Heard from The Child today. She went to a meeting last week with the pre-health advisors, with the meeting being focused on rising sophomores. She got a lot of helpful info about it. 
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New regular call with S24 has been a pleasure. This last time, he was sounding way more interested in actually becoming a doctor than I have ever heard before. I still think he may identify something else he prefers at some point. But it appears between his pre-req classes going well so far, and him actually being OK with what he is learning in the pre-health advisory process, it has become a quite serious possibility in his own mind.
I still want to make him watch The Pitt, though, just to be sure . . . .
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D24 called. Roommate might be coming to visit some time around D24ās birthday this summer. Roommate is trying to make travel arrangements for that.
There was a āJan Term fairā at the student union today. D24 went to it. They sign up for Jan Term in 2 weeks. She doesnāt know yet what sheās going to select. Iām still pushing her to sign up for āIntro to Genetics Research.ā Please dear baby Jesus, donāt let her sign up for something useless. 
Fall registration is next week.
She said that during the last concert of their 4-day choir concert, she āmade a grown man cry.ā āActually, I made a few grown men cry.ā Sheās in the a capella choir, which is pretty big. And sheās in this smaller 6-person a capella group also, which also performed during these concerts. Apparently when they all had an intermission, the choir went to a back room āand this guy whoās a junior, so, you know, heāsā¦like 20ā¦said that he was basically sobbing during this one song that our group was singing. And then all these other people in the choir said they were crying, too. Soā¦yeah. Choir_Guyās_Name is great. I like him a lot. Heās a great guy. Andā¦you knowā¦a lot of guys donāt ever show their emotions out in public like that, especially him. He usually keeps it together. It was pretty great. But it was good that I couldnāt see him or anybody else who was crying because then I would have started to cry.ā
And imagine my kid saying all of that super rapid fire style in a nanosecond. 
Hey, Iām thrilled that sheās found her people. I was really hoping that this would be a way for her to let off some steam and get connected and it sounds like that is totally what has happened. 
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@NiceUnparticularMan The Pitt is the most realistic med show that has ever been on. There are a couple of mistakes and glitches but not enough to be annoying like other med shows. It is so realistic it is almost hard to watch after a day in the trenches in medicine, but I love it!
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We just watched the season finale. Its bleakness and stoic ethic are really comforting right now!
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Mel being available for her sister after that shift kinda broke me, like I am getting weepy right now thinking about it. Special show.
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I was going to say the exact same thing!
Weāre taking D24 and her friends to Dim Sum tomorrow.
Here so D26 can check out the campus; she goes on her official tour Monday.
On Tuesday, D24 is taking D26 to some of her classes and introducing her to professors and the head of the history dept?
Spouse is having lunch with the relationship director of the university who covers our region.
Im not involved (and they dont need me there) since Iāll be at business meetings.
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Argh. D24 went out for poke with a large group for a good friendās birthday last night. What I always fear from poke happened: she got food poisoning. Sheās recovering slowly after a night being taken care of by a friend. She has a really severe dehydration headache, but yet another friend is bringing her some Powerade from the dining hall. She was able to keep down a bagel this morning, and she has no fever, so she should be okay in the long run. She says it feels like sheās ādone a million crunches,ā though. Poor thing!
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That SUCKS! 
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I am relieved to report that D24 has officially decided to not get a gas-powered scooter 
. My scooter loving husband is sad about this. Think he was hoping for a scooter buddy. D24 said sheās going to get a bike instead. The local hospital is a 30 min bike ride from campus so she could bike there to volunteer next school year.
So Iām scoping out bicycles for her. She wants something with a more comfortable seat than she has at home. I also found a cool looking helmet that has a red LED light that magnetically attaches to the helmet.
We will get her one of those kryptonite locks for it. Thereās hardly any bike theft or theft of any kind on her campus, but better safe than sorry.
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H and I are getting to ready to go on a vacation! This is our first trip not involving college tours/move-in/parentsā weekend, etc. in over 2 years, so we are very excited! We are heading to the Willamette Valley to basically relax, eat well, and taste lots of wine. I canāt wait!
Hard to believe that it is almost time for the kids to come home at the end of their first year! S24 will be at home, and has a job lined up, but he is really sad that the year is coming to a close and he is really going to miss school and his friends. I love that for him! I was more anxious about his choice because he chose a big school, but it really has been a great experience. Looking like he will finish the semester strong, too.
D24 will spend a least a few weeks with us, then off to DC for her internship, which is really exciting! She and friends have found affordable housing through their alumn network. She is overloaded with end of semester projects and studying, but all is well
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So S24ās original summer plan seems to have fallen apart, and we are in a bit of a scramble to find alternatives. But meanwhile his club team did very well (as expected) in the sectional round of the playoffs, which meant he personally got to play a lot, which is awesome.
Unfortunately none of that was streamed, and frankly, I am deeply disappointed by the lack of decent social media. Can none of these kids bother to do updates and provide a photo or two? Or have they just hidden it all on that secret part of the Internet you can only find if you were born after Y2K?
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Because so many of you recommended that new TV show The Pitt as pretty realistic and also great TV, I decided to watch it! 
OMG. I canāt turn it offā¦I want to turn it off. 
Andā¦Iām no longer under my long-standing Greyās Anatomy / New Yorker āAnnals of Medicineā article-fueled fantasy/delusion that, decades ago, maybe I should have gone to med school b/c very fascinating + McSteamy in scrubs. Nope nope nope. Iām even more in awe of your amazing kids who are considering this path. Thanks for the great rec. I don;'t know if I would have made the time to watch this otherwise.
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Itās funny, you say āThe Childā like we do too.
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Weāre a big Star Wars family, so itās a reference toā¦
Like, when I see each of my kids, even though theyāre big now, emotionally I feel the same as when I saw Baby Yoda on screen. 
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D24 finally registered for fall classes. Her schedule looks intense, both in rigor and timing of courses. Sheās not going to love that Friday 8am chem lab, thatās for sure. Organic chem, physics II, mv calcā¦I would guess next semester will be the one that determines whether she stays in the major or not.
She also finalized off-campus housing for next year, so thatās a relief.
Attended her boyfriendās fraternity formal last weekend and had a good time.
Weāre heading up this weekend for a visit and mostly to bring home a carload of her stuff (we will be daring mother nature by bringing home her winter gear). Classes end 4/28 and sheās done by 5/7. That sure went by fast.
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Ha! We had S24 bring his parka home for spring break and last week they had 5 inches of snow! Hopefully it is safe now!
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I donāt know all the details, but apparently there is some scheduling issue which means S24 might need to take Physics this upcoming year instead of Orgo (good thing we did not pay a deposit on any of those summer Physics classes he had considered). My understanding is this may have a domino effect where he ends up basically having to take a glide year if he wants to apply to med school (because you apparently want to do Biochem before the MCAT and need to do Orgo before Biochem so if Orgo is junior year then the MCAT is senior year and you are not applying to med schools until after graduating).
At this point, though, he has at least two other independent reasons to do that anyway (making room for study abroad and also being able to keep doing both his club sports). So I am all for that just being the plan if he does end up wanting to apply to med school.
Now, a cynical person might say I had an ulterior motive in that if we somehow got him back home for one more year after college, we would love that. Shame on you for thinking I would be so manipulative as to encourage that, though . . . .
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I think the average person takes 2-3 years between college and medical school. Most work as scribes, etc. I am sure taking a class during that time is often done. Wont put him behind at all.
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