Thread 51 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Summer 24 - End of Uni Yr 2

[Oblomov24]

2024 Summer, end of year 2 for those at Uni.

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). 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 advice to be had.

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DD has had two exams out of 5 so far (she's only doing two subjects this year). Third is tomorrow then one each in the next two weeks, it feels very drawn out.

DS went for an interview this morning but was unsuccessful, they got back to him after a couple of hours to say they were offering it to someone else, at least they let him know. He finds all this stuff very hard.

@EasilyDefined Sorry to hear about the interview. I always say it's just preparation for the one they're actually going to get, so he shouldn't lose heart.

That sounds really hopeful @crazycrofter 🤞🏼 The star wars music in the shower must have worked to get him into the right frame of mind 😂

Passport woes have hit here...
Ds's passport has been posted into the neighbours house by a gormless postman. They're away & we don't know how long for. We're travelling on the 22nd. No one has a contact number & a key so I've just emailed him. But he is the grouchiest bugger in history & is always complaining about our deliveries going to his house. He actually keeps them unless we go & ask for them. Then we get a lecture.

Thanks @Shimy it did sound just right for him in most ways but there was a bit of a red flag about one aspect so maybe its for the best. He has got another application in but the deadline is end of June by which time half the summer will have gone. Not much seasonal work around here but he is emailing all the garden centres and nurseries (he doesn't think he'd cope with hospitality).

Nightmare @Cantonet

What a nightmare @Cantonet . Fingers crossed he’s coming back before you travel!

@EasilyDefined thats a shame for him. I hope something else comes up. What is the main aim - cash or relevant work experience (or both!)? Has he tried the supermarkets if it’s mainly about money?

@EasilyDefined There's still some time for something to come up for the summer so we'll keep rooting for him. I know what you mean about lack of seasonal work and with nearly all the retail shops closing down around here, we're left with the vaping shops. What about online work? there are quite a few adminy-type/support roles online these days, i think it'll be worth a look.

😱 Cantonet! I am expecting the passport office to reject DD’s application to start again as it’ll be over 6 months she applied, this is on top of the nearly 6 years of applying for the foreign birth certificate. I think I’ve run out of witnesses and notary public people (seriously, if they don’t answer in 3 rings, it’s a strike and we have to find a new witness; no mobiles allowed. No, no excuse that these people may be working so didn’t pick up the call).

I hope grumpy man comes through for you.

ED, sorry to hear about the job rejection. I agree it is hard work when they are trying their best and the govt/media messaging is that YP are lazy. Makes my blood boil.

It's heartbreaking watching them get all excited at a job lead and then seeing their face drop when the call comes or in many cases, the call NEVER comes .

Sorry about the interview @Shimy its so hard for them. DS still had no luck getting a summer placement, think he’s just given up on that now.

Good luck with the passports @Cantonet and @ealingwestmum why are these things always a nightmare?!

Still struggling on with GCSEs here, my god they are a long hard slog, DS2 is frazzled, Biology paper 2 tomorrow and three days of double exams (maths, Spanish, chemistry, history, geography and physics) next week before collapsing in an exhausted heap. He’s got lots of fun stuff lined up for summer thankfully.

Good luck with the rest of the exams @JustHereWithMyPopcorn - GCSEs are such an endurance test aren’t they?!

Keep him going JustHere, it'll be over soon!

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn It's not DS this time. I was commiserating with @EasilyDefined 's DS who's looking for summer work. DS2 searched for work in summer of 2021& 22 and got zilch, nada! so had to busy himself with online internships and voluntary work. Funnily enough, a complete stranger he reached out on Linkedin last yr, contacted him earlier this yr to ask if he was interested in some data analysis work? it's a startup. So It seems DS might be doing that this summer. I think Linked In if used properly can be quite useful in getting a bit of work remotely.

Mine had to turn his summer job down. His 3rd to 5th choices of uni in Australia started Sept. He was hoping to get one of these so he could work his summer job. He put the UOQ in first choice place because it only had 2 pupil places and the start date was July, so knowing it only had 2 places, he thought he wouldn't get a place there, the one he put in second choice was start August. He thought he'd get 3rd or 4th choice and fly out Sept. Then he was given a place at the July start UOQ. So he can't do his summer job. He usually earns almost £12 hour full time July, Aug and 3 weeks of sept. So all a bit annoying. But I guess it's good he was one of 2 pupils to get in.

Annoyingly Ds has just announced he has a hospital appointment in Sussex 2nd July. We've paid privately for his acne stuff as the nhs wait came up as November this year to be seen, he went on the waiting list July last year. So we had to pay. She prescribed roaccutane. He's hoping to get the final 3 months of tablets then. We need to leave home for the airport in the very early hours of 3rd. So that is a very silly time to book an appointment. Ds really knows how to wind us all up.

Hope you get the passport issue sorted, Cantonet. What a nightmare! Your neighbour sounds unreasonable in the extreme.

I am up and down still. Had a good day yesterday but it ended with a message from the DC's godmother to tell me that she has cancer on her spine. She had breast cancer about 12 years ago and has been wonderfully supportive during my treatment, so I'm gutted for her. I'm not sure if it's a new cancer or secondary breast cancer (very much hoping it's not the latter) and she's waiting to hear from oncology.

We're worried about DS too. He was in pretty low spirits while home last week. Stayed in his bedroom, supposedly revising, for most of each day but was grumpy and monosyllabic with us when he did appear.
We took him back to school on Sunday, he had exams on Wednesday and this afternoon, but we haven't heard from him, other than a few words in response to whatsapp asking how it went.
He's very different to DD -we always know when something's going on with her because she tells us and asks for advice, whereas DS goes inwards (we've nicknamed him "International Man of Mystery").

I know some of his behaviour is simply growing up and growing away from us, and being away at school has perhaps heightened that, but it's still hard to deal with.
DS hasn't really spoken about my illness either.

I'm worried that he'll go off to study in London next year and we'll never know what's happening in his life.

@Alwaysplayspicc it's sorted now. I've emailed him & he's returning tomorrow evening - phew 😅 A reasonable response too....
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.
I can understand you feeling quite fragile at the moment. I do think boys (not all) internalise things a lot more and your ds has had an awful lot to cope with this year. He must be pretty mentally tough to have got through all the ups & downs so far. Hoping & praying his exams go well for him.

@icanbewhatiwant can you not convert your ds's appt. to an online one ? We did this for DD & DD for their Roaccutane & then picked up the prescription/picked up the tablets & sent them down to them.

@Cantonet yes it is online. But it's picking up the prescription. It was a complete nightmare the first time when he was home. He needed a code. The dr at the clinic said the hospital would send a code. The hospital said it was nothing to do with them. It took several days of phoning back and forth before we finally received a code. Then picked up from our local boots. Last month Ds collected from the hospital which was straight forward. So he wants to do the same again. There is a delivery option, but only 30 mile radius. Not sure why it all has to be so completed. I have phoned the clinic and persuaded them to squeeze Ds in a week earlier, so we have a week to sort out collecting meds.

DS and DD are both scrambling about today with doctors appointments, pharmacist who close for lunch etc etc in order to have enough medication over the summer. DD's situation is complicated by having free prescriptions in Wales. She is exempt in England but can't get a certificate because she's registered in Wales. She was under 19 when she left England so it wasn't required. Her medical records have never arrived in Wales either. I never realised the NHS divided between the nations.
I'm going to collect her and her belongings this weekend. I can't believe how quickly her first year has gone. She has absolutely thrived and is loving Aberystwyth. And....she got a letter yesterday to say she had been awarded a prize of some more money towards her summer volunteering trip. She applied ages ago and assumed she hadn't won it. And...they decided to give her another prize too, usually only available to second years. In total the three awards she's been given add up to nearly £2k. She is so happy as she hadn't managed to save as much as she'd hoped over the year and was going to be paying me back for about the next 10 years.

That's amazing @mummyinbeds - well done to your dd for getting that! Will it fund the whole trip?

@Alwaysplayspicc really sorry to hear about your friend - and that you're worried about ds. I think the A Levels are quite stressful, quite apart from what he's been through this year and your illness. Even my ds was a bit stressed before Business yesterday. Hopefully once the exams are over he'll settle back into home and start to share a little bit. I'm worried we'll never know what's going on with our ds in future too 😫He loves to chat at length about issues like social media/the changing culture/gender roles/self-discipline etc etc but if it's to do with his own life and in particular any practical arrangements/decisions, he won't share.

That’s a lovely way to end the year mummyinbeds, well done to your DD!

@mummyinbeds @crazycrofter that's amazing news for your DD! Well done her.

Sorry crazy - not sure how got there, but it won't let me delete!

@crazycrofter yes, it should cover everything, plus some supplies for the school she volunteers in. The kids sometimes share a pencil between them 😢 She's also been fundraising for some building work at the school so she can add to that too.

@mummyinbeds fantastic news for your DD!

@Alwaysplayspicc I'm sorry to hear things are still up and down for you. That's awful news about your friend.

I went to my Active Against Cancer fitness group yesterday- I've now 'graduated' and have started the post treatment sessions. I was exercising with one of the fundraisers for the group who has just celebrated her 5 year mark so that cheered me.

DS messaged last night to say his College boat has qualified for the Bumps which is some rowing competition for next week. I don't understand rowing at all but he was v excited! I think he's playing sport pretty much all day every day until term officially ends now that exams are done!

That’s brilliant @mummyinbeds Congratulations to your DD!

It's lovely to read that C life is serving him so well Craggy!