The ABC of university life (2019/20 cohort) - settling in we hope

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread - sorry about the lame thread title but done in a hurry!

@06bigTillyMint yes she's in halls. right opposite new cross gate station. very impressed with the halls and the area.

Just checking in.
@ZandathePanda what an amazing DD you have to get them all communicating.
@SchrodingersKitty sorry about your DH.

Its getting very real hearing about everyone starting lectures.
For all the Durham mumsnetters, despite the initiation/socialising hiccups earlier in the week DD is really very happy. She has found the college very supportive even to the extent of the catering manager recognising her mini autistic meltdown this morning when there was no porridge for breakfast! I suspect that is what it will be like for all the colleges so really good to know they have support.
I went into major backpacking parent mode last night though when she showed me on face time her shared room - absolutely no storage for either of them, apart from a very small wardrobe and a bedside table each. No shelves, no drawers. Nowhere to put books! Anyway DH went up today with an ikea flatpack bookcase with all her stuff and moved furniture around and he says it looks better laid out. I phoned the senior tutor and pointed out it wasn't really a 'study' bedroom and could they provide some shelves. I hope you don't all flame me for this but really? A student room with no shelves?!
Anyway DH says she is so happy and has a huge smile on her face!

@bigTillyMint: 'bops' are what they call the informal college parties/dances/fancy-dress gatherings in Oxford. Its what they called them in my day and apparently what they still call them, though name seems screamingly naff to me. From DS's point of view, not nearly as alienating as a club!

Thank you all for good wishes for DH - and @Janaih, thank you particularly - always so good to hear from people who have made it through.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18
@mum2eim, glad your DD is enjoying it now and they seem to be supporting her.

@SchrodingersKitty, aha!

I had a bit of a reality check this evening. Was in our corner shop & noticed two handsome young men (student age). When I heard them speaking I realised one had a learning disability & is probably a resident of the independent living facility on our street out with a carer. How much harder it must be for his parents to have him leave home & hope he can thrive.

Thank you to everyone who congratulated Dd on her communications prowess! She managed to get on a freshers thing by getting up really early to get a ticket for something tonight. It’s a very steep learning curve for everyone isn’t it.
SchrodingersKitty sorry to hear about your Dh but great it’s sounding positive, from what you have said . It does put life into focus doesn’t it? We had a few ups and downs over the last few years and it concentrated Dds perspective on what she wanted out of the university experience. Which, to slightly change the mood, appears to be cocktails tonight!

Hey everyone 👋 found you all! I’m back, 1 down, 1 to go..
so Loughborough today.. my first time seeing it as ds1 went with friends to look around. It was nice, accommodation is fine, room is big with lots of storage, and everyone was really helpful and friendly.. he’s messaged to say he had an induction talk, then burgers and chips and now he’s off to the union .. so all good so far..
only downside was the journey from home over 4 hours each way and Durham is twice the distance from us on the south coast ..
I don’t think anyone at Durham chooses Hild Bede do they? Ds2 put an open application, but we like the general shabbiness .. he’s packed today, so that just leaves me to knock up some fancy dress ..
hope everyone is happy and thriving x

Just been to DSs school Prize Giving- end of an era.
How did they have enough there to do the prize giving? Haven't most of them gone? Mind you DS1's was in December before most of them got home, do presumably DS2's will be too (not that he'll be getting any prizes!)

Ooh new thread, not read this one yet, just checking in 😊

best wishes to all those heading off this weekend - having just watched the weekend weather forecast please tell me your DCs are arriving Saturday rather than Sunday.

So, who else is still to go up/down/across to take dc?
York here - seems so much later than a lot of other unis.

DH has decided he's not coming on the journey. Secretly, I think he's going to find it really hard to face dropping her off and driving away, so he's opting not to go - which will leave more space in the car for her stuff.

He's on the spectrum somewhere (as, I'm sure, is DD) as he doesn't do 'people' and busy places. I've been clear with him that she will be stressing out so we shouldn't do anything else to make her more stressed. So him not being happy with parking/waiting/sorting admin etc/hanging around for parent talks etc would just make her feel awkward. So it's a bit of a winner that he can say goodbye to her here and then leave us to the dropping off bit.

DD sent me a video of her taking part in a freshers activity today - axe throwing!

DS1 is off to York tomorrow, long journey so hotel booked and DS and DP having night out in York tomorrow. DS1 is calm, he changed his mind results day and not only changed course but also university so Saturday will be his first time on campus. It is going to be strange not going with him but I think he will find it harder if I am there. Longest summer ever though.

Hello everyone !
@NewModelArmyMayhem18 thank you for thinking of me on Saturday!.
We went off on Sunday on the train and it all went well .
Lots to say but late now soo will catch up tomorrow !!

Some other fun facts from my DD at Manchester. The house clubbed together to buy a second hand Wii. It cost £20. They have a lot of fun playing Mario karts etc in black and white. That's why it was cheap.

10 of them ordered in Dominoes. The bill came to £200 with all their extras. If your bill is over a £100 Dominoes halve it.

The earliest she has been to bed is 2am! Oh great.

DS has got himself a part time job, had the interview lined up before he left and was offered the job yesterday, just one session a week at the Football Club! He’s joined loads of clubs - all sports and seems to have had a great first week.

Sorry didn't realise York was a 'late starter' comparative to many other universities - the Scottish contingent have been up for a full three weeks now haven't they?

Keele is this weekend, too, so a fair few still to go.

dd been in halls two weeks tomorrow!
she has sent me a couple of photos of the food she has cooked, which is great, i dont know how they manage with 8 to a kitchen, but all laid back i assume, sharing meals and things.
dd proud that tidied her room and found things that she thought she had left at home!
and looking already at flats for next year, will she need a deposit?
enjoying her lectures also.

@Mustbetimeforachange, there were barely any (old) Y13s there! But it was (old) Y11s and Y12s too, so managed to go for 3 hours but with a fantastic, inspirational young man speaking for part of that!

@boys3 Durham moving in day is Sunday!

Yes York do start later. I always assumed that's coz they want to be like Oxbridge......

@Propertyfaux I'm sure your ds will like it. It's a campus that looks good in the autumn and has a nice vibe to it.

Which colleges are the York bound living in? Dd is attached to James which slightly alarmed me as in my day at York, it was the 'posh' chacterless one. (Yes 60s concrete has character). I was wentworth, dh was Derwent. When dd and I were wandering around yesterday I found James has eaten Goodricke. typical! It seems Goodricke has fled to the new campus.

@EleanorReally yes she will. Dd1 needed 1 months rent for her first flat, two months for the one she's just moved to. Luckily she had been given some money by my grandma and used part of that on the basis that it was still there and she would get it back on moving out which she did.

Thanks @Northernlurker,
have to dig deep

and looking already at flats for next year, will she need a deposit? Yikes that is so organised @EleanorReally. I am pretty sure they do need deposits (possibly the equivalent of a couple of months of rent?).

@Mustbetimeforachange DS's school had a 'senior prize-giving' which the ones who got 2(+) A*s in their A Levels were invited back to (along with high performers from Yr 9 upwards). It was held a couple of weeks ago - most of that contingent would be Oxbridge/LSE/UCL/Imperial bound so definitely all able to go. What annoyed me though was that they and their parents were apparently privy (along with all other attendees) to all their cohort's A Level results and university destinations (which the others haven't been!).