Impressive!
Twin 1 is loving his job as a Student Ambassador in the College of Engineering!! Heās been approved to officially give tours now and led his second one to prospective students yesterday. They saw some Department Heads and other āhigher upsā while on tour and Twin 1 introduced the people in his tour group. He works like 10-12 hours during the week (4 days a week) and then sometimes has events on the weekend, like tomorrow, on a Saturday, they are hosting a STEM event for girls so heāll have 8 hours more of work. The pay is good tooā¦heās getting $13.75/hr! Heās always been really good with saving his money and sensible spending habits so heās building up quite the nest egg!
Twin 2ā¦sheesh! Heās living his best Austin life lol. No luck finding a job yet so heās blowing through his money he had saved up working all summerā¦.I told him when itās gone itās gone lolā¦Iām not supplementing his socializing and off campus shenanigans 
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Same! Sighā¦.
What is a note taker? Does she take notes for other students to use?
Yes, itās through the schoolās Student Accessibility Services. I assume itās for students with disabilities or maybe if a student is out short term for a medical reason. Sheāll need to upload her notes within 24 hours of each class. It really shouldnāt be much, if any, extra work for her. Her ninth-grade social studies teacher required the students to take Cornell notes, so since then, sheās taken very detailed class notes.
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He is officially a frat boy. Nobody in my family is surprised.
He needs to start working out there cause Iām not financing foolishness.
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Now adding, he is pledge class president of his frat. Goodness gracious.
But says he is not allowed to miss any classes and has to keep his grades up. So there is hopefully a positive. He said his brain is fried from having to memorize all the new people though.
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Help with D25 (copied from that grad class board)
Kid is still totally undecided on campus type she is interested in. Solid B student not looking for hard core competitive academics. She identifies as Christian so she is much more open to religion classes than I would be. Diversity is important to her but havenāt decided what percentage that is yet. Thinking criminal justice/social work kinda majors with options to dance (but not a dance team). Continue to adjust the list.
Thoughts on campus vibe?
Rider
Dean
Shenandoah
Lindenwood
Moravian
Sacred He art
Hendrix
Catholic University of America
My mom went to Dean when it was a junior college. Graduated in 1966 
Loved it. Iāve been to the campus, Franklin is adorable and the campus is right in town.
Catholic University is very conservative Catholic according to the Catholic high school gossip mill.
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I live about 15 minutes from Dean. I would say the campus doesnāt have a vibe. 
There are a couple of interesting spots in Franklin, but I think it would be a terrible place to be a college student especially from OOS. I donāt know the stats but my guess is that most students are commuters.
I have not toured Shenandoah, but Winchester is quaint .
Does Drew in NJ offer what she wants? If you are looking at Rider you might consider Drew.
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We went to visit my D23 this last weekend and weāre able to see her do a couple of play reading performances, which was great. We had a good time over the weekend and she was feeling fine. However, she had a swollen lymph node on her neck that was very noticeable. She had no other symptoms of illness so, knowing that Mondays are her busy days, I encouraged her to make some time to go to Health Services on Tues or Wed to have them check it out.
However, Monday morning she noticed that her throat was hurting so she decided to go ahead on over. They found a second swollen node behind her ear and they tested her for Strep and COVID which were both negative. They had her come back later that day to do a blood test. She just heard back this morning that she has Mono.
Sheās very concerned about her classes. Sheās a dance minor and is taking 3 movement classes this semester. However, Mono can cause an enlarged spleen which can be risky with some activities. I know the health center told her no dance at all while they were waiting for results but now that they have them Iām not sure whatās been decided. She did say that they would re-evaluate a month after symptoms began which will be right after spring break for her.
Fortunately the course withdrawal deadline isnāt until the end of March. It is possible that sheāll need to withdraw from her one straight dance class, and while that will be disappointing, it wonāt put her off track really. However, her other two classes are specific academic classes that are required for her programs but include some movement-based activities. Sheās hoping to stay in those, as withdrawing from those would definitely put her behind.
I feel so bad for her - physically she is doing OK. She still has the swollen nodes and the sore throat, plus sheās starting to feel the fatigue too. Iāll be picking her up for spring break at the end of next week so hopefully sheāll be ok until then. Itās so hard to be so far away but Iām also proud that sheās managing all of this herself pretty well so far - appointments, emails to her teachers, etcā¦
Iām wondering if anyone who has dealt with something like this (or even if you havenāt) has any advice to share?
Mono is going through our local University as well.
I had it in my youth and the fatigue was so rough. It took me nearly a year to be fully back to my normal self.
My older Dās teammate had it and she wasnāt allowed to play because of the spleen thing. I canāt remember how long she was out.
Sending hugs to your D and hopefully she can recover quickly.
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I had mono when I was high school age, and I ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery because my spleen did rupture. However, I had already been very ill (basically in bed for over a month). I would hope that if they are monitoring her symptoms, they would be able to keep an eye on whether her spleen is becoming very enlarged and fragile, so that she can calibrate her risk accordingly? I did not have good doctor care at that time, so I had no idea of the risk that I was in.
Sorry she is feeling the fatigue and other symptoms. I remember it was awful. Hope she feels better soon.
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Iām so sorry your daughter is experiencing this; itās hard to parent from afar. Itās helpful she has break coming up! My oldest had mono her senior year in college (last year) and contracted it shortly before winter break. She came home and literally slept for almost a week straight, and after that, she felt almost back to normal. That week of sleeping, laying in bed, eating well/hydrating (all things we can support at home) did wonders! Hope your daughter has a similar experience!
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My daughter was diagnosed with mono the day before she went to college for orientation. She was sick for about a month, but did stay on campus and went to class. Sheād go to class, then go to her room to nap. She also had strep, so a double whammy. Her spleen never enlarged, and she didnāt have any complications.
This is from Up to Date which gives good summaries of medical conditions.
"People with mono, who develop an enlarged spleen are at risk of splenic rupture until the spleen returns to normal size. This can take a few weeks or longer. Although you can return to school or work when you are feeling better, itās important to avoid activities that can cause injury to the spleen.
Experts generally recommend that athletes not participate in contact or vigorous sport activities for at least the first three to four weeks of the illness. Your health care provider should determine when it is safe for you to participate in strenuous activities or contact sports.
When you begin participating in sports activities again, we recommend starting slowly, increasing activity gradually. Even highly trained athletes may not feel as fit after mono as before the illness."
She should have her spleen monitored for any enlargement before participating in her strenuous activities.
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Mono is more concerning for contact sports and if she is dancing correctly she should be fine.
My oldest had mono end of last year. The fatigue is real. All I can recommend is lots of rest when she can!
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Ugg. Mono is the worst. Iām so sorry your kiddo is going through this. I have known kids who take months to feel better. Hopefully in 2026 there will be a vaccine (fingers crossed). NIH launches clinical trial of Epstein-Barr virus vaccine | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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