Going to university (2019/20 academic year) - and the fledgling freshers are off!

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@minesawine well done - my DD has her driving test Wednesday but got flustered in her lesson today which has made her lose confidence a bit...
5 days to go and I am dreading not having her around anymore!
Her flat btw is mainly girls but then Cardiff has a 60/40 girls ratio for some reason.

DS is 20 and has been checking on his younger flat mates, so it can work either way. He says they are a very randomly assorted bunch from shy foreign student to autistic scientist to one party animal with massive amp, but he thinks they’re all going to run along ok (optimistic soul that he is).

Well done to miniwine!

Just make sure when he arrives back for the holidays you take him out with you the first time. A fair number of friends who passed just before they left for uni had accidents in the first holiday because they weren't really practiced enough.

@Piggywaspushed, I can't believe he won't find any boys to talk to about footy - that's all DS and DH and their mates talk about

DD is on a group chat with some of her flatmates. So far in a flat of 8 there are 2 boys and 4 girls. She doesn't know who the other two are yet. She is going to cajole them into watching the Bake Off as she loves it.

My ds is in a Facebook chat group, there are 7 girls 3 lads so far. We don't know if that is all. Ds is hoping there are more lads, I think they are less likely to be on social media than girls. But that could be all of them. Seems quite a high girl to boy ratio several places.

DS has not managed to get wifi working on his phone yet either which is not great.

He was meant to hone this evening but I have had a few plaintive text messages form him about stuff not working, not knowing where stuff is, being a 'loser' and not being able to look after himself

My DS is going to be in a flat of 10, I think they have found 8 of them & so far only one is another boy who sounds very different to DS, or at least a different background - who knows, they could be the best of friends. I'm hoping the other 2 are boys too.

Oh piggy that's sad. Poor love. Hope he feels better by the end of the week.

Looks like dds dreams of partying every night have been dashed. She has introduction sessions and lectures all week!

piggy hopefully just a bit of a down moment after the adrenaline high of moving in. My DD has always worn her heart on her sleeve but is starting to realise there are highs and lows in everyone’s lives and that they pass. The only problem is that you carry their lows around and worry and often they forget to tell you that they feel better! Hope he’s ok.

I haven't heard a thing from ds so I'm hoping he's ok and just having a fantastic time!

Oh no Piggy. Can he ask one of the girls to help him? That may bond them a bit. He'll be spoilt for choice for girlfriends!

No news here which I guess is good. I've just felt really sad in the supermarket as for months I've always gone to the homeward section to see if they have anything useful. No need tonight . Though it is great she's settling well (I hope).

*homeware

DS has taken the news of the cat’s death today - which I was dreading telling him - by saying, ‘Oh no, are you ok? I expect that hit you harder than anyone’.
Gulp.

Oh no,I'm so sorry about your cat x

I think there is much more to cope with for 21st Century students than for those of us who went to university in a pre-digital age. Even the number of emails (UEA has already sent about three long accommodation related ones and there are two more to come this week) and the drip, drip info feeds mean that there is more to keep on top of....

Hope your DS manages to find someone to help him with his wifi issues @Piggywaspushed.

So sorry to hear about your cat dying @TailsoftheManyPaws but how sweet that your DS was so concerned about you. Are you okay?

We may be in need of a new thread at some point today...

Yeah there seems to be a lot more information overload. Doesn’t help that all the uni systems seem quite overbearingly admin-heavy too

DD another one who couldnt get wifi on her laptop, and thus didnt know her timetable, but rather than take my advice, she will ask her flatmates. She is stubborn Not that I know anything of course

@MrKlaw I fondly remember the days of getting a big envelope of 'paper printed' materials and forms in the post to read through/complete at one's leisure, ahead of going up to university. All this 'stop, start...we will be releasing more information next week/in coming days' really is a recipe for overlooking things.

Still, it is what it is.

@Piggywaspushed do you think your DS would possibly ask one of the flatmates for help as @CheeseStraws suggested?

It's made me think that it's a good idea to remind our DC that it is okay to ask...

Hi I'm new to the thread.

We dropped DS off on Saturday, and I don't think he has spoken to anyone since. He has zero self confidence, and keeps retreating to his room convinced everyone else is having a great time. His week looks like a series of orientation events for his course, so I just hope he makes friends soon. Am trying not to phone/text him every 5 minutes, but he told me last night he was depressed.

Oh flying, I wish yours was at the same place as mine. They could gather together in their low confidence way.

I have sent DS an email with instructions for wifi and a phone number for the support desk but, yes, I imagine others could help.

The annoying thing with his (and my) phone is this Samsung Pass thing interferes when you try to put passwords in and I think that may be obscuring the bit to put in a uni password. Young people these days are pretty determined at getting wi fi to work (he was the first one to sort it out on holiday!) so I think he'll get that one solved.

Sorry about the cat tails. That must be tough for you.

Dd would agree with rhe information overload.she says theres so many different bits of information on loads of different portals. She's created an extra bar on her browser with each one saved in language she understands ie accommodation, library, lectures.

She sent me a message late last night saying maybe she isn't cut out for uni. she means academically, she has zero confidence academically and I think is worried she'll fail the first year.

Oh dear @notaflyingmonkey, is there any type of buddying scheme at your DS's uni that you can point him in the direction of? Hopefully the orientation week will help him to make some friends. Any societies that would tap into his interests - even if he's not feeling able to very chatty, just being somewhere with like-minded people would be a first step and make him feel more himself? They all need some thread of 'continuity' to guide them through the early days, don't they?

Oh no for your DS @Trewser. I think once the initial week or so of overload has been and gone, there will be time to get into a good studying routine and for them to find their feet. A lot of it is confidence - could she find a study buddy (from her course) to help her settle in until she feels more confident?