They settle in and we miss them. Uni Starters 2023 - Thread 2

[spamm]

I wanted to get a news thread ready for everyone as you wake up in the Uk.

We are settling into a routine of talking to DS on FaceTime on Sunday mornings after our breakfast, which is early pm his time. It is so nice to see his smile and catch up on how he is doing. I know at some point he will have a bad day, but so far he seems to be doing so well, I am ridiculously proud.

Hope you all have a good week!

Huge congrats to those who are finishing now. DD is another who has done a placement year so will be returning to uni in Sept - living with another friend. She has loved her ‘year in industry’ as the ppl have been a lot of fun. She’s not ‘loved’ the actual work per se so although they’ve offered her a job when she finishes uni she’s going to look for a grad scheme. The job is an excellent back up though as those grad schemes can be tricky to get!

Dd has her graduation in November.

For all those with another year, please keep posting. Ds1 did vetmed so I was still posting long after everyone else had finished, but the support was still valued and hearing what their dc were all up to after graduation was heartening.

All those with DC staying on please keep in touch on here @Lyxou@MarshaBradyo@NotDonnaI know of but there could be more.

@MargaretThursdayDD’s is on 16th and I also need a day off work as well as DD.

@LyxouYes. I now remember your DD was worried she’d chosen the wrong course and wished she’d done engineering or something like that. If she’s got more applied maths in year 3 she could chose more mechanics based modules or statistics based ones.
My nephew is doing maths at Birmingham and he detests the Pure stuff and will do a placement year too. Don’t think you have to. Did your DD need to at her uni? One of DD’s friends did maths at Reading and opted out of the placement year but is going to do a masters after having a gap year.

Congrats to your DD on the great 2:1 @PettsWoodParadiseand happy graduation day tomorrow. Is it going to be very hot where you are?
DD is hovering v close to the border and is something like 0.3 away from the 1st but as her dissertation was a 2:1 I think they may not upgrade despite smashing all her placements and gaining firsts on last two assignments. A 2:1 is a fantastic result after a hard 3 years so we’re delighted either way.

Thanks @AnneOfCleavage - it will be 'warm' but not baking.

For your DD to get 0.3 within a 1st and not get it is galling but at least in nearly all instances they get transcripts these days with more detail. I changed jobs a few years ago and had to get my old University to write a letter stating they didn't do transcripts in 1994 as my future employer kept insisting I must provide one.

@AnneOfCleavage She really wanted to do a placement year - and it has been very useful. She doesn't hate the job she's doing, and it's definitely preferable to her maths degree, and it's given her a much needed break from her maths course. But she knows that's not what she wants to do long term.

I have been avoiding this thread! As ds dropped out and set fire to his personal life in a very abusive relationship. (Beaten up, locked up, blackmailed etc). She just escaped prison with a suspended sentence but we still have no access to the baby as children services have not even started assessing Ds.
anyway I am absolutely delighted to see how everyone is doing. It’s brilliant.
And good luck to all moving on.

Ds is ND and so has hyper focused on work. Has grown his freelance business so is bringing in plenty of ££££ (about double my salary!). But it’s tough. He is looking at a pay cut in a job and paid annual leave and colleagues. Which I think would be good for him. He is also in pretty safe housing. Very anonymous and 24 hour security. So it could be a lot worse!

@stilldumdedummingSo lovely to hear from you, I do think of you and your grandson when I pop on this thread and wonder how you’re all doing. Thank you for the update. What a tough time of it your DS, and you as a family, have had of it. It’s great he is now safe and his business sounds fulfilling but the new job prospect sounds ideal as he’ll have colleagues and a support system with a boss perhaps. Keep us updated.

Thank you @AnneOfCleavage!

@stilldumdedumming Not sure quite what to write but just to let you know that sorry to hear about the troubles your DS is going through and hope that there is a postive conclusion soon regarding your grandchild. Hope the new job works well for DS. Look after yourself. Thank you for continuing to support us all.

@stilldumdedumming oh bollocks. I was so hoping things may improve for you all re the baby and the mum. So sorry that it’s still hideous and what a resilient young man he is. And you too. I can’t begin to imagine how hard it has been. When does he start the new job? Is it in a similar vein to his own business? Huge good luck to him.

Thank you all. It is very kind of you.
Well one of the jobs requires vetting. So that is probably not going to happen. He is all ok on his DBS and counter terrorism but his ex will also be looked into in case it makes him vulnerable.

Another job has come via a free lance client. And is a lot of money. More than I can actual imagine earning. That will take time to pull off.

He is incredibly resilient with regular quite scary spiraling. I worry about him being a bit too resilient actually but I do think time will help.

@stilldumdedumming good luck to your son. Life has a funny way of twisting.

Hello
Just wondering how all our DC are doing! Chatting to DD this week looking back at A level results day and all the tears when results were not as expected and having to look in clearing and going to a university that was not on her radar. Trying to get accomodation -expensive, and then the 2 hour trip down to Bristol and more tears from me. But.. it has gone well, she has really enjoyed her course and had multiple oppertunities that she would not have received if she had gone to her first choice. She has made a small but significant circle of friends and now moving on to do a masters. New city, still some fears but She seems to have found her path and is enjoying herself. What a difference 3 years make!!!
How are you all doing?

Nice to see you Lowther!

All finished, which means our lounge is still full of her stuff with no prospect of getting rid of it soon. She is tidying her room so hopefully most will have gone away by 2036 Christmas.

She has an agent and had a few auditions so hopefully will get something to get her started. We're giving her to September before she needs to really buckle down and find both something she can do round auditions and things to do in the local area.
She's been meeting up with friends, but they're uni friends so it seems to involve her travelling, and the money is running out, so I'm hoping she can make a few local friends too.

Hello, thanks for resurrecting the thread @Lowther .

DD is, as I type, trying to get back from a week performing at the Edinburgh Fringe and dear God, it is near impossible. National Express cancelled her coach ticket without warning and she's hopping from train to train, most of which have been severely delayed. Journey will end up taking 14 hours, and that's if the last 2 legs aren't messed up in some way . Sorry for the rant...

Apart from that...she's fine, @Lowther I wonder if your dd was at the same graduation ceremony as mine . She's abandoned Bristol for more affordable pastures, working and travelling for a year then doing an MA. Unfortunately the more affordable pastures were infested with bedbugs, so she's staying with friends until all treatments and new furniture are well and truly sorted.

@ZittiEBuoni bed bugs do not sound like any fun at all. Hope things get sorted!

@MargaretThursday I can empathise with the room full of stuff. Our dining room was full but we've gradually been either donating items, putting things in the loft or distributing to already groaning cupboards in the house. I can't read my utility meters at the moment due to boxes in front of them in the understairs cupboard!

@stilldumdedumming how did the application go for your amazing and resilient DS?

@Lowther hope the new city is suiting your DD

With graduation at the start of July a faint but lovely memory, DD headed up today on a train to attend the residential part of her teacher training induction. She then heads back home for an online part of that induction before starting in a nearby school for on the job training. She will be teaching Y9 and Y10 for zero money (well actually minus £10k) but we do have her at home for a year. The adjustment for us all has so far gone well, but we will see when the more tough teaching days happen how we all get along!

As I've said before, dd was living at home and commuting so we haven't had any major changes. She applied for many jobs- one she is hoping will be her permanent career (but thinks she messed up an assessment so is like a bear with a sore head currently).

In desperation she applied for a teaching assistant role. She's been coaching dc in her sport (holds a qualification) and this obviously helped as she starts in September pending her uni reference. It's in a primary school and she isn't the biggest fan of small dc but is actually very good with them.

I think it's funny that her path is taking her in a direction she would never have considered.

My DD finished her degree in May and will graduate in September with a First - which she is thrilled about and thoroughly deserves after all the hard work she put in. She has moved back home and has also managed to get her first teaching job at a Primary School near us and will start in a couple of weeks time. It's lovely to have her back home and I'm looking forward to taking a funny 'back to school' picture in a couple of weeks time but this time with her as the teacher!!

Congrats to all your DC who’ve finished their degrees and heading to pastures new. DD spent 3rd year in industry so returns to uni in September. I think it’ll be quite an adjustment as very few did the placement year. She’s been offered a job with them after uni which is lovely to have even though it’s not her ideal career path.

DS finished his third year, has loved York, but as part of his integrated masters has headed down to Surrey for his last year to work in industry. He’s living with two others on the internship (he doesn’t know them) so it feels like starting again in some ways, albeit he’s three years older and two hours further away than before!
Currently on for a first and hoping he can hang onto this!

@cptartapp what a coincidence! DD was at York - goes back in Sept for 4th year & she’s just completed a year in industry in Surrey! Hers isn’t an integrated masters though; just a regular BSc.

For another coincidence we live in York (and I went to university there).

DS loved his year in Utrecht last year and will be heading back to Newcastle for his third year in September. Hes been getting quite a bit of work while he’s been back with various hospitality companies. He’ll he working at Leeds festival next weekend which I imagine will be hard work!

@MirandaWest its a good line up so should be fun albeit hard work. My younger one, DD3 is going to Reading - camping this year and of course it’s forecast rain 🙄