Chiming in to say that neither S19 or S21 have used a mattress topper, despite living on campus the entire time (5 years for S19 and going on 4 for S21).
5 Likes
Last week was a whirlwind. Wednesday was Convocation/Awards. D24 received a number of academic awards. We do something nice where instead of a certificate or plaque, the teachers each select a book specifically for their student which is then stamped with the Schoolâs bookplate and the teacher writes a personal note.
Thursday was senior dinner where each advisor spends a few minutes with a personal speech of sorts about their advisee. Even though I work here Iâm always in awe of the personal details we learn and the connections that the advisors make with their charges.
Friday was graduation day. Pleasantly surprised that D24 received the senior award for the Unsung Hero - the person who quietly contributed the most to the schoolâs legacy without seeking recognition.
Spent the weekend recovering - haha. Now S21 is home for a quick week before leaving for his internship, so enjoying having him around. He is also a great help getting his sister to concentrate on some of the minutiae she has to deal with for college - setting up her student account, email, first-year seminar selections, dorm questionnaire, blah blah blah.
One nice surprise - it turns out he is going to be flying back home at the end of summer instead of straight to school, so he will be riding with us for drop-off. Williams is so close to Mount Holyoke that it makes perfect sense.
23 Likes
I love awards like this! Thatâs awesome. 
10 Likes
Back home after 3 action packed days of celebrating the class of 2024. Yesterday he hopped on a train to Manhattan for dinner with a group of friends then crashed with a pal. Today, they are off to a party in the Hamptons. He finished up strong. He actually got the highest grade on his multi-variable/differential equations cumulative final, a 98. He struggled all year but something finally clicked. On to college!
19 Likes
D24 had her fall course registration advising appointment this morning. Based on her major, they already went ahead and enrolled her in the following:
- 1st semester biology + lab. Lecture is MW, lab on Fri.
- 1st semester general chem + lab. Lecture MWF + 3 hr lab on Thurs afternoons.
- 1st year seminar - MWF. Looks like ALL of the 1st year seminar classes are at the same time (MWF 10-10:50 am).
Plus sheâs going to take an English dept class thatâs all about Science Fiction. Thatâs on Tues/Thurs. She showed me the course description. It looks like a cool class and sheâs pretty excited about it.
The french placement exam got her tested out of 1st semester of french, so thatâs great.
took The Child to get some clothes & much needed sneakers for her NYC choir trip & then trip to Europe (with my sister) so our bank account is a little smaller today compared with yesterday. 
13 Likes
Today a letter appeared in our mailbox that D24 had written in 5th grade to her future self. Our first clue that it wasnât an ordinary note was that the address extended beyond street, city, state, and zip to include the USA, North America, Earth, and Milky Way. What a treasure! So grateful to her teacher and hoping I can convince D24 to write another letter that we can open 10 years from now.
33 Likes
that sounds like she is going to get an offer to admit! Will she accept?
Yes, they offered her a spot when she spoke with them on the phone. They gave her until Friday to decide. She is currently committed at Trinity College in Hartford with substantial merit aid. Vassar offers no merit but weâll make it work.
28 Likes
D24 just received a National award for her Climate Advocacy work! I am so happy for her as she has done so much in this area. It all started simply with something to do when school shut down in 8th grade and turned into one of her major passions.
44 Likes
Yahoo! Thatâs great!!!
1 Like
Two labs - Iâm impressed! I love that sheâs diving right into it with ambition.
I sincerely canât wait to continue following our kidsâ journeys together.
4 Likes
It has been a whirlwind here too . . . I traveled for D24âs graduation from boarding school and it was absolutely wonderful! I loved being there for many special school traditions and seeing her with her wonderful friends. Two good friend who graduated last year came to see her graduate and they stayed in the hotel with me, which was a treat. My dad, who had never previously seen the campus, also came of for graduation, and that was extra special. D24 got some award that she was delighted with, and her school also gives special books selected by the teacher instead of plaques, and my D24 is so excited about her books!
S24 graduated the same day and we couldnât get back in time, but D24 was a trooper and did a great job taking a shift of the drive home so that I could be on my phone constantly with family and friends who were sending me updates on S24âs graduation. My H and his father both are former board chairs at S24âs school, so my H got to hand S his diploma and and they seated his grandfather in the front row so that S could hug him after receiving his diploma. S also won an award that was voted on my the senior class for overall contribution to the school, and won Best All Around Male, so that was a wonderful surprise!
We hosted and graduation party Monday morning and it was wonderful but, whew! We are exhausted!
S24 got registered for classes next Fall and is happy with his schedule. Both kids are working on all of their medical forms and other required documents for school. I think it is suddenly dawning on them that the school paperwork is A LOT and they maybe even appreciate that I have being doing it for them for the past 18 years!
My Dad is taking both kids on a graduation trip leaving tomorrow and I am looking forward to a quiet weekend with H.
15 Likes
What are the chances we are at the same school? (I donât think any of our seniors has a brother the same age, but who knows?) Iâm in Indiana.
What seminar did she end up choosing? There were so many fun looking options on the list you posted!
Sign ups for that is on Saturday, so will find out later this week!
2 Likes
D24 ran into a bit of a snag w/the french class. The 2nd semester French class that she needs isnât offered in the fall. Itâs only offered in the spring. So she needs to find a different class to take instead of French for the fall semester.
Figured out where to look up the schedule of classesâŠshe emailed her admissions person, who said to call the registrarâs office, but we found it on a squirrely part of the student portal.
One positive is that their search function on the schedule of classes is really easy to use. You can even have it display classes intended for 1st yr students.
1 negative is that a bunch of the open classes for freshmen are ones that D24 has zero interest in. But for her pre-PA stuff, sheâll need intro to Psych or Sociology. She figured out that both have open spots available, but Sociology is at the same time as her Science Fiction class (boo), thus leaving PsychologyâŠwhich only has spots available in the TTh 8-9:15 am time slot.
My kid â 
Me â âHey, at least itâs not MWF at 8 am.â
My kid â âNOT HELPFUL!â
Me (behind closed doors) â 
Meanwhile, she also learned that her advisor has to OK the class addition, so she had to send him an email asking him to add the psychology class. And then she said, âOH MY GOSH, I am SO SICK of having to send emails today! This sucks!â
Husband and I laughed out loud at that one. And we told her, âWelcome to adulthood, kiddo.â 
12 Likes
The last three weeks have been a whirlwind with 2 graduations (high school and associateâs), award ceremonies, performances, and family visiting. We just got back from what was supposed to be a relaxing post-graduation family getaway. I had somehow managed to avoid the NC sickness going around earlier, but the strain brought in from the heartland was apparently irresistible. Now Iâm home and can hermit for a while until I feel better.
There just so happened to be a robin nesting in the rafters of the covered deck at the place we stayed, and the eggs started hatching while we were there. It was really lovely to sit on the deck, listen to the river, and watch the process as it unfolded over the days. Also was an excuse to learn many robin related thingsâŠneeded a new subject since the brood XIX periodical cicada stuff is pretty much over, at least where I live.
D24âs former elementary school also does a senior walk, and parents are invited. She is looking forward to blinging up her cap a little for the walk since no cap decorations were allowed at graduation.
Maybe one of these days it will sink in, but I donât know when. Thereâs always more stuff to do and no time to really ponder how close we are to her flying the nest.
13 Likes
Not trying to Monday morning quarterback re: your daughterâs fall schedule but I wanted to caution on the idea of doing 2 science classes with labs first year, first semester. That can be a lot for anyoneâŠespecially first semester.
D23 is in a pre-health track (For Physical Therapy) and I have heard a lot of stories over the past year about friends of hers (also pre-health but in pre-med, Nursing and/or Pharmacy) who overloaded their 1st semester and felt overwhelmed, some who had to retake their first semester STEM classes 2nd semester. Smart kids who stumbled over the pace and volume of classwork at the college level with two science classes plus labs in addition to all their other classes.
I think your daughter wants to be a PA (iirc) and while it can seem to make a lot of sense to jump in with both feet, it might be more manageable to take Bio+lab, First Year Seminar, Science Fiction English class, Intro to Psych or Intro to Soc and another class that fulfills a GenEdâŠor even a physical ed class or choir class to keep moving/have a creative outlet.
This is a marathon not a sprint, and learning âhow to collegeâ can take up a lot more of first semester than many realize.
She can always double up her science classes 2nd semester of first year, or even wait until her 2nd year to load that schedule right up to the brim.
6 Likes
turns out sheâs supposed to have only 4 classes, not 5, this fall. So sheâs going to leave the psychology class to some time in the future.
but the 2 lab classes are definitely happening this fall and spring semester.
4 Likes
Advisor explained that reason for bio & chem this year is so thereâs time & room to take organic chem, other bio lab classes, a year of anatomy & physiology in the years after that. They usually have the pre-health students take organic chemistry during sophomore year.