Re: GOOD MORNING DE!
By: Decomposed
in
POPE IV
Wed, 13 Sep 17 7:02 PM
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Msg. 33979 of
47202
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Morning, micro:
Re: “How is it in Virginia today???”
It's a soggy 64° Wednesday. I wasn't expecting rain, but the weather turns on a dime sometimes around here. I don't think this is residue from Irma. A weather map (shown below) suggests that it is a small storm system and that Irma is well to our Southwest. But it IS supposed to rain tomorrow too. I'm not sure where those clouds are coming from since Irma's clouds are the only other source of rain that I see.
re: "Irma is still here a bot with clouds but I think the rain has stopped... "
Aren't you in Minnesota? I don't think Irma has gone that far North.
re: "HOW is your son doing at UVA ? Is he adjusting?"
He's doing well, thank you. He's taking 19 units, with only 4 being lower division. He's finding Japanese to be more of a challenge than he expected. It assigns homework five days a week! But when I pressed him on how he's actually doing relative to others he said he's toward the top of the class.
He says he's among the worst in the class in conducting. Given that this was a class that the instructor said Freshmen are almost never qualified to take, I'm not surprised. Moreover, his problem is nerves. He gets nervous when trying to conduct a bunch of older students who he doesn't know. He's also one of only two who isn't a music major. There's more to the class than standing up and waving a baton, and he's excelling at the course's other topics. He'll get over his nerves in conducting and do well, I'm sure. He always does. I'm actually happy he's finding it to be initially difficult. What's the point in going to college if you don't get pushed?
He's finding his sole math class easy. (But it's still early.) The same for his Linguistics (not Japanese) class. He's taking a mandatory one-credit COLA class (of which there were many choices). They include topics like "Slavery, Jefferson and UVA" (*yawn*) and "Discovering Jefferson's Academical Village" (*actually sounds interesting to me*) and "Are We Alone in the Universe?" (*sounds VERY interesting to me*). How about "Why Haven't We Cured Cancer?" for Nemo? There's a full list here: http://college.as.virginia.edu/COLA But
Joey wound up taking "Mindfulness: Awareness and Habit" which sounds dull to me, but it's what he wanted.
There must be at least one other class, but I don't remember what it is.
re: "Getting into a routine? First year away from home is somewhat worrisome for both mom and dad, as well as the student.."
Yep, he's establishing a routine. Most of his classes are in one part of campus, but he's still walking more than he'd become accustomed to and is occasionally zipping around town on a school bike. (Rental bikes are all over the campus. You take it at one place, check it back in at another, then rent a new bike when you're heading back. It costs about $6 per month.) Hey, he *FINALLY* got his driver's license yesterday! He wasn't at all motivated to get it, but I pretty much forced him to complete the behind-the-wheel training before he left for school and he did so in August. With that completed, all he had to do was turn 18 and the license itself was almost automatic. (Prior to 18, young drivers are required to go to a Virginia court and receive their license from a judge. They can also lose their license far more easily than can adults.)
We never did buy him a car. He's not allowed to have one on campus anyway during his first year. Maybe his mom and I will get him one next year *IF* he decides to live off campus.
Joey is getting along well with his dormmates. He's in a dorm with the best and brightest 1st year students, mostly Echols Scholars and the School of Engineering's equivalent. (A few non scholars are there too since the dorm wasn't completely full.) You'd think everyone would be studious and dull, but no... In the first two weeks, two students were taken away in ambulances after too much partying. Joey said there was vomit in the elevator one morning. I think I mentioned to you that on his birthday the other kids inflated a condom and presented it to him. When we called that evening to wish him a Happy Birthday, we were hardly able to get a word in edgewise due to the constant interruptions by other well wishers. So he's made friends.
One of the two cafeterias where most of the students eat has a piano. It's not in great shape, but Joey has taken to playing there every so often. He said he played for an hour and a half one day last week.
And . . . does he miss us? Here are his words: "Uh... I don't NOT miss you." LOL. The kid lacks tact.
Thanks for asking.
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