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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

University 2019/20 intake: next steps (some still students but many now graduates)

391 replies

LouisCatorze · 08/09/2022 17:46

Previous thread

OP posts:
Original poster
LouisCatorze · 26/05/2023 10:38

Good to hear everyone's very positive news about their young people. Impressed by how many are already in proper graduate jobs.

DS has been faffing around a bit with job (graduate career) applications. I can't help but feel his priority this past year has been to be able to do ad hoc and extended trips to stay with his g/f. So not keen to be working standard 9-5 days (his niche job is anything but) while she was completing her Master's.

OP posts:
Decorhate · 03/06/2023 08:21

Lovely to hear everyone’s news. Ds still has a year to go! 4 year course plus a placement year. We will hardly see him this summer as he has a job with his placement company, near his uni, so will stay there mostly.

RampantIvy · 03/06/2023 23:34

DD told her workmates that she wasn't leaving, and they are all happy she is staying for at least another year. She needs to find somewhere else to live in September though.

ZandathePanda · 04/06/2023 22:18

Hello everyone - found you again. Dd has been working and doing really well in a PR based firm. She has had lots of work published and I no longer trust anything I read is independent 😂. The way she got the job was to ask to do some work (experience) for free in the weeks just before graduating in a company where she thought she would like the ethos and atmosphere. She loved it. She then used that on her CV to get an interview at a prestigious big PR company.

The first company got wind, I think, and quickly made her an offer the day before the other one. She’s made the right decision and is happy there as she has more variety, responsibility and chance for progression. The recruitment consultants were like vultures around her - she was wanting to get a paid job quickly but they sent her to unsuitable interviews. She was obviously lucky she could afford to do the work experience and they accepted her to do it but she needed it for the CV and to get a look in for the types of jobs she wanted.

Lovely to catch up with all your stories xx

Shimy · 04/06/2023 22:38

Wow! @ZandathePanda Your DD sounds amazing, such a go getter! that's exactly what employers want. She will go far, very far. Good luck to her.

simbobs · 05/06/2023 11:25

Good news @ZandathePanda . It just goes to show that there are decent jobs out there if people are prepared to hunt for them. I have to say my DS found the recruitment agency that he used amazing. They provide training as well as everything else. He would probably not have got in front of his new employer (not started yet) without them. He is currently doing some paid freelance work for a family member so is keeping busy.

ZandathePanda · 05/06/2023 11:52

Thank you @Shimy @simbobs . She is very driven. It is fortuitous luck that the right company were open to have her do work experience but she sent her CV in and it is obvious she is v bright, hard working and ambitious. This is my child who never slept through the night until she was 3 as there was always something better to do!

bigTillyMint · 05/06/2023 16:25

That’s fantastic @ZandathePanda! Resilience, determination and perseverance are such important traits - well done to her!

Original poster
LouisCatorze · 05/06/2023 17:46

@ZandathePanda that is indeed great news for your DD. How is your other DD doing now?

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RampantIvy · 05/06/2023 17:58

Fantastic news @ZandathePanda. Your DD is a real go getter.

I was also wondering how DD2 was getting on.

ZandathePanda · 05/06/2023 21:10

I wrote a long reply out about Dd2 and ummed and ahhed about posting it then ran out of battery and it disappeared! Here’s a less emotional answer now I have had a bit of a cry(I asked if I could post the facts btw): She has had the surgery to take the parts of her brain out that were causing the seizures. There’s a big wound on her bald head held together with lots of staples at the moment. She hates it. However there’s a 35% chance of being seizure free because of this op. She may have lost some peripheral vision as a side effect - we’re not quite sure yet. Her memory seems ok. But it’s the chance of her not being of lots of meds and being seizure free that made her decision. I dragged her out of the bath a few months ago, she was unconscious and was her first big-type seizure out of the blue for a while. By luck she made enough noise for me hear and unlock the door from the outside. So the chance to stop all of that was one she was willing to take. She hasn’t asked if she can have another bath once the scar has healed yet! She’s being weaned off meds over 2 years. She has not had a seizure since the op but we have a long way to go.

She has a place at Uni in September and I have been on the phone sorting out DSA and finance and trying not to cry when I explain her condition. My life is too surreal. She was discussing politics and the state of the nhs less than 24hrs after surgery with the surgeons.

bigTillyMint · 05/06/2023 21:14

Oh gosh @ZandathePanda, that sounds so hard, but so brave - not surprised you feel very emotional. She sounds amazing too - you must be so proud of her.

RampantIvy · 05/06/2023 22:17

What a roller coaster @ZandathePanda.
I really hope that your DD makes a full recovery and can enjoy her time at university Flowers

ZandathePanda · 06/06/2023 14:57

Thank you. It’s such an extreme thing to happen in life - I am conscious of derailing a relatively normal thread! I feel guilty Dd1 (who is the age for this thread) has not had as much support from us and has had to deal with a new job and her sister’s surgeries as well. It’s nice to be able to tell everyone how well Dd1 has done.

RampantIvy · 06/06/2023 16:43

Please don't worry @ZandathePanda. I have often wondered how you were all getting on. Your DD2 has shown such reslience, as have all of you. I really hope that you can now start looking forward to better things.

simbobs · 06/06/2023 17:32

@ZandathePanda sending you a big hug. Thank you for being brave enough to share. It is a horrendous thing for any young person to go through and would take its toll on any and every parent. Wishing her the fullest recovery possible.

Original poster
LouisCatorze · 06/06/2023 20:31

You sound like an amazing mum @ZandathePanda and both your girls have such inner strength, motivation, and resilience. So sorry that your DD2's still struggling with the challenges of having been so poorly. Hoping that her surgery makes her seizure-free, and that her recovery is what the doctors, she and you hope fo. Hoping that she can spend the coming months looking forward to planning for going to university. Thank you for sharing your update. Wishing you all the very best.

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Shimy · 06/06/2023 23:52

@ZandathePanda That is a very serious operation and I wish her all the best with her recovery. Sending lots of warm hugs. You're being very brave as well & practical about things (sorting out uni etc) and showing great resilience in the face of it all which your DD must take from you. I'm surprised she can even think about university after all that she has just been through, but she's a true fighter and to uni she will go. I'm praying for her that she will be seizure free and that she falls into that 35% and makes a full recovery.

icanbewhatiwant · 13/06/2023 16:29

@ZandathePanda I often wonder how your dd is getting on. I am on the other uni thread for ds2 too. Wishing her a good recovery. She was brave to make the decision to have the op. and to make the decision to go to university.

MargaretThursday · 13/06/2023 17:33

@ZandathePanda I cam eon to see if you had an update. Hope it's all as successful as possible and she's recovering well.

ZandathePanda · 15/06/2023 15:19

Dd2 is doing ok. No seizures so far. Staples out which was more painful than she anticipated and it’s going to take a while for the wound to heal. The first time Dd went for a walk a lady on a bicycle nearly crashed whilst turning her head to continue to stare as she rode past. Dd had the scar covered too so a bit unnerving.

Dd1 is doing well but having the first - what work wear is suitable in this weather - conversations. All grown up!

RampantIvy · 15/06/2023 17:59

Glad to hear that your DD is improving @ZandathePanda, even if it is only baby steps.

At least DD doesn't have a workwear problem as they all wear the pharmacy uniform.

simbobs · 15/06/2023 22:04

@ZandathePanda Ut is heartening to hear that DD2 is making progress. She sounds like a very courageous young lady and you, a wonderful Mum.

I can remember starting work and realising that I didn't have enough clothes for the week! DS has been out buying both clothes and an iron.

chocolatenutcase · 20/06/2023 16:35

Just catching up

@ZandathePanda thank you for the update on your DD2. What an amazingly courageous young lady she is. And well done to you. I can only imagine how stressful it has been over the past few years for you all. And well done to your DD1 for realising her worth and holding out for the job she wanted.

@RampantIvy always good to be wanted backSmile

My DD has finished final exams and comes home on Sunday but currently won't be able to graduate due to the marking strike. We think maybe only 40/120 credits will have been marked. Pretty much sums up her university experience- one hurdle after another! However she's had a superb time since May so let's look at the positives!

simbobs · 20/06/2023 20:05

I'm feeling a bit cheated. I was expecting DS back over the summer. He hasn't really been here much for the last 2 years as he found work around, and sometimes instead of, his studies. Now he has a job about to start, found a house with gf and got a puppy! My little boy is the owner of white goods! Wonders will never cease
Still feel a bit cheated, though.