events, plays, parties, the library for God’s sake. Or sit around and TALK. Or play a game or go for a hike or go out for ice cream or go lay in your hammock. I really can’t stand that parents allowed their kids to play these games way too much. Addiction is a real thing. I’m glad S19 and his roommate agree on this one. They’ve already discussed it. The roommate will bring a bigger monitor if the kids want to stream a movie but agreed that he’s not into video games either.
For those of you whose kids are having problems with this, I would have your son go to the RA for sure. This has to be something that is negotiable.
We are all ready to drop D19 off tomorrow morning. Check-in is at 11am and we have until 2pm to handle move-in, a one hour reception, and goodbyes at 4pm sharp. We’ve been in Philly enjoying the last few days at the art museum and reading terminal. It’s going to be weird driving home and leaving her behind, but I’ll be happy to have all the stuff out of the car! She has a week of a special programming and then a week long orientation, so awhile to settle in before classes start. She had a snag earlier this week when she was inexplicably placed in a remedial English class but she talked to her dean and the English chair and understands their reasoning to enough of a degree to roll with it, if only because she wanted to work with the teacher to whine she’s been assigned anyway. I don’t agree with the placement and they did agree to take it back, but she decided to see where their initial judgment takes her.
Ok, 7 days and counting for us. S19 still has yet to pack a single thing. I used an idea someone posted here and plopped a suitcase in his room and a duffle bag for his hiking stuff. Reminded him that it was very unwise to leave packing to the night before. I’m not really worried about it–more amused. With food (provided), shelter (provided), his laptop, sweats and a stack of t-shirts, he’ll survive. He’s doing hiking for orientation, so will have a warm coat, rain coat and some hiking boots with him.