Parents of the Class of 2019

We FINALLY got the refund on the living expenses for DD's dorm this year. Surprisingly enough, it was 50% of what we paid, we really didn't expect that much back. DD did get to register for classes this year, and we've already talked about her scholarship and what would happen to it if they go online for fall semester and she wants to not attend. She also has a lab research assistant job lined up in one of the labs on campus for next year that she would be missing out on so I really hope that everything clears up and we are back to a semblance of normal by September!

Congrats on the RA position to your daughter Colleen! Mine said that the beginning of the year that she would like to see about being an RA, but changed her mind over Fall semester and said she would just like to concentrate on her classes. She did sign up to room in one of the campus "apartment" dorms with some friends, and I guess because they're a room of 2 girls and 3 boys they get to jump the line and get the dorm that they want. 2 bedroom, one double and one triple, apartment. Colorado is opening up on a limited basis next week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will pass and we can get back to normal!
 
DD got her R&B refund a week or so ago, and I was surprised it was that fast. Between that, being able to start her job sooner, and a "stimulus" from Grandma and Grandpa, DD is actually faring quite well financially. Of course I would rather have her at school and everything normal but it is nice to know she'll at least be in good position to pay her rent for next year even if she can't find a job down there.

This weekend she would have been coming back for her BF's senior prom. I wish she could see him soon, they are kind of struggling with the Snapchat-only thing.

In the meantime, I've gotten used to having the little bugger around; every evening we're going for walks, playing games, watching stuff together.
 
When I watched the town hall, I actually tuned in about 15 minutes late. So today I sat down and watched again on Youtube. The opening statements were actually pretty encouraging. They said they are moving forward with the assumption that school will open this fall with students on campus. (They didn't say all students, but did say "students"). I expect they will err on the side of optimism for students and parents, not wanting kids to abandon ship this early in the game. So maybe it was just for show. But it did give me more hope than I've had in a while. So I'll take it.

Fingers are crossed. The county Mizzou is located in has had only 3 deaths from Covid. 2 of those were this week in a long term care facility. But I'm sure it's also scary to the residents of the area to consider kids showing up from all over the country in just over 3 months. Our son lives there and I’m not thrilled with that part of it for him.
 


The opening statements were actually pretty encouraging. They said they are moving forward with the assumption that school will open this fall with students on campus.

I will share that with DS. He was feeling down and worrying about his school yesterday after hearing that a university around here was planning to stay on line in the fall.
 


I think all schools are going through a number of contingencies at this point. I saw an article yesterday that listed 15 different methods by which colleges could start up the fall using.

Son's school has apparently come out to incoming freshmen and said that unless the state still has a stay-at-home mandate (it's NY, so who knows?), they have every intention of having in-person classes in the fall. Now, it's possible that there's a hybrid model, where some instruction is online and some in class so they can limit the numbers of students in class together, but that's yet to be determined.
 
It's "finals week" (for what it's worth) for my son. I think he only has two actual finals scheduled - one today and one over the weekend. Other than that, it sounds like he has a couple projects and papers due between now and May 4th, when I think he's done for the semester. I think he's taking one, maybe two, pass/fail options. He found that his Differential Equations class was difficult to transition into online learning. He was getting an A before spring break, but the grade has gone downhill once they moved online. :(

Still haven't figured out his housing situation for next year either. :( He's still in the room he had picked with his former roommate, but now there's a new person in his room who he hasn't reached out to because he's still hoping to be able to move into a different apartment complex.
 
Finals are next week, and DD has some on Wednesday and Friday, so she has those days off work. Her little meltdown over online classes occurred this week, when she first found out what the theatre set building project was and felt totally overwhelmed by it. I talked her through where to start and you know once you start it gets a little less daunting. She was actually able to turn it in last night, a day ahead of schedule. Her building instructions are probably a lot less detailed than they could be but it was one of those things she just needed to have "done" instead of perfect.
 
Somehow my notifications for this thread got turned off, so I'm missed a bunch of posts. Glad most of being home seems to be going well for most of the kids. I know they are all anticipating going back to campus in the fall, so I really hope that becomes a reality.

I'm sorry about your son's roommate transferring SoccerDad. I was really concerned that would happen to my son, too (similar situation), but at this point, i think maybe he's safe (I hope.) Sophomores at my son's school are required to live in the dorms, and the assignment is done by lottery time. If you set up a "roommate group," the roommate with the earliest time can choose/assign the whole group to the room. One of my son's friends made an application for a sophomore "living, learning community" and my son and his roommate joined it. Students assigned to LLCs have to pick from the rooms assigned to them by the university (not free choice) but they get priority scheduling within that block of rooms. My son and roommate were able to get a room right near another group of their friends... and their assigned dorm is pretty good (not their first choice, but a definite step up from last year's dorm in both amenities and location. And no resident ghost stories!)

Spring scheduling was delayed, so my son's window opens next Tuesday morning at 7:20am... so we're still waiting/hoping he'll get what he wants. Scheduling priority is determined by number of credit hours, and he came in with quite a few AP credit hours and has taken a heavy load these first 2 semesters, so he has priority over a lot of his peers... so hopefully, that will bode well for class selection. He is trying to decide on the best course of action: 1) if classes stay online, there might be a few classes that are "hard" that he wouldn't want to take online, but 2) if they go back to campus, he's thinking that a lot of the social stuff will still be shut down, so maybe that WOULD be a good time to take some tough classes and "buckle down" because there won't be anything else to do anyhow. Too bad there's no crystal ball.

So far, he's doing pretty well with the transition online. He has still had a number of group projects, where everyone has to film their own oral report section, then the group has to splice them together into a cohesive presentation. His biggest frustration is having to wait around on group members. Professors have been pretty lenient about due dates (giving longer, etc.). My son has been in a "get it done so I can cross it off the list" mode, but some of his group members are in more of a "eh, it's not due yet, so I'm not worried about it." However, there's often something the group has to do after all group members have completed their portions (like splice together the video, or comment on each other's discussion answers.) So my son's frustration is "mine's done, but I can't cross it off the list, because I also have to comment on 3 other people's work... but three other people haven't even posted theirs yet, so I can't do it."

Finals week is the week of May 11, so he still has a couple of weeks left of class. He says he's looking forward to summer because the, hopefully, it won't seem so weird to be home.
 
And in the "at least we never get rid of anything" category, last night DD was creating a diorama of a set for her theatre design principles class with her collection of little Disney figurines and furniture. But for painting the sketches of costume design, she wishes DD21 hadn't taken the majority of our paints to her apartment.

Last night between homework and the Parks & Rec special, she had Zooms with her friends and with her Bible Study. It was good to hear the banter and fun.

Today at work she is helping clean at a National Historical Landmark for the Underground Railroad so that might be interesting.
 
I got a text yesterday from her boyfriend asking me very politely if he could surprise her Saturday with a visit, outside with social distancing (he lives 65 miles away, normally a 2+ hour trip, but now a lot faster), it’s going to be nice so I said yes. They’ve only dated for 6 months, but lived in the same form and are in the same friend group, so they became close. I suspect she will cry. Her brother is coming home fir the day to take a picture in his graduation gown for his virtual commencement ceremony, should be a nice day.
 
Now that school is ending, DS wants to get a summer job, and I'm freaking out.

Our Home Depot is hiring shoppers, so people can wait outside for their orders, and a couple of his friends are working there.

The protective mom in me just wants to keep him home!
(But as a mom, part of me is also proud of him for wanting to earn his own money.)

Part of me wonders if we're being too restrictive, but most of me worries about him bringing something home - to his dad (high blood pressure), to his grandparents (who we were hoping to be able to see later in the summer), even to our cats (after hearing about that happening)!

Part of me wonders if he already had it (mystery "flu-like illness" back at school) and has immunity, part of me wonders if everyone is going to get it eventually, and it would be better if he got it here where I can take care of him than alone at school next year?

And part of me is afraid I will worry constantly and never sleep if he gets the job!!

(Then part of me envies people who never left work, and feel more "normal" than I do - maybe having retreated almost too smoothly into my introvert bubble.)

He's hemming and hawing himself, and hasn't even had an interview yet, so it may a moot point anyway. But I just needed to vent.

If your kids or working, or if they're not, please share your thoughts. Thanks.
 
DS18 technically has a job as a camp counselor at our local zoo. However, he has no idea if that will happen - there's been no new info on whether the zoo will have camp or not.

DD20 was interviewing for a job right as all this was happening, and then the company shut down their internship program. So she has nothing right now but is looking to see if she can find something online. Worst case, she could look for a babysitting job, especially now where parents may be returning to work soon and schools are closed. Our local supermarket is hiring, but she's asthmatic, so I feel that's risky for her right now.
 
I won’t let my kids work (except for dd23 and ds22 who don’t even live here and are work from home anyway). My kids have worked at a local garden center a mile away for years (dd23 started at 14). The manager has begged dd19, dd17 and ds17 to work. Of course they want to work (money and boredom), but I can’t chance it (we are still in a top hot spot).
 
@PollyannaMom -- I am in exactly the same place. DS has worked at a local grocery store for several years. Within hours of the announcement that his college was moving to online lessons, the manager called and asked if he was coming home and, if so, could he work? I have talked him out of working during school -- his lessons are his first priority, and if he were to get sick, it would be miserable for him to try to keep up. He has agreed to that, but finals are coming up. He's planning to go back to work right after finals end.


I would really like for him *not* to work for mostly selfish reasons (I want him to be safe, and I don't want him to bring anything home)... and because I am trying to do stuff for my elderly parents and him being in a high-contact position will probably mean we'll need to keep social distancing for even longer (My mom is having a tough time with the quarantine. She really wants to get together.) But, I'm letting him do it... because I think he needs something to do, and he has plans for the money and stuff. I hope it's not a mistake... I am worried even though we're not in a hot spot.
 
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My DD is not working right now. Spring quarter started April 6, and since she knew she was going to be stuck at home, she loaded up on hard classes with more hours than she had originally intended. She is incredibly busy every day with schoolwork. Spring quarter ends June 10th.

She was selected as a Camp counselor for summer camp in California that was to start the week after Spring quarter ends, but that has been cancelled. She was also selected to be an RA at her university’s month long summer engineering academy (kind of a head start pre-Frosh program for minority and low income students interested in Engineering—she was a participant last year). Right now they are saying she will still get paid the stipend even though the program has moved to an online format. I thought that was very generous. She is participating in Zoom trainings, online recruitment efforts for the Academy to committed 2024s, and supposedly they will have virtual RA “house meetings” to team build the Academy cohort during August, and then, if on campus during fall, they will lead the cohort on weekend outings that the cohort normally enjoys during the August on campus experience. She also had been hired prior to COVID 19, presuming she passes a required training class which she is taking now in Spring quarter, to be a writing tutor in the campus Writing Center next school year. So far, that seems like it will be still happening, even if school remains online next fall—the writing center is doing virtual appointments now.

She is also one who normally has a job—she started working when she was 14–but with her having asthma, I am glad she is soooooo busy with school that she does not really have time to try to work right now. One of my co-worker’s daughter got a job at a grocery store to bag groceries right when all this started. She had so little to do school wise in her on line high school classes, and while he is proud of her for wanting to do something which in her mind is helping the greater good, he is so scared for her everyday—both her for her own health or to bring it home to her parents. It’s a tough spot to be in as a parent, because it is not necessary for her to work, but she is 18 and determined. My heart goes out to all of you parents in this tough position.

Also, while in my mind it took far longer than it should have, I am glad to see that grocery stores have made changes like 6 foot apart X’s in check out lines, employees wearing masks, sneeze guards around the cashier, sanitizing carts and frequently touched areas very frequently (last I was at Target , the cashier was making you wait in your 6 foot away X while she sprayed and wiped down the rolling belt between every customer).
 
DD is working, she mainly works with one other woman in an office or out in the county parks. The ranger and DNR guy are in the office a little bit but mostly outside. So with the combo of being with few people, outdoors a lot, and having almost no cases anywhere near, I have no problem with it. If allowed, they will do kids day camps this summer.

I think I would be okay with her at just about any job here though- our county has had just one case and they are recovered (same with the county she works in). I *think* even if we had more cases I would still let her have a job. She is young and healthy, we are too, and she would not do well sitting home. But my view is certainly colored by our experience of almost no cases so I can't say for sure how I would feel if it were different.
 
She just found out she made the cut to study abroad over winter break in New Zealand (2 classes in her major). We have 4 days to commit with a deposit. It was a process including interviews, her boyfriend made the cut, 1 friend waitlisted and 2 didn’t get in. If it’s cancelled it’s fully refundable except flights (I have no idea what she’d do with a $1000 flight credit yo be used in a year...). She was planning on getting g her passport renewed before spring break (application filled out, has all of her documents in an envelope). What to do.
 

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