Tell us about when you went off to college

[Anonymous]

For me, 1994. I was going to a school four hours away. My parents AND grandparents came (my grandparents were very into everything being equal and they'd gone to move my brother into his dorm too, which is why they came to mine).

We brought two car trunk-fuls of stuff. I remember my dad saying I was not being efficient - that I was taking everything out and putting it on the bed and THEN putting it away, instead of just directly putting things where they would go.

My parents and grandparents stayed at a nearby hotel. We went to the local KMart and my mom bought me two posters - it was the first time I'd ever been allowed to put posters up on my walls and I was very excited. Then I had orientation stuff after lunch. So the five of us went out to lunch, then I went to college stuff, and that was it. My parents and grandparents left the following morning.

That weekend was the last time I ever saw my grandma - she died suddenly four months later, during finals week. I was supposed to call my parents every Sunday and Wednesday night, but was allowed to call more often if I wanted.

[Anonymous]

I assume this is a spinoff from the previous thread?

[Anonymous]

Late late evening drop off to a dorm that was empty. It housed thousands and there was only 1 other girl on my floor that housed 80. And she didn't want to talk. I was on campus early as an outliner, to check off orientation duties/placement tests I couldn't do before. Lonely night. And the tests were brutal. But after that, I walked out into the sunshine. The campus had filling with people there to tailgate and go to the football game. I had no idea before what that Saturday would be like. The campus was alive w/excitement and there was no place I'd rather be, curriculum-wise or extracurricular-wise. Sheer exhilaration.

[Anonymous]

Paid an extra $40 to move in 1 day early. Mom and Dad drove two hours south (from Chicago burbs, went to U of IL) to drop me off. Hauled all my stuff up to the room and met my new roommate stranger from Minnesooooota who every guy in the world wanted to date. Parents took me and the new roommate to Panera, then dropped me back off at the dorm and left.

My Mom told me she cried all the way home.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I was a commuter ...real drag to grow up in a big family and not be able to afford to go away. Dad wouldn't let us take out loans. Met DH at college and escaped being poor. Vowed never to have to live on a budget. And haven't.

Dropped only child off at Princeton. Saw the loveliest harvest moon I have ever seen in my life. We knew things would go well from there and they did. From poverty to Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume this is a spinoff from the previous thread?

Yes, so people can get an idea of how involved other people's families were in getting them off to college.

[Anonymous]

My parents got me an apartment off campus and I moved in with my boyfriend. They drove a moving truck up, moved me in and then left. I remember crying when they left. I went to school 5 hours away and didn't come home until Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

My dad drove me the 3 hours and dropped me off. There was only one other girl in the dorms until the next day. She came into my room and asked me the cost of every piece of clothing I owned, what my parents did for a living, what kind of car my dad (not my mom!) drove. She was very into the material things in life and I don't think we spoke again for the remaining years I was there.

I can't remember how often I called home - there was a pay phone at the bottom of the stairs with a wooden box surrounding it and a door. This was meant to create privacy but it acted like a loud speaker conductor, so no call there was ever private.

Everyone had a single room, plus shared single sex bathrooms and two shared kitchens per floor. The dorm had breakfast but no other meals so I ate sausages and tomatoes and toast every morning and pretty much starved most nights.

I weighed 98lbs by Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

I packed a bag, I drove to my apartment (off campus is cheaper) 1 hour away, I unpacked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I packed a bag, I drove to my apartment (off campus is cheaper) 1 hour away, I unpacked.

Oh, I called about once a Month. I was given $3.50/day (1986) for food... $25/week. I had $1000 in the bank.

[Anonymous]

College was 3 hours away. Parents drove me and I think my younger brother came along. Everything piled in the back of a big station wagon. They helped unpack and set up my room, took me to the student store and the local Target for a few things I'd forgotten. We attended a picnic for new freshman and their families. We arrived probably late morning and they left before dinner time.

They also drove me at the start of sophomore and junior years because I didn't have a car at school then

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dorm had breakfast but no other meals so I ate sausages and tomatoes and toast every morning and pretty much starved most nights.

I weighed 98lbs by Thanksgiving.

No meal plan? Mine required freshmen to get a meal plan that included a minimum of 2 meals/day.

[Anonymous]

I went to school 600 miles away. Got there 2 weeks early for preseason and stayed in temporary housing with my team. My parents stayed for a few days. It felt more like sports camp than school. It helped having a built-in support system. I was excited to be leaving home. I think my parents were wistful, but my mom was probably happy too.

[Anonymous]

My parents came. The road leading to my dorm had a big traffic jam, so they sent me ahead to check in while they waited in line. I was SO excited walking up the road; they told me later it looked like I was bounding away with excitement. I had a triple (three of us in a room built for two), and we had all exchanged snail-mail letters over the summer. Two of us were severely shy; the other was a total party girl. By the time my parents got out of the traffic jam, we all kind of helped each other get the room set up. We hung out outside for a little while, then they got ready to drive home. My mom and I cried ... I'm tearing up now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dorm had breakfast but no other meals so I ate sausages and tomatoes and toast every morning and pretty much starved most nights.

I weighed 98lbs by Thanksgiving.

No meal plan? Mine required freshmen to get a meal plan that included a minimum of 2 meals/day.

European universities don't generally have them, no. There are "canteens" on campus where you can go and get food, which I did at lunchtime but it was a long walk down a dark quiet road in the evening and best avoided unless with a group of other students.