<p>I have to have a major medical procedure early in the summer, which will involve significant physical therapy and rehabilitation. Recovery will take between six and twelve weeks. Here’s the problem. S2, a rising senior, will need to stick around to help me – drive me to appointments etc. We don’t have any family in the area, and H can’t take more than a week or so off work. S2 is wonderful – helpful, kind and compassionate, and I couldn’t ask for a better helper. But it does mean that he won’t be able to do much else over the summer – no job or significant volunteer work. Any thoughts on how to present the situation in his applications? I joked that he could list it as providing care to an elderly relative, but I’m not that old!</p>
<p>in addition to explaining he helped you ( sounds like you have a fab s) maybe he can explore someting online, in an area he is intereted in. What does he like to do?</p>
<p>What about an evening job, like bagging groceries, scooping ice cream, or other retail work? How about waiting tables? That pays well. (That’s if H will be home in the evenings to give you a hand.) The supermarkets by me are alweays looking for help. Most are open until ten or eleven.</p>
<p>Hope your medical issues are worked out successfully.</p>
<p>Since many hours of his day won’t be used up, he can do something independent. Is there a subject he would like to study? Would he enjoy writing a series of short stories with some common thread? Would he want to research some topic and maybe present his findings at a local library? Would he be interested in learning the violin? Would he like to learn how to cook well? If allowed, would he be interested in renovating (painting, moving things around, etc.) some room in the house?</p>
<p>More than anything, this will allow you two to bond and spend time together. Once you are well enough, you could work on some kind of project with him. Not only would it be rewarding for both of you, but if done well it could probably make a pretty good college admissions essay. </p>
<p>You’ll want to look at each application separately when deciding what to say. Some ask what you did during the summer, in which case he can write that he was helping his mother while she recovered from surgery. In other applications, it may not be necessary to say anything at all. </p>
<p>I hope that your procedure is more than successful, SJMom.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the comments. He’s really creative in filling his time, and does have a one week camp in August. It’s just that he had hoped to volunteer in a research lab, and I feel terrible about the way this is working out. The evening job is a possibility, but it depends on H’s travel schedule. The timing is never right for this kind of thing, but somehow life has a way of derailing plans!</p>
<p>I agree with corranged post- but if he was going to volunteer in a lab- is it possible that he could still do part of that?
Volunteer work is often more flexible than if they were actually going to pay you ;)</p>
<p>There’s a space on college applications for additional information. That would be a good place for your son to explain, just in a few sentences, how he spent the summer between his junior and senior years. I don’t think he has anything to worry about in terms of college applications. He has nothing whatsoever to apologize for. Spending the summer helping out a family member who is recovering from a medical procedure is a perfectly acceptable way for a young adult to spend his time. I think it’s impressive that a 16- or 17-year-old is mature enough to do this.</p>
<p>If your son thinks that he will be bored, there are lots of interesting suggestions in this thread about how he might be able to spend some of his free time. He could also get started on his college applications! However, I don’t think it would be a good idea for him to make any kind of commitment where it would look bad if he couldn’t fulfill the commitment (such as a distance learning college course). You and he can’t really anticipate yet how much time his family responsibilities will take. Remember that he won’t just be helping you out – he’s probably also going to be taking on some of your usual responsibilities that you will be unable to perform. And because those tasks are unfamiliar, they’re going to take him longer than they take you. He may be a very busy guy.</p>
<p>I broke my leg in an unfortunately complicated way back in December and was unable to do much for a couple of months. It was absolutely wonderful when my son came home from college for his Christmas break. He was wonderful about running errands and driving his sister everywhere. He transformed himself into “Mr. Mom” for those weeks. I think young guys can be good at this sort of thing, and it’s good for them, too, to understand that they are able to take on real responsibilities and help out their families in ways that truly matter. Besides, it usually involves a lot of driving, and young guys love to drive!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, Marian and EmeraldKity. I think that we really don’t know yet how this will play out, so I hesitate to encourage him to line something up if I need him at home. It’s really a timing issue – he’ll be away during the first week of August, when I hope to be able to manage things on my own. But school will start too soon thereafter for him to make any big committments. Aargh! </p>
<p>On the other hand, I agree that young guys like to be treated like adults, and I think he’ll enjoy his new responsibilities. He likes to be needed, I guess. I’ve read the threads involving broken legs with interest – so many have shared their experiences that I will benefit from them. The good thing is that this is a fixable problem, so I just have to get it fixed. As I’m sure you can imagine, there are any number of ways I’d rather spend my summer!!!</p>