All that separates our Freshman

From our family is a few finals!

What I've learned about having a kid in college after just one semester:

First, the bad news:

1. They're not called freshmen anymore. Now they're First Year Students. (Don't get me started on the whole preferred pronoun thing).

2. Even though you pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to fund their educations, you can't see their tuition statements or their grades without the student's permission.

3. Four months is too long for my baby to be gone. Now that we have a better grasp on both the school and sports calendar, we'll plan on bringing her home for Fall Break next year.

Now, the good news:

1. Cell phones are amazing! Remember when you actually had to be in your room to take a call from your family? The likelihood of connecting was next to nil. I love that we can call/text/Facetime and find someone on the other end easily.

2. Athletics are still a great way to gain an instant community. My hockey teammates at Dartmouth became some of my best friends. Sophia is finding the same to be true of her running mates. She's happy she decided to keep running in college.

3. Having "adult" children is super fun. (I know we love to extend adolescence forever, but in my book 19 comes pretty close to a full fledged grown up). We had such a great weekend when I got to see her in October. I'm not exactly sure what the change is, but it just felt different.

4. After Christmas, she'll go back for a one month interim class, and then she'll be back again. So we're days away from making it through the longest part!