Hmm never looked into if Door stoppers are allowed or not. I need to check into it.
I am just worried that since he is in a single room he might get lonely if does not make friends in the rooms next to him.
5 Likes
D24 went to the Club Fair tonight, and liked several club options. Iām missing her so much! The advice-experts say that we shouldnāt tell them how sad we are, and it wouldnāt feel right burdening her with it. But Iām struggling with adjusting to this empty-nest reality. Itās good that I have a kind spouse who feels the same.
15 Likes
So nice to hear all the move in stories. Hope everyone and their DC are doing ok with the transition!
Itās been two weeks since drop off. Week one of classes done, good news is he is enjoying all of them. Hanging out with some new and old friends. he even went to the rec center and tried the stationary bikes there and hated it. I guess not the same as the scenic 30+ mi bike path he used to do here atleast once a week from spring to fall. He has to figure out what kind of bike to get and where he can ride around campus. I am still getting used to not knowing what he is up to on any given day. Hard day today as we all enjoyed some home made goodies that he would have loved. Good thing he is already booked for a trip back home for Fall break and Thanksgiving. Something to look forward to!
11 Likes
D24 called today! She had a choir audition today. Music professor told her right there on the spot that she has a guaranteed spot in the a capella choir. She is thrilled about this. She had to fill out a form where you check the boxes for what parts youāre able to sing. She checked the boxes for soprano 1, soprano 2, alto 1, and alto 2.
After the audition, Music Professor said that when most people check all of those boxes, theyāre not telling the truth. But apparently he was thrilled and shocked that she really can sing in all of those ranges. Called her a āunicorn singer.ā (Iām not a singer and know nothing about how this sort of thing works, no idea if this is a big deal or not, but apparently the professor said it is). D24 was really stoked. Sheās asked to sign up for voice lessons, which is an extra $350 fee per semester. She offered to pay for it herself. Yes, kiddo, you can. Go for it. Sheās not going to major or minor in music. This is just for fun.
Rehearsals are 3x/week and are not held at the same time as any classes (so I bet that rehearsals are in the evenings).
Kid had pizza in the dining hall for dinner. Had only 1 class today (her sci fi english class), thinks that the sci fi class is going to be easy, and has already done the reading for it for Thursdayās class.
AND she is ACTUALLY USING THE PLANNER. 
She resisted this so much during 11th grade. She even said, āI already put all of my sci fi assignments & due dates in the planner and on my phoneās calendar.ā Sweet baby Jesus, this is music to my ears. 
She & Roommate agreed to not do Facetime calls with people after a certain time at night so as to not disturb each other in case 1 of them is trying to get to sleep.
Tomorrow morning is busyā¦back to back classes all morning from 9 am to lunch time, but all 3 classes are in the same building. So thatās a plus!
17 Likes
My S24 is also one of the last ones to leave and it cannot come any faster for him. To be quite honest, I am excited for him to go and experience all the things. He has been waiting for this since he was a sophomore in high school. LOL
Also for myself, I need for him to get settled and started on a routine and in his new life. Otherwise, Iām just a big ball of anxiety from literally and figuratively holding my breath.
The good news is he is finally assigned a dorm and a room and from the photos, it is teeny tiny. So there wonāt be any decision anxiety on my part on what kinds of shelving to buy, etc. There is simply no room. I guess all hes bringing are his clothes and essentials.
13 Likes
First day of classes today, and D24 just texted that she loved both of this morningās classes! So happy that her first day is going well. Hoping she enjoys the rest of her classes as well.
22 Likes
Called our insurance co and got a pharmacy override set up for the semester for D24 since sheās out of the area for the normal mail order pharmacy we use.
4 Likes
Right, so the transatlantic drop off for S24 at University of Richmond has been accomplished! We left on the 16th to have a little bit of time to get to know the town (which we had never visited, like the College, too far and expensive from the UK) before International Orientation started on the 18th.
It was hot and a little sweaty but Richmond is a lovely city; we explored the old town in Shockoe and went on a lovely walk along the river. Great food all around, Carytown etc, even popped into Short Pump mall, which for us old Europeans is always a slightly surreal exprience.
Move in at 10am Sunday was very smooth, possibly because internationals get there early with a few other pre-programs; we offloaded the rental SUV with our stuff (S24 had 2.5 suitcases, plus a large cartload of dorm necessities pre-ordered and picked up at Target a few minutes before).
Room was fine, unlucky draw meant a smaller window but a little rearranging of the furniture worked out nicely, A/C really a blessing. (Algo-picked US roommate moved in 3 days later with a lot more stuff, but everything seems to have settled nicely and the two of them are getting along great- similar interests (especially sport-wise) and doing lots of stuff together and with floor/dorm friends.
S24 has absolutely loved his first week+, is happy with his classes, meeting people and has already gone into town a couple of times.
One thing we were impressed with is the University of Richmond campus- itās absolutely incredible. The buildings are beautiful, the greenery is abundant, nicely wild among the trees and kept perfectly manicured elsewhere. The lake is lovely. The spaces are very large, with plenty of places to relax/study. Every building is in perfect shape, great library/technology, awesome gym/pool and sports facilities.
We had a late lunch in the dining hall and it was incredibly good- massive variety, lots of fresh stuff to choose from, daily world food rotation (also accessible multiple times a day on the same swipe). Plenty of cafe choices around campus too, just using the large amount of dining dollars included in the food plan. The dessert/bakery is unbelievable, thankfully S24 is on a health drive so hopefully he wonāt gain the famous freshman pounds.
Walking away after lunch wasnāt the easiest, MumAlfaBeta held it together till the last hug, then a few tears were shed and thereās a rumour I might have dropped one or two, but seeing S24 so excited and happy made it a lot easier.
Now after a little DC/Philly road trip weāre back across the ocean and itās been okay- heās kept in contact well (upon pre-emptive multiple threats to cut his phone and funding 
) and we know heās going to love the experience and grow so much thru it.
Itās never easy, especially when they travel so far, but itās their time to shine, learn and have fun. Weāll be here- keeping a warm place to come back to and help whenever itās needed. And of course weāre missing him badly, but thatās the way it should be (though the dog is really upset, poor thing. I hope he doesnāt have a heart attack when S24 comes back at Christmasā¦).
Our best to all CC24 drop-off parents, itās hard and beautiful at the same time, like all the great things in life should be.
33 Likes
love this reflection, thank you!
12 Likes
This is kind of a cute story. When S24 got off waitlist we went back to visit during finals week and it was very quiet on campus and in admissions building. A family was there waiting for us to finish speaking to AO. I guess my son said hi to kid but he didnāt notice. When he posted on the class page, the boyās mom said this is kid that said hi to you and he reached out to apologize and say hello. They chatted a little over summer, he switched from UPenn which was good for his major so Iām curious to learn more about that. Coincidentally they ended up at same lunch spot and spouse got to meet family. I think it helped. I guess he made a comment he felt like everyone was already paired off which is objectively not true but understand how the start is an awkward time and also said at a time when he was about 4 hours in!
7 Likes
This article sums up the stress thatās parents experience
1 Like
Iāve been thinking about your post and your son for the past few days. Just a word of support - it can be a really tough transition for a lot of students, and it will be okay. My older daughter (now a rising college senior) had a rough freshman year. Lots of phone calls home, lots of our support needed. Schedule changes, finding āher people,ā sickness, worries about sickness (it was high Covid-time/anxiety), roommate mis-match - if thereās a list of typical freshman stumbling blocks, she had them all. Be patient, they adjust. Some take longer than others. By sophomore year, she figured a lot out. Iām sure your son will, too. One of my favorite mantras is āthis too shall pass.ā And one more bit of advice - you might consider shipping him an air purifier, for not only viruses and bacteria. We got one at Target (I think it was about $40) for D24, having learned the hard way with D21 who shared viruses with roommate several times.
11 Likes
S24 has been very good about updating his mom and so far it looks like school is going well. Most of his classes are large (except for calc 3, lol) but he says he really likes them as the professors still take questions and are good lecturers. So glad he is ok with the large lecture format (which is typical freshman year) as it is a big change from your typical HS class with 25 kids.
11 Likes
We successfully dropped off S24 at Bowdoin on Monday, after a bit of a vacation weekend in Maine. The arrival day was well-organized, and we seem to have been on target with the packing list - not too much stuff and we only forgot a couple of minor items. Thanks to S24ās relatively minimalist approach to dorm decorating we were able to fit all of his stuff into our regular sedan. S24ās roommates and their parents all seemed pleasant. Two of his three roommates are athletes, and it will be interesting to see how that will affect the dynamics in the room.
Neither my husband nor I found the goodbye terribly hard. We are mostly just excited about all of the adventures that await S24 now, starting with his orientation trip. I do worry a little that we will be starved for information though - S24 is not great at communicating via phone or text. We did tell him that we would not bombard him with texts or calls but that we were hoping to hear from him at least once a week. Weāll see how that goes.
One question: Has anyone successfully ordered a pet pillow for their child? I ordered one from a vendor on Etsy and it never arrived. Iād like to order another but would love a recommendation for a reliable vendor. Google turns up no shortage of options but many of the websites look a little suspect with all sorts of spelling errors, etc.
8 Likes
I ordered from an Etsy vendor and we love the pillow.
Ditto that there are many companies/vendors with many great but also many terrible reviews.
Iāll PM my Etsy vendor.
- My fault that I ordered so late, so my pillow arrived the afternoon AFTER we had left in the morning.
So weāll drive out to see her and drop off a few missing items (step stool to reach her very high bed, etc) and this pillow.
I love the pillow so much that DH questioned whether he needs to order a 2nd pillow so DD can have one.
4 Likes
Would love the name of the seller if you donāt mind sending me a pm as well.
Iād love the link too, can you please PM me? Have been thinking of ordering a pet pillow all week.
I know Iām not class of 24, but would you mind sending me the pet pillow vendor, too?
Happy to report that D24ās AP Chem score finally got posted (itās the last day to drop/add so just in the nick of time). She got the score she needed to place out of a lab science so now she has more flexibility. Hoping we never have to deal with College Board again. I have to say her public school admins were extremely helpful in getting this resolved- not something I would have necessarily expected.
17 Likes
Does anyone have kids going through the application process for clubs? Iām amazed at how involved and competitive it is (at least for certain clubs). I donāt remember it being anything like that in my day.
4 Likes