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 !

Thanks @Piggywaspushed. She has a subject introduction on Tuesday so that will help and society fair on Wednesday. It’s just so built up. No greenery or trees to look at , just fraught out into city centre. It’s not her. We drive past Clifton campus and that would have suited her better but Sociology in the city.
@PhotoDad I thought the Covid message was test if symptoms. We have had 4 staff members off since term started so I am suspicious. We have used all stock tests as I had it in May.

*straight not fraught though that might be more apt.

@Benjispruce4 I think Freshers Week is hard for many students no matter the circumstances. There is too much free time to potentially be on your own. Hopefully your Dd will get into a routine once lectures start.

@Piggywaspushed Ds is supposed to be doing double honours & his timetable only shows 7/8 hours per week!

@Benjispruce4 @Piggywaspushed I have just tested... negative, whew. Our SLT is discouraging people from testing, too. The line is "if you have symptoms you should be off anyway" but we all know how many teachers struggle in because it's harder work to set cover and catch up!

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your words of wisdom. I am keeping positive for Dd so it’s nice to have a space to let it all out.

@Decorhate Depending on the course, there might be very few timetabled activities but still a lot of work to be done in the library etc! I did joint honours and only had about that time actually in lectures.

@Benjispruce4 Agree that flatmates are just one of the ways to find friends. My uni friends were all from my course or from my clubs; I had very little to do with those who happened to be next to my room. I know that other people might have different experiences!

That’s good @PhotoDad and hope it stays that way. Our staff were positive days after symptoms started and after an initial negative.
@Decorhate its just hearing of other flats all getting together and doing things that’s making her feel unlucky.

There's a lot of pressure from other people's snapchat/instagram stories isnt' there @Benjispruce4 - seeing people hanging out with their flatmates. Dd is annoyed that we persuaded her to do catered as she won't have a 'flat' of ready made friends. She'll be fine, but it's what she keeps seeing online. One of dd's sixth form friends posted a picture of herself out with flatmates last night - and one of her flatmates was a friend of dd's from her previous school!

@crazycrofter DD1 was at Durham and catered. I think it was because she had a floor of 10 rooms which was much like a flat (had a kitchenette) and they tended to go down for meals together.DD2 wanted s/c .

@PhotoDad Yes I know, I shared a house with friends with low contact hours so know all about the library & essay writing! My course was more 9-5 in terms of lectures & labs.

We've kept a stash of covid tests too, I sent DS off with a box. We have them at work too. We needed them when DH caught it 10 days before we were going on holiday amd still think its a sensible precaution, DH did one before an outpatient procedure a couple of weeks ago.

Re flatmates, I only got on with 1 of my 5 (one was permanently stoned, one was a massive social-climber / rich husband hunter, one was Chinese and only mixed with the Chinese community and one was Arabic and ditto). The one I got on with was a 3rd year and I slotted in with her friends and a club she belonged to, I also made friends from my course and it was fine.

Thats interesting @EspeciallyDivided . A period of adjustment from what was expected to reality.

@Decorhate Absolutely depends on the course! My DD has four half-days of actual classes in the art studio each week but can use the facilities outside those times too, which sounds like a good balance.

Hi everyone, I’m just hopping on. My daughter is studying interior design at Cardiff. I’m dropping her off today!

Good luck @MondaysChild7 .
Which uni and course is it for your DD @PhotoDad ?

Ah, @MondaysChild7, another design student! Beginning to think that my DD was the only one here (@Benjispruce4, it's illustration at ARU, with a placement year eventually).

DD has found that there are four other illustrators and a couple of graphic designers within a couple of minutes of her, quite possibly because those houses are literally two minutes walk from the art school!

Move in day went well generally yesterday at Reading, it was all very well organised.

Came away feeling upset as I wasn't sure how well DS's experience of halls life was going to be - he's been put in a quiet hall (all that was left) and his flat mates seemed very much like they plan to keep themselves to themselves. Most didn't even look at him. He's hardly a party animal (by any stretch!) but does thrive on friendship etc and I could tell he was already feeling a bit disheartened.

We spent the afternoon talking about how he moves on, he likes people, is a likeable person, but naturally quite shy so would struggle to push his way into making friends (he's a bit of a follower).

I shouldn't have worried though, he sent a message last night to say someone had sent out a message on the halls Snapchat asking if anyone fancied meeting for a drink and he responded, so off he went! Feeling so proud of him for doing that. Turns out there's a few who have ended up in the quiet halls who don't want to be there. Hoping today he's a bit more cheerful than yesterday!

@sofakingcool Good for him! There will also be lots of opportunities via societies/clubs/sports once he navigates the first week or so.

That’s brilliant @sofakingcool ! And in a way, it’s good that he had to push himself out of his comfort zone on day 1 - it will be a confidence boost for him.

Thanks! I am so proud of him. It was so tough to see yesterday and I had to work desperately hard to not show my upset to him (before I got back in the car!)

He'll be joining sports clubs this week too, he was just so excited about freshers but I knew he wouldn't go alone so he now has people he can go with.

I can now relax...!

That’s good @sofakingcool . DD and the ‘friendly flat boy’ have set up a flat chat.
Would love to be talented enough to study illustration. A friend from school ended up illustrating some well known children’s books. Is ARU Anglia Ruskin?

Good for him sofakingcool!

@Fiddlersgreen ds's telephone security code came a couple of days later.

Ds text dh last night as dh had asked how he was getting on. He said he was heading to the beach with mates...it was 10,25pm. So that made me worry...visions of him swimming in the sea in the dark! I messaged in the day to say his vans he insisted he needed had been delivered at the Amazon locker. He didn't reply. I got a message from Amazon saying thanks for collecting. So I know he has them. I asked if they fit, what they are like. Nothing. Then I found a text sent at 1.30am from Ds the text says "they are pog" am I meant to know what that means? At least he must be enjoying himself.

I am working later. I only work at our local co op. Working 4pm-10pm. I've never worked an evening shift before. Someone obviously didn't want to go in today. I am annoyed as the shop doesn't really need to open. Too early to eat dinner before, I usually go to bed before 10pm so I won't be eating when I get home. I could do with less food though, so it won't hurt!

Hopefully all dc's will start settling in today.

@Benjispruce4 Yes, it is! "Cambridge School of Art" expanded to become Anglia Ruskin over the last 150 years. The art school is still semi-independent, and the modern ARU campus grew up around its gorgeous, rambling, Victorian/Edwardian buildings with huuuuuuuge skylights. It calls itself CSA within the art world, but then you always have to add "...and that's not part of Cambridge Uni."

I can't draw for toffee! Well done to your friend; illustration is a tough game to break into but DD really wants to give it a go.