Thanks @nothappyabout and @VTMom03. Clearly, I just needed to complain into the ether to help solve the problem… This morning I had a call with the guy who has been Acting in the position I’m taking over for the last year. I broached the idea to him and before I could even finish he was telling me to go and do it. So Woo Hoo! It will be a crazy period of time - I’ll start the new job Monday, head out for a 7 hour drive Thursday afternoon, be in the college town until Sunday when I’ll drive back, then the next Monday I’ll be catching a flight to another city for a week long conference for my new job. By the time everything is over, I may not know which way is up, but that’s ok. 
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First day of school today for my S25. I got up early to get him out the door for senior sunrise…. Since we live so close to DC, all the seniors drive into the city and greet the day and the start of the year at the Lincoln Memorial. I’m hopeful that this year has as much beauty and promise as this start.
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Wow! What a cool experience. Thanks for sharing the pictures. These are amazing!
That’s so cool! Definitely beats the football field where our kids have senior sunrise!
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Definitely beats the football field where our kids have senior sunrise!
The only downside is that to get there, get parked, and walk over to the steps by 6:00 his ride had to pick him up at 5:25. Which was awfully early. But hopefully the beautiful start to the day/year will be energizing and something he can remember for a long time.
@Kumihama-Cho This is my kid who both loves the city and recently has taken up photography in a big way. He didn’t bring the good camera, only the cell phone, but he sent me probably 25 photos and in each of them you can really see how much he loves DC. It was a nice little window into him.
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The last of our summer house guests have left! S#3 went back to school today! Town is so much quieter now though. We’ll have a little bump in activity this coming weekend, but then it will be back to normal. Except maybe on big foliage weekends, but that won’t even come close to the summer craziness.
S25 started orientation today. Can’t wait to hear how it went! The new school has a no cell phone policy for the whole school day, and I am so curious how that goes. He’s convinced it won’t work. I am cautiously optimistic. His senior class size at his old school? Under 20. New school? About 220. Big, big change, and he could not be more excited.
On the work front, he is not planning to work during the school year, except over the longer breaks. Just too difficult to fit in with his athletic schedule and school/college app responsibilities this year. He’s fortunate that his summer job will take him for short stretches as a seasonal employee over the holidays.
I am going to back off nagging him about working on the common app for a few weeks. I think once he meets his new college counselor that he’ll be reinvigorated on that front, and he’ll get the ball rolling again. I also think that once he gets an idea of how much his class workload is likely to increase, that will help him get a handle on how much (or frankly how little) time he’ll actually have to complete his apps. It just wasn’t bringing anything but conflict and eye rolls at this point in the summer to talk about college stuff.
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We were told by the school that any seniors applying with common app will have to use it, but they haven’t sent any further information. My S25 tried to log in to Xello, but it just said he needed the password assigned by the school, which he doesn’t have yet. School starts tomorrow so we’ll see what happens then, if they give more information.
I feel your frustration. Same situation at our home as well. S25 acts like he’s doing us a favor by working on his college essays 
He still hasn’t completed the main essay yet. But he has initiated the recommendation requests to his teachers and his counselor reports are done as well. One baby step at a time.
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This is the stage my son is in too. Was he able to link the teacher recommendations to the schools through the common app or Naviance or just asking through the school?
For those with kids starting or still working on essays, tonight’s bootcamp should be really helpful as it’s with a Lehigh admissions officer: CC Bootcamp: How to Ace Your College Essay? - Live Session w/ Lehigh Admissions Officers on Aug 27 at 7pm ET - #9 by Publisher
If you can’t make the live session, you can ask your questions now in the thread and then come back later to read the replies.
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He requested through common app.
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I’ll mildly disagree with this. I’m not sure of @OctoberKate 's industry or company culture. But I’m generally cool with new hires taking time off for family stuff (or even a preplanned vacation). Especially if it’s just a couple of days. I’d just talk to your manager and see where they’re at - I wouldn’t lead off with offering to do unpaid leave.
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S25 has done a couple of drafts of his essays, so he’s in good shape. He does share with us, and we help him edit a bit. They’re decent essays, but not very memorable… but that was the same as S23 and it turned out fine.
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Want to hear directly from Admissions Officers on what they look for in a candidate? Want to get first hand tips on how to ace your college essays and wow the Adcom? Join us TONIGHT @ 7pm ET for another CC Bootcamp session w/ Lehigh University.
Ask your questions NOW!
Conveniently, having leave time isn’t an issue. I work for the government and am transferring from one agency to another - so my accrued leave transfers with me. Since I don’t generally take much leave during the year, I have a pretty huge balance that I can access. It’s more that I just felt awkward asking to use it the first week. And the new job is a totally different place, where I don’t know anyone yet. So that’s where I was struggling - I don’t know the culture there. But I did ask, and they were willing to give me the time. It might not be QUITE the first impression I wanted to make, but life is short, and it’s the last year with my last kid, so I’m taking the time.
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I’m glad you decided to go with your son. You’re right, life is short, and honestly, after a month you’ll be the only one who remembers you took leave your first week. Good luck with the new job! 
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I was wondering, if it just made more sense for you, and the job, to simply move your start date by a week? It would allow for smoother and more productive settling in.
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Wow that’s a beautiful way to start the year!!
Worth it!
When you work for the govt and you are moving from one job to another, they greatly prefer you to move at the start of a two-week pay period. It can be done differently, but it’s harder to process all the paperwork ant the new place and a better than decent chance that something gets screwed up if you don’t go at the normal break points.
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