That must be a relief!
1 Like
Graduation day is done! D26 was awarded The Academic Cup, which goes to the student with the highest GPA in the class!!
She and (I guess now former) BFF are still not really talking. It’s just very weird. Just kinda dropped without much of an explanation. But she’s home and in good spirits now, she will hang with her hometown friends this summer, go on her trip to Austria in July, do some riding a couple times a week and just enjoy the summer I hope!
Right now she’s sitting next to me on the couch, pouring over the course catalog for next year:)
15 Likes
Congrats!!! Sounds like she has a wonderful summer ahead!
1 Like
We have a graduate! Off at grad night now.
16 Likes
We were in Nashville in March and at Opry Mills found a boot store - buy one get 2 free
And they are the good brands so you can spend $350 and get 3 pair. One for each of you!
Because mom needs boots too.
6 Likes
I agree with you for the most part, at least insofar as to acknowledge that one of the most significant problems with public education is America is that we have overcrowded and understaffed our middle and high schools. Even exceptional students and teachers are limited in their ability to maximize their relationship in classrooms of 30+.
I am fortunate enough to work at an institution where classes max at 16 students, and where most run around 12. We also spend about the same amount per student as the public schools.
We don’t have some of the extracurricular expenses that they provide, sports and marching band being the most obvious and expensive line items, and we are unable to provide some of the poverty and learning difference services they do, but still, the model is scalable if we actually double down on teaching.
1 Like
Ooh good tip, thank you! We’ll look for this. Although, my girls are tall and slim with long legs and can rock some boots. Me, not so much. 
1 Like
So C26 came home in tears again from grad night, BUT, this time it was tears because they had had such a good time and was sad to be leaving this behind. Apparently the old friend group that had fractured before basically regrouped and spent the night together having the best time. A few of them had also hung out after school before grad already - but this sounded like almost the whole group. So that was a good way to end the high school experience.
17 Likes
Copied from “Grown and Flown”: (I particularly like the point made in #7, but a lot of good stuff here I think)
To my soon-to-be college student:
-
You got this. I have had a front-row seat in your life, and I know with every fiber of my being that you are ready for this moment.
-
When I cry as I walk away, know those are good tears, the tears we shed when life has given us a gift. You have been a true gift.
-
Seek help when you need it. Academic, psychological, and medical. There is no shame in asking for what you need. College is a new challenge, and you might need new resources.
-
There will never be another time like the first weeks in college when everyone wants to make friends. Do not squander this opportunity to meet new people. This is an effort you will be glad you made.
-
It is okay to call us when you are sad. It’s just not okay to call us only when you are sad.
-
College is hard, add a social life, sports, and activities, and it can seem like you have very little time. But don’t give up what you love. Run, listen to music, and watch good movies. It is what keeps you sane.
-
You will be homesick. It would be a sad commentary on the last 18 years if you weren’t. Call us, and we will remind you that it will pass.
-
Better yet, go get pizza with your new friends.
-
Take one small class every semester if you can. Research confirms it will improve your college experience.
-
I am here, I will always be here.
11.Meet your professor, and if you can’t or won’t do that, get to know your TA. This, too, will improve your college experience.
-
When something you are learning excites and interests you, pay attention, you are going to college to find just that.
-
Take at least one AI/computer/data science class. It is an almost inescapable aspect of modern life. Ditto AI.
-
The only way to have good friends is to be a good friend. There is no shortcut.
-
If your siblings are some of your very best friends, everything about the rest of your life will be better. They are the longest relationship of your life. Don’t ignore them just because you left home.
-
Saving money is a habit. Start now.
-
If you treat your body badly, it will return the favor. It’s not hard. Eat healthfully, exercise often, and worship at the altar of a good night’s sleep.
-
Time management is one of the most important skills you learn in college. It is a skill you will need every day for the rest of your life.
-
But the most important thing you will learn is the ability to think critically and deeply. Intellectually, do not skate on the surface for four years. Dig deep.
-
You will never need to be able to fold a fitted sheet. Never.
-
College is not happening on your phone. As you travel the campus, look up.
-
If something seems like a bad idea sober but then later, after a few drinks, seems like a better idea, it was always a bad idea.
-
Go to things. Never will you have so many talks, performances, games, and activities right at your doorstep. Explore.
-
Study one thing you have never heard of. You are going to colleges to explore.
-
Know where the closest Urgent Care Center and Emergency Room are. When you need this information, it will be 2 am, your phone will be dead, and the Student Health Center will be closed.
-
Join. Something. Anything. But, join.
-
You will feel scared and anxious and even defeated at times. Everybody does. Everybody. How you deal with these feelings is all that matters.
-
You are at that unique moment in life where you can stretch your arms in one direction and already feel your adult life and stretch them in another and still feel your childhood. Enjoy this moment, it comes but once.
-
Over-the-counter medications are still medicine, so read the label. Or call me.
-
Do your laundry while you still have two pairs of clean underwear. Don’t back yourself into a corner.
-
Have $10 you can lay your hands on. Credit cards get denied.
-
Remember how high school seemed to go on forever. College is not like that.
-
Manners matter and always will.
-
Your grandparents have adored you and your siblings since you took your first breath. Pick up the phone and call them. Give them glimpses into your college life.
-
Your dog saw you through your childhood and will be there as we pack up the car to drive you to college. Hug him tight before you go.
8 Likes
In our case, your cat. I think she’ll miss the cat most of all.
Thanks for sharing this. I’m copy and pasting to send to daughter.
4 Likes
Yup, cats for us too. D19 has been out the house for almost 7 years now and still misses the cats…
3 Likes
I ordered this pillow from All About Vibe of one of our cats – who is really D22’s cat – when she went away, and she LOVED it.
I didn’t get one for S25 because he’s not a stuffed animal guy, and he dotes on both our cats and our dog the same. D26 loves plush, but she’s also not closer to one over the others, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do.
2 Likes
Ohh.. I’ve seen some ads for cat cushions but that looks cuter than the ones I’ve seen.
1 Like
This is such good information to have. I didn’t know allergy shots work for tree pollen. One of my kids has severe tree pollen allergies and where he goes to college is a nightmare. I’m going to look into if it’s worth starting now. I wish I’d known about this. Our allergist never said a word years ago. Just told us to start giving him Allegra or Claritin 1 month before the trees bloom. That works fine at home. It does NOT work with the pollen in his college’s state. We’ve had 2 very rough springs.
5 Likes
one of my boys had a high school experience like that. He wanted to be 3,000 miles away for college because of it. He skipped his prom, senior class trip, and all senior week activities. He was valedictorian and the new principal that year decided to make valedictorian dependent not on grades (!!) but on a set of opaque qualifications that, as far as anyone could tell, had to do with her politics and so the honor went to a classmate whose grades were nowhere near his. College thankfully been so, so much better. He’s thriving rising junior now. May your son find the same community, intellectual excitement, and relief that mine has in college. I hope June passes smoothly for him.
7 Likes
Whaaaat? They awarded valedictorian to another student, but not based on GPA?!
I am over here apoplectic on your son’s behalf.
6 Likes
I would have been livid.
Our school does not have Val/sal. They have a “principals award”, seemingly one of each gender, which appears to go to the top student/athletes. They both gave speeches. They did announce the names of all the kids who got highest academic honors = perfect 4.0 GPAs. (At 30 kids, this was around 10% of the class.)
The animal shelter a couple miles from D24/26 school totally has something called “weekend warriors” where the students can get approved to be weekend fosters- they take them home from Friday to Sunday night to give them a break from the shelter- it is an awesome program and a LOT of students participate. Many of the off campus apartment complexes are pet friendly.
4 Likes
D26 had horrible allergies to Oak and Birch pollen. It also meant she had oral allergy syndrome to stone fruits and could not eat many of her favorite fruits. After the first year of shots oral allergy had disappeared and the seasonal allergies had already greatly diminished. The full cycle for allergy shots is typically 5 years, but after year 1 she was already in a much better place.
2 Likes
And they’ve now decided to have one big final sleepover goodbye hurrah! Which we’ll host, as we usually did before, as we have an attached in-law unit/guest suite that can just about fit all of them between bed, couch & air mattresses. I’m so happy this is ending on a high note after a rough couple of weeks for C26 
11 Likes