Parents of College Freshman who are now Sophomores... UpDate 7/28/09

[Green Tea]

Another curiosity question:

How many of your kids have declared majors?

My DS is very up in the air and firmly undecided! He is contemplating secondary education or Physical Therapy

NO! Liberal Arts He will declare by the end of sophomore year. He thinks he knows, but I am happy he will experience a number of different departments. He might fall in love with something he has never been exposed to before.

 

[mamacatnv]

Truthfully I didn't even realize it was a dry campus until I went to the open house. Not sure my son knew either but this school was his one and only choice. He's going to Johnson and Wales in Providence RI. He is studying culinary arts and they are required to wear their chefs uniforms not only to all the kitchen labs but also all academic classes. For the career he wants this is one of the best in the country so he is willing to do whatever. Wearing a uniform does make it a whole lot easier!

Sounds exciting for your DS!
Okay, don't mean for this to sound stupid, but here goes. Is culinary arts a 4 year degree? I always think of Duff from Ace of Cakes with his opening line "After I graduated from Culinary School".......I didn't know if it was a degree (BA/BS) or some sort of certificate, but then you mention kitchen labs and academic classes.

 

[madge]

:"Mom, will I be getting a supply list" Yes, son, college has an urgent need for Kleenex, just like every other school you have attended

having just gone over my DD's supply list for first grade ... that made me literally LOL.

yes. I have a college freshman AND a first grader. (and one in between) I've still got a lot of parenting to go ....

 

[madge]

NO! Liberal Arts He will declare by the end of sophomore year. He thinks he knows, but I am happy he will experience a number of different departments. He might fall in love with something he has never been exposed to before.

that's where DS is at this point.

 

[phorsenuf]

Sounds exciting for your DS!
Okay, don't mean for this to sound stupid, but here goes. Is culinary arts a 4 year degree? I always think of Duff from Ace of Cakes with his opening line "After I graduated from Culinary School".......I didn't know if it was a degree (BA/BS) or some sort of certificate, but then you mention kitchen labs and academic classes.

His is a 4 year degree. He runs on trimesters. 2 trimesters of nothing but kitchen labs and 1 trimester of all his academic classes.
For his labs he has one class 9 days, 6 hours a week. So that might be just learning stocks and sauces. Another lab is butchering, another lab is learning wines and wine tasting. So on and so forth. They also only attend school 4 days a week. They encourage the kids to work in their field and since weekends are the busiest in the industry they don't have classes on Fridays. Its very career tailored. One of their classes is bar tending. Each student has their own bar setup. For their final they shut off the lights, pump up the music, turn on the disco ball. The instructor comes up to the students bar and says "I want this drink and this drink (and so on) and you have 5 minutes to make them." Pass or fail. Tough, but effective.

 

[mouseclick1]

NO! Liberal Arts He will declare by the end of sophomore year. He thinks he knows, but I am happy he will experience a number of different departments. He might fall in love with something he has never been exposed to before.

Same here.

 

[luvflorida]

Will he make friends and not be lonely?

This is my biggest worry. My daughter is pretty quiet and not the kind to jump right into a situation. She can be sensitive and wears her emotions on her sleeve. I want so much for this to be a good experience for her.

She is on the young side (turns 18 in late August) and I know she is not as independent as a lot of kids that are going off to college. However, I know if she meets kids with similar interests and personalities, she'll probably do just fine.

It helps knowing that her dorm room is in the residence hall that was her first choice. Her room is located on the floor for students in the fine arts program. I really think this will help her to make friends with similar interests. Then hopefully, it'll be easier to branch out more after she's more comfortable at school.

 

[luvflorida]

Okay, I have an item that I think every student should have in their dorm room, apartment, or wherever they're housed.

It is a small nightlight/flashlight unit. The one I bought is by Sylvania and is approximately 5 inches long. When it's plugged into an outlet, it automatically recharges itself, and it has a sensor that detects when the room is dark enough for the nightlight to come on. The top half of the unit is the nightlight and the bottom half is a flashlight. I like the fact that, in the event of a power failure, it would be easy for the student to have a fully charged nightlight or flashlight readily handy.

I know it's not the first thing on every student's wish list rotfl: ), but it's something that I think is extremely useful to have. I have one in our kitchen, and I have one all packed and ready to send to college with my daughter.

 

[mamacatnv]

Okay, I have an item that I think every student should have in their dorm room, apartment, or wherever they're housed.

It is a small nightlight/flashlight unit. The one I bought is by Sylvania and is approximately 5 inches long. When it's plugged into an outlet, it automatically recharges itself, and it has a sensor that detects when the room is dark enough for the nightlight to come on. The top half of the unit is the nightlight and the bottom half is a flashlight. I like the fact that, in the event of a power failure, it would be easy for the student to have a fully charged nightlight or flashlight readily handy.

I know it's not the first thing on every student's wish list rotfl: ), but it's something that I think is extremely useful to have. I have one in our kitchen, and I have one all packed and ready to send to college with my daughter.

Good idea! Since DS still has to have the bathroom light left on at night, a night light is something I forgot to add to the list.
The list that keeps growing and growing and growning.......

 

[mamacatnv]

This is my biggest worry. My daughter is pretty quiet and not the kind to jump right into a situation. She can be sensitive and wears her emotions on her sleeve. I want so much for this to be a good experience for her.

She is on the young side (turns 18 in late August) and I know she is not as independent as a lot of kids that are going off to college. However, I know if she meets kids with similar interests and personalities, she'll probably do just fine.

It helps knowing that her dorm room is in the residence hall that was her first choice. Her room is located on the floor for students in the fine arts program. I really think this will help her to make friends with similar interests. Then hopefully, it'll be easier to branch out more after she's more comfortable at school.

Sounds like her living situation is ideal to address the concerns you have. I am sure she will be fine, most kids are, it is us parents who are a wreck

 

[luvflorida]

Good idea! Since DS still has to have the bathroom light left on at night...

Well, I didn't want to admit that my daughter has always had a nightlight in her bedroom, even at 17. I was afraid someone would roll their eyes at that! It's nice knowing she's not the only one who doesn't like complete darkness!

 

[Mermaid02]

My daughter got her room mate assignment today! She looked on myspace and the girl looks a lot like her... profile pretty similar too. They'll either love each other or hate each other.

 

[Mermaid02]

I go to a TINY college soon to be University (can you say identity crisis). It is up in Maine.... We have a great 2+2 Program with a few schools, two years of culinary school then two years of the hospo management, has he thought of anything like that? It helps they say with advancement to have some of the business background as well.

Ummm.... I believe this is where my daughter is going..... the college soon to be university gave it away....... what do you major in???

 

[MamaLema]

OMG - I was fine, fine I tell you!

Then last week we got this letter in the mail with the schedule of move-in day. I was looking at that paper and it said

3pm: Parents leave campus.

I had to go hide in the bathroom so I could cry.

My oldest is only 11 so I have a long way to go...but that would make my bawl too

 

[Blueeyes101817]

I was just looking at this thread and remembering when i was going to college--i was so scared but didnt tell my family!

One thing that i am so happy that i had was the bedrisers..It gave me extra storage room under my bed for containers, etc

 

[Amy]

Oh I hear you - DS is looking on the Univ. website for something and "can't find it, it's not here" uhhuh, Mom finds it in 2 clicks of the mouse. I'm not sure college is ready for him

Snippets of converations with DS over the last couple of weeks:

"Um, Mom, where do I park to get my parking pass?"
"Um, Mom, what form did I need again?"
"Um, Mom I found that form, now what do I do with it?" Duh, read what the form says!
"My poker set doesn't fit in that storage bin you bought me for my dorm"
And the best one.......
"Mom, will I be getting a supply list" Yes, son, college has an urgent need for Kleenex, just like every other school you have attended

OMG, this is just like my DS! He drives me nuts with all the stuff he DOESN'T do! He's already been notified what his college e-mail will be, and they're already sending him e-mails about orientation and his roommate assignment, etc. But I have to continually nag him to check his college e-mail once a day, or he won't bother. (Mom confession here....I've been checking his college e-mail just to be sure he's not missing something important or time-sensitive, but don't tell him, ok? ) He joined the college Facebook group, but he doesn't even log on there unless I tell him to. Usually it's "Mom, why haven't I heard about X yet?" So then I tell him "why don't you get on the college Facebook site and see if somebody else has the same question as you" and sure enough, somebody already posted about it.

I'm trying really, really hard to stay out of it and let HIM be in charge of these things since it'll be all him in another month, but it's so hard......

 

[MerryPoppins]

I'm trying really, really hard to stay out of it and let HIM be in charge of these things since it'll be all him in another month, but it's so hard......

It is hard to find that balance. You don't want to step on their toes too much, but they're used to you helping. I walked a fine line when DS first went to school. I reminded him of the big things and tried to sit on the smaller ones. Yeah, he missed a few things...like getting his picture made for his fraternity's yearly collage, but those weren't huge. Those were chances to learn.

I told him I would like to hear from him frequently. We have always shared a lot and bounced things off of each other. But I didn't want him to feel like I was constantly checking up on him. So those first few days I had to really grind my teeth not to pick up the phone and call. I knew I'd sound nosey if I said "What are you doing?" and "Where are you?" when really I was just missing him. I was amazed that he seemed to miss me a little too. I got (and still do get) frequent calls from him...sometimes just checking to see how I'm doing and sometimes to be a sounding board when things aren't going right for him. Now I let myself give him a ring when I don't get a call.

If I could share one piece of advice for the day your child leaves...or you leave your child (as the case may be)... plan to go out to dinner and maybe a movie. Stay sort of busy. It helped me. I was so blue and I cried so hard. I needed to get my mind off of the fact that his room was empty for a little while.

As the days went by and he settled in and made friends, I got used to the idea that I hadn't lost him completely. It was just that our relationship had changed. Things will never be the same as they were before, but they're good. It's just a little different and he's so much more mature. He's not a little high school boy anymore, he's a young man. It's nice if you look at it that way. Change isn't always easy, but it can be good.

 

[Green Tea]

Bed risers, flashlight........

Keep them coming!

 

[Green Tea]

Car insurance: Has anyone called their company yet? I am unsure if he will be rated now for the new city, or if nothing changes as long as he is a legal resident of the home state. I need to check on that, for insurance and for the car's registration. It will be there more than here now though it is registered to us, not him.

 

[mouseclick1]

This is the stuff that kills me! I'm sitting here talking with DS, and I ask him a question about his housing. His answer is "I don't know, check my University email". He tells me how to log in, and I find some important emails that he has never told me about! One is a health form that is supposed to be sent at least 30 days before the start of school, which means I need to get it out right away. He has already had the meningitis vaccine, so it's not like I have to hurry to get him seen, but you would think he could tell me these things. However, guess who was online the day he was able to buy football tickets?? Seems like he didn't miss THAT email! Ahh, the priorities of an 18 year old!

As far as a car, DS's car is staying home, at least for his first year. They have free shuttles all over the University, plus University students can use the public buses free of charge, so I don't think he'll have any problem getting around.