Thread 40 - Corona Cohort , Falling into Autumn 🍂

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and support to be had !

Good luck for drop offs today and glad all went okay yesterday. @EspeciallyDivided and @Piggywaspushed sounds like we have exactly the same concerns re our DS. And I know exactly what you mean re end of days. I simply can't imagine not having the daily cuddles! But he needs to go so I will just have to put up with it! Still two more weeks...

Once they are all settled in a few weeks is anyone up for a getting healthy/fit/thinner/ready for graduation photos thread?

Count me in, @Volterra

Good luck those going today, or meeting up with yesterday's drop offs 🍀

Thanks for indulging me my worries! I feel calmer this morning. He has a sensible head and has never allowed himself to get sucked into any trouble at school although there was plenty of opportunity at times and did phone me to say he was leaving a pub crawl early the other night so hopefully I am worrying about nothing.

The hard copy of the Good University Guide is out with The Times this morning, DD has a paper round and I sneaked a look at one while she was getting ready to go. The RAU has moved up and is really high for student experience which is reassuring.

Good luck to those moving today, sending soothing vibes.

Morning! Popping in with news from Newcastle. We went for a strengthening brunch, then had a very efficient 10am drop off - team of porters with trolleys and massive bins on wheels leapt apon the car and unpacked it and zoomed all her stuff up to her top floor flat. 2 boys already in flat, but not up yet. I stayed to make up bed while DD and DH did an Asda run for food.

Very nice room with huge amount of space under the bed. She had been told to bring those freestanding wire storage things for the bathroom which was a great shout. Fairy lights and photos up - hoorah for command strips.

Other flatmates emerged/arrived and we left her heading out to meet up with a group of medics she’s been chatting to online. She then went out for a drink with her flatmates last night.

Meeting up later this morning before we head home. Good luck to today’s dropper-offers - hope all goes well.

@Benjispruce4 It feels so different from a catered college university - There’s no bar or common room for her to serendipitously bump into potential friends. The other thing is that she has heard so many horror stories of people buying exorbitant Freshers wristbands which turned out to be hardly used, that I think she is avoiding all organised Freshers events. Or it could be that the medic timetable starts in earnest on TUESDAY! (would have been Monday), and she wants to stay fresh. Again, very different from her elder brother…

Really wish we had had a Saturday drop-off slot, but weren't given a choice. We had little sleep in the hotel last night, which isn't a good start. The thought of having to leave DD alone tonight without the possibility of popping back tomorrow for a shop, or lunch before we go home is one I'm trying to avoid at the moment 🙁

DS eventually found his timetable hidden on some app.

12 hours of contact time, so that seems pretty good to me. The degree is not meant to be joint honours but all 3 subjects do seem to compete for their time and set assignments. This is fine for him.

@Benjispruce4 Ds is the same with no time table as he can't register. He has no student ID printed like everyone else. They all had them sent to their homes before starting. But of course Ds didn't fill everything out and when we tried the day before he left he got stuck at the pay fees part. Lesson learned for him I hope, check and respond to emails.

I'm still down in Surrey staying in a hotel overnight, in case Ds needs me today.
Moving in went fine, but he couldn't find his driving license so he's using his passport for id 😲.So nothing will go wrong with that then .... He had Freshers tickets but the others in his flat didn't. So I'm not sure what they all did last night. Some nice boys, but the girls he saw were really unfriendly. I felt awful leaving him, as with a late July birthday he's just really young in his ways 😢 We're all not sure he can cope with organising himself, plus a social life.

Car tetris not fun. Sure neighbours really appreciated DH shouting at me about packing too much!

As predicted the euphonium was the issue...

Nottingham Uni people - did your DS/DDs (you) all confirm the free Endsleigh contents insurance and set up account? I am just reading through the Accommodation intro DD rushed through last week when booking a slot and noticed it hasn't been done.

Have loved reading all your drop off stories, sorry to read some are a little sad/lost but glad to see most if not all have felt better after a day or so?

DD had her student ID card sent to our home address but the timetable on the portal says no data. Hopefully she’ll find out from someone today. The accommodation she is in has two buildings. She is in the smaller one which has no front desk. The social area is in the main building with desk so they have to walk around the corner to another building.

We dropped off DD at Birmingham yesterday and came home. Everything was fine. I was fine yesterday. But this morning I am not fine and worrying about her so much. She is happy and has found some friends and they are planning on going clubbing tonight in the city. In my head I am playing every single worst case scenario and couldn’t sleep last night. Is this going to be my life now? Please help me to stop this and not worry.

@BlueMarigold yes for the first few weeks then you adjust. I quickly learnt with DD1 that the less contact we had, the happier/busier she was. DD2 is quieter though so I’m more alert. Glad to be 1.5 hrs away rather than 4 this time. However, Durham felt safer than Nottingham.

@BlueMarigold I hope you settle and get used to it. Ds1 rarely messaged when he started uni 3 years ago. So I worried a lot. Ds2 promised he wouldn't be the same. But apart from messaging me about not being able to complete registration and wanting me to order him some vans (as apparently everyone is wearing them for clubs!) he's not told me anything. I asked if others had moved in yet, yes was the reply. I asked who, whether they were friendly etc. etc. nothing in reply. I know he's going to be the same as ds1 and not bother to tell me anything. I won't worry about him as he's quite laid back and gets on with most people, unlike ds1. I didn't think I was missing him, but I emptied the dishwasher earlier and his mug with his name on was in there, then thought it's sad he won't need it for a while. Then when I came back from the dog walk his car has been tucked into the 4th space on our drive, no one wants that space as it's half lawn, half gravel. Him and ds1 race home to avoid that space. But now he won't be using the car 😞 the boys also take it in turns to block each other in, almost always ds1 would block ds2 in. Just before we left for Sussex thurs am. Ds moved his car and completely blocked ds1 in. Ds1 wouldn't be able to get out without moving the other car. I thought it was quite funny. But when we left dh moved the car back before ds1 was up. I hate the arguing between them...but I'll miss it too.

Car packed. Ready to go…

Good luck @Zebracat & @Piggywaspushed.
@icanbe Ds is also very good at those terse replys. I messaged him last night to see how he was & he answered fine at 2.30, but DD said he didn't go to his Freshers event. @Bluemarigold you will get used to it. This is child 2 for me off to uni, but no. 1 was very much more with it!

Pleased to hear DCs are buddying up with new flat mates etc to get out and about. Doesn't stop the worrying but they are not alone behind a closed door!

All feeling very real even though DS doesn't go for another week. I think I'll miss him most at breakfast. DH goes to work early and it will be strange to come down to a empty house every morning.

@Zebracat @Piggywaspushed and others making the journey today, have a good day.

Good luck Zebracat!

And Piggy!

DD sent a very brief message this morning saying she’s all unpacked, has made some friends and that’s she’s about to go to breakfast with Henry (whoever that is).

Loving the (mostly) positive stories here. @Zebracat glad to hear you did not discover the wardrobe packing failures in Exeter! Hope the more difficult ones get better, I think they usually do.

@Volterra and @singingstones I am also thinking I might have time to do something about losing weight before graduation in June 2023, just need to find some resolve!

@Fiddlersgreen Leicester was fab yesterday. The Pavilions rooms are fine, but mostly a bit of an odd shape, why do architects to that?! Blocks J and K were a sensible shape, the others all segments of a polygon floor plan, I have a block J room photo if he is in one of those, the triangular ones were difficult to photograph. Nice bathrooms (photo attached). We loved The Village feel though, very green and "chill", loads of social stuff going on and a great community feel. DS did not want to look at the city accom because it was so concretey and he likes green space, but a medic who loves clubbing preferred living in the city. We asked about bike security and the student we spoke to had never heard of any bikes being stolen, it is about a 15 minute bike ride into campus and there is a big underground bike parking space under the library, so worth bringing a bike if he has one. The free shuttle runs every 15 minutes or so and takes 20 minutes to the centre of campus, but not on Sundays. The students we spoke to said the bus is also very sociable, one also said she has never met a student she didn't like at Leicester!

Loving reading all the moving in stories. Most of DS's friends have now gone and he is a mix of emotions between wanting to go and leaving gf at home. Meanwhile, DD is quite tearful at the thought of him going. She has put together a box of gifts (not wrapped with 'open when' notes but I'm sure she must read WIWIKAU 🤣)

@Heifer I think we've missed the insurance bit 😱 I'll get DS to look if he ever wakes up.

On the issue of waking up, DS could sleep through anything and even he is concerned about not waking up at uni. I've bought him a really loud alarm clock with a vibrating thing to put under his pillow (and night light cos he's scared of the dark 🤭) It scared the crap out of him when he tested it 🤣

@mummyinbeds I bought the same alarm for Ds. It nearly gave me a heart attack when it went off on the stool I was setting it up on 😮

Ha ha DD’s en-suite is one of those modular/space pods in a cupboard!