High School class of 2011

[cruisnfamily]

Today's the day!

DH and I were up early with thoughts of move in swirling in our heads. Unfortunately DD has absolutely no interest in anything. It's been like this for weeks. We've been much more wrapped up in all the college stuff than she is. Hopefully that changes today and she actually gets interested in things!

We're leaving at noon after getting younger son's schedule at the high school.

 

[bethbuchall]

Today's the day!

DH and I were up early with thoughts of move in swirling in our heads. Unfortunately DD has absolutely no interest in anything. It's been like this for weeks. We've been much more wrapped up in all the college stuff than she is. Hopefully that changes today and she actually gets interested in things!

We're leaving at noon after getting younger son's schedule at the high school.

That seems to be pretty common from the people that I have talked to. There are kids that I thought would be very excited who are acting the same way. If you think back to their perspective, it is all very overwhelming, but it will all work out.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I hope everyone has a good move in day. We are having breakfast with my parents and then they will take DD and DH myself and DS are off on the move in adventure! I am excited for him and so sad too. Hopefully the day will be too busy to cry! I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that he is this old. The years were so short! ok enough of that or I will cry now! Drive safely everyone and I am looking forward to hearing your stories.

 

[HannaBelle]

I just popped in to wish everyone happy move-in day as well!!! Enjoy the day/weekend and let us all know how it goes!

I also have to say I am secretly jealous of you guys who have girls and got to do the fun shopping for the dorm room! DS could not have cared less.

I have my DD13 to look forward to in 5 years!!! Although I already told her she has to go to junior college and stay home with me.

 

[Jeafl]

Well, we dropped my son off at Valparaiso last night.

Because he is a fall athlete (cross country) he had to move in 3 days earlier than anyone else so he could attend a camp with the rest of the team before school actually starts.

So we got to the school around 6:30 last night and the place was deserted! When we got to his dorm there was one girl sitting in the lobby waiting to check him in. Believe it or not, he was the only one checking into his entire dorm last night! The RA was supposedly around somewhere, but we never saw him.

What was different about moving him in was that they had an elevator (hallelujah!). Where my older daughter went to college, she was always on the third floor with no elevator. Valpo also had a hand cart that transformed into a mini flatbed card which worked out great, I consoled myself by saying that although I was disappointed he wasn't moving in on Saturday with everyone else, chances are we wouldn't have been able to get him in as quickly if everyone else was moving in at the same time.

We got all his stuff in (which wasn't much--he didn't want much of anything) and got his room set up for him. I organized his closet (while he rolled his eyes at me) and helped him unpack and set up his desk. Since he was the first one there, he got first choice of which side of the room. He took the side with the least amount of space (because of the sink) and also took only 4 of the drawers out of the 9 there. I guess he didn't want his roommate to think he was taking more than his share of anything. I think it was nice of him to take the crappier side, but he is that kind of kid.

Since we had a long ride home, we figured we'd better leave around 9:00 pm. My heart was breaking for him because the place was so silent and lonely. I know it was just for the night, because this morning he was leaving at 9:00 am to go to the Indiana Dunes state park for a cross country camp with the rest of the team. I knew he would be meeting lots of kids today, and that being on the team would hopefully mean making some instant friends. It still broke my heart to leave him there alone. I just wish there had been someone else around to hang with last night. It was really hard for me to walk away from him.

I texted him this morning to ask how everything went, but haven't heard back from him. Hopefully that is because he is busy with the team, and I KNOW I need to give him some space. I will wait to hear from him when he is ready. I guess I just worry about him because he is the kind of kid that keeps his emotions to himself. Fortunately, he is a friendly kid and never has trouble making friends. Like all moms, I just want him to be happy there.

I guess the good news is, he and the team will be back late afternoon on Saturday, so they will be able to attend all the welcome back parties and barbecues that the school has planned for new students. Looking at his schedule, it seems that they have stuff to keep him busy all day Sunday and Monday before classes officially start on Tuesday. He is also scheduled to try and test out of Calculus 2 on Sunday afternoon. Keeping my fingers crossed for that!

I'm looking forward to hearing more of everyone's drop off stories! I've enjoyed reading them all so far!

By the way--I can hardly wait to hear from him when he finds the Cookie Monster sweater I put in the back of his closet!

 

[kbeverina]

Good luck to all the kids moving in today! My son had his first classes this morning, it seems like he moved in forever ago. We've messaged back and forth a little through facebook. He needs some of his soccer clothing/gloves because he's joining an intramural indoor team with some other guys in the dorm. I'm so happy he's going to do that, he really needs to stay active. It sounds like everything is going fine, but he doesn't give me much in the way of details. Trying to show some patience here and let him do the talking.

Chaos has ensued here!

Wow--that sounds like some happy chaos. Good for her.

My DD is off at "Jack Camp" this week. (it's a fun orientation which is pretty much about meeting people and having fun). Apparently she is having fun because she texted me and said she met a beautiful boy who is perfect for her since he's a baseball player and she LOVES baseball and baseball players! Lol!

We are moving my oldest back to Austin on Saturday and then next Saturday (27th) we are moving youngest DD into her dorm at Stephen F Austin.

The weekend after that...I don't think I'm going to leave my house!!

Haha--I love it!

Since we had a long ride home, we figured we'd better leave around 9:00 pm. My heart was breaking for him because the place was so silent and lonely. I know it was just for the night, because this morning he was leaving at 9:00 am to go to the Indiana Dunes state park for a cross country camp with the rest of the team. I knew he would be meeting lots of kids today, and that being on the team would hopefully mean making some instant friends. It still broke my heart to leave him there alone. I just wish there had been someone else around to hang with last night. It was really hard for me to walk away from him.

I texted him this morning to ask how everything went, but haven't heard back from him. Hopefully that is because he is busy with the team, and I KNOW I need to give him some space. I will wait to hear from him when he is ready. I guess I just worry about him because he is the kind of kid that keeps his emotions to himself. Fortunately, he is a friendly kid and never has trouble making friends. Like all moms, I just want him to be happy there.

I understand this so much more this week than I did at this time last week.

By the way--I can hardly wait to hear from him when he finds the Cookie Monster sweater I put in the back of his closet!

It's hard to believe the kid who got the Cookie Monster sweater is off to college!

 

[NCPirate]

We had to take my DD a week early for band camp. I was so worried about her being lonely in her dorm, but she has been fine. She got lost trying to find the practice field the first night, but managed to ask for directions.

Her side of the room is almost totally decorated with Toy Story! Including comforter and pillows! Her roommate better be a Disney fan.

I have cried more since I got home this week. It's from happiness though. She just texted to let me know that she had made it into the smaller, pre game pep band. They're the ones that do the funky dances and march around the stadium for the tailgaters and pep rallies. There are very few freshmen in that group.

I mailed her a card with a giftcard to Target but she told me that she hadn't even bothered to check her mail bc she was too tired!

 

[minkydog]

Today's the day!

DH and I were up early with thoughts of move in swirling in our heads. Unfortunately DD has absolutely no interest in anything. It's been like this for weeks. We've been much more wrapped up in all the college stuff than she is. Hopefully that changes today and she actually gets interested in things!

We're leaving at noon after getting younger son's schedule at the high school.

My DD18 was the same way. She waited until the very last hours to start packing, like 8pm the night before we left. And she was SO irritable! I figured she was just anxious about leaving her friends and starting something new. We just gave her some space and I tried very hard to resist the urge to pack for her. She eventuallly got it done and we got her irritable self off to college. Once she got unpacked, she totally changed. We've heard from her several times in the last week and she sounds like she's getting along great.

Best of luck to you. Try not to let it drive you crazy.

 

[Anne34]

We just dropped my DD18 off at Iowa State yesterday. It was a long ride (5 1/2 hours). We left at 6am -- got there & helped set up her loft bed and start to organize. We took her out for a late lunch and by then her roommate had shown up. We moved things around a bit & she started to organize. We left by 4pm and were home around 9:15pm. It is a bit surreal now -- doesn't seem like she's gone (More like we dropped her at camp for a week or something) I know it will hit me later.

They have destination Iowa state for the freshmen for the next couple days and she will be busy. The other students move in Saturday and classes start on Monday.

 

[Jeafl]

We just dropped my DD18 off at Iowa State yesterday. It was a long ride (5 1/2 hours). We left at 6am -- got there & helped set up her loft bed and start to organize. We took her out for a late lunch and by then her roommate had shown up. We moved things around a bit & she started to organize. We left by 4pm and were home around 9:15pm. It is a bit surreal now -- doesn't seem like she's gone (More like we dropped her at camp for a week or something) I know it will hit me later.

They have destination Iowa state for the freshmen for the next couple days and she will be busy. The other students move in Saturday and classes start on Monday.

Iowa State is a great school! My son's best friend is starting there this year too and he left yesterday as well. He is a great kid--tall, smart, good looking, very athletic, respectful and has a wonderful family. Maybe your daughter will meet him on campus...

Best of luck to your daughter!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

We had a good day yesterday at drop off. So many friendly helpful upperclassmen were there helping move boxes and just introducing themselves. Everyone came up shook hands and welcomed DS and us.

His room is big and they have it pretty well set up. We stayed until he had all his books and parking pass then left him to go to dinner with his roommates. It felt like we were dropping him off for camp - and that we way overpacked! He seemed ready for us to go but looked a little scared. I would be too as he didn't know one other person on campus.

I did get a text from him later saying he had met some people in his major (neither of his roommates are) and that they were going to Walmart later. I hope Walmart was open all night as it was 11 when he text-ed. So I am taking that as a good sign he was not alone!

Today I will go back for the orientation meeting and the parent meeting. He said I might not even see him so again I am taking that as a good sign.

Last night I woke up a couple times thinking he was out way past his curfew, then thinking - did he say he was spending the night somewhere, then remembering oh yes he moved out! So weird!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Well we dropped DD off yesterday and it all went pretty smoothly with no crying by anyone.

We drove down in 2 cars, DD and DH in DD's car (which will stay with her on campus) and then DS and I in my car. DD's car was packed to the brim with a small amount of spillover in my trunk. We were trying to see if it would all fit in her car and with a little more effort it probably would have but it didn't quite all get in there yesterday.

So we arrived at 1:30 and move in time wasn't until 3. We went over to the bookstore and picked up her books which we had pre ordered and paid for online. That was done in a flash, no line, 2 mins to get the books, and out of there! I really thought it would be a much bigger pain but it was so quick and easy!

Headed back to the dorms and tried to check in...too early at 2:20 to check in. Started hauling our stuff over in preparation for 3pm. They had us parked in the parking lot and parking garage and it was waaayyy far away from the dorms. Literally, probably 3/4 of a mile. We had to haul everything by hand. They did have lots of clubs and upperclassman helping move stuff but it was luck of the draw if they happened upon you in the garage as you were unloading or not. We were not fortunate enough to have any helpers. Luckily we had bought a hand truck at Sam's and that came in VERY handy and in about 2 sweaty achy overburdened trips with the 4 of us, we had all her stuff there and she was able to check in and unpack.

Unpacking took until 5 with almost everything finding a home and the room was in great shape when we decided to break for dinner. The 2 roommates were there and we chatted with them but they were still working so we left for dinner. A hs friend of DD's who had moved in earlier in the day came to dinner with us and after dinner we said goodbye in the restaurant parking lot and the girls headed back to school and we headed home. No tears, all is well.

DD has called and texted about random things ever since and I feel like we've talked to her more since we left her than we did when she lived here. We'll see how the next few days go.

 

[HannaBelle]

Literally, probably 3/4 of a mile. We had to haul everything by hand.

Wholly cow! What was the weather like? Hopefully not toooo hot!

DS is finishing up his week of freshman orientation, has finalized his classes and purchased all of his books. I have a list of items he would like me to ship to him and hopefully I will get a package out this weekend.

What do you all thinking about renting text books? I have not heard of this and could not advise DS either way. Any thoughts? It looked like he could only save about 30%, but then you do not get the buy back money. I think he rented some and bought some used. We will see how it goes!

 

[Jeafl]

Wholly cow! What was the weather like? Hopefully not toooo hot!

DS is finishing up his week of freshman orientation, has finalized his classes and purchased all of his books. I have a list of items he would like me to ship to him and hopefully I will get a package out this weekend.

What do you all thinking about renting text books? I have not heard of this and could not advise DS either way. Any thoughts? It looked like he could only save about 30%, but then you do not get the buy back money. I think he rented some and bought some used. We will see how it goes!

My son did a little of everything. He bought some online through half.com, bought one or two new since the class required a brand new edition and it was not available anywhere else since it was written by his professor, and rented a couple that he had no reason to ever want to keep. All in all he saved a little money on the deal.

The whole buy back thing never really worked out for my daughter the past few years. They either came out with a new edition and wouldn't buy them back, or she bought them for $130 new and was given something like $25 when she sold them back. I don't think it was worth it in the long run.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Wow, everyone is moving in already... we are still 2 weeks away from dropping off DS. Sept 1 is the big day!
We're still shopping for his needs...I haven't picked up any shampoo or soap yet and I need to get to Radio Shack for a coaxial cable or his tv will just be another coat rack.

I'm starting to get nervous about missing him after he goes, and about the possibility that he will miss us, and get a little bit homesick.
Keep me updated on how the first weeks are going and how you all are getting through it.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Wholly cow! What was the weather like? Hopefully not toooo hot!

The weather was very hot, we're in south Fl and moved her into FGCU. We were wishing we brought extra shirts for going to eat in. Maybe I exaggerated and it's closer to 1/2 a mile....but it was really, really far. Couldn't believe they didn't let us toss the stuff out of the cars out front of the dorm and then move the cars. There must be a better way!

But it did all work out fine and we're all kinda sore today from the lifting.

DS is finishing up his week of freshman orientation, has finalized his classes and purchased all of his books. I have a list of items he would like me to ship to him and hopefully I will get a package out this weekend.

What do you all thinking about renting text books? I have not heard of this and could not advise DS either way. Any thoughts? It looked like he could only save about 30%, but then you do not get the buy back money. I think he rented some and bought some used. We will see how it goes!

We have a choice of new, used or rental at DD's bookstore and we did a combo of all 3. Would have rented them all had they been available as that was the cheapest way to go by far. And you're still allowed to highlight in them, etc. And all her books look like new books although some are used adn some are rental. Guess we lucked out. An example of pricing on one book was $70 new, $50 used, $30 rental. I'd do them all the cheapest way possible.

 

[Anne34]

Iowa State is a great school! My son's best friend is starting there this year too and he left yesterday as well. He is a great kid--tall, smart, good looking, very athletic, respectful and has a wonderful family. Maybe your daughter will meet him on campus...

Best of luck to your daughter!

Thanks! I've only gotten one text and a quick call today to tell me she's still alive. but she's met lots of guys already -- one of the joys of a girl going into engineering!!

 

[disykat]

Wow, everyone is moving in already... we are still 2 weeks away from dropping off DS. Sept 1 is the big day!

Our drop of day is Sept. 23rd!

 

[johnsontrio]

Wholly cow! What was the weather like? Hopefully not toooo hot!

DS is finishing up his week of freshman orientation, has finalized his classes and purchased all of his books. I have a list of items he would like me to ship to him and hopefully I will get a package out this weekend.

What do you all thinking about renting text books? I have not heard of this and could not advise DS either way. Any thoughts? It looked like he could only save about 30%, but then you do not get the buy back money. I think he rented some and bought some used. We will see how it goes!

We rented her chem and nutrition book from textbookstop.com for $127 with a coupon code I found on the internet. Chegg was a little bit more. Buying just one of them would have been $160. I still have to buy the access code for the chem book which is another $31. The problem I have with buying books you don't intend to keep is that they may not buy them back. The books she needs to keep, like her anatomy and physiology books, we are buying new. For the books we don't need to keep, but aren't available as rentals, I will probably buy them on the net used. She has 2 classes that don't have faculty assigned yet so no book selections. The bookstore said they will probably have books designated by Labor Day and class starts the next day.

 

[Jeafl]

Thanks! I've only gotten one text and a quick call today to tell me she's still alive. but she's met lots of guys already -- one of the joys of a girl going into engineering!!

That is definitely a perk of being in engineering! The girls tend to be outnumbered a little. Ironically, my son and his friend at Iowa State are both engineering majors as well.

My son is going into Electrical Enginering. Wha kind is your daughter going into?