Anonymous wrote:I still remember the high I felt my first few months at college. No one knew who I was, so I had a completely fresh start. I was myself, but myself without 6 years of history. No teasing about my 8th grade haircut, or my 9th grade satin jacket or my 10th grade braces.

I was in heaven. Reality set in eventually, but it never really dulled my happiness there. Just made it more real.

+1 And I made good friends that have lasted.

I still remember the high I felt my first few months at college. No one knew who I was, so I had a completely fresh start. I was myself, but myself without 6 years of history. No teasing about my 8th grade haircut, or my 9th grade satin jacket or my 10th grade braces.

I was in heaven. Reality set in eventually, but it never really dulled my happiness there. Just made it more real.

+2 Barnard

Anonymous wrote:Same for my DD. Thriving in college at her nerdy school. I think it will last. HS "was something I just had to put up with on my way to where I really belong."

OP here, that's exactly how DD felt.

Anonymous wrote:I felt that way and it never wore off (Bryn Mawr).

+ 1 (Northwestern)

Good! Be glad for the joy, Mom.

Who knows?

Same for my DD. Thriving in college at her nerdy school. I think it will last. HS "was something I just had to put up with on my way to where I really belong."

My work involves counseling young adults. I can tell you that many of them say the happiest time in their life for them socially was college. I think there are few places or situations that equal residential college when it comes to providing opportunities to meet new and interesting people. Add to that the fact that kids in college are adult enough to have tons of fun while young enough to be relatively free of adult resposibilities like jobs and kids, and it's no suprise so many kids flourish socially during college. My two kids in college are the same.

That's not to say kids in college don't have their share of problems. Not everyone handles the social drama well, and once the year gets underway there is all the academic pressure to deal with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Socially awkward DD is ecstatically happy at college (freshman). She is making friends very easily for the first time in her life, having fun, loving her classes. Is this a honeymoon period or can we believe she's found her place?

I don't want to identify the school but its an arty SLAC.

she's at pitzer or scripps.

Nope but good guess, she looked at both those schools and liked them, especially Scripps.

I'm not terribly worried about her putting socializing above school because she has always been intensely academic and also loves her classes.

I felt that way and it never wore off (Bryn Mawr).

Anonymous wrote:Socially awkward DD is ecstatically happy at college (freshman). She is making friends very easily for the first time in her life, having fun, loving her classes. Is this a honeymoon period or can we believe she's found her place?

I don't want to identify the school but its an arty SLAC.

she's at pitzer or scripps.

Maybe, maybe not.

The first few months people are always more open to getting to know others. Things kind of calm down in the second semester.

One issue - she might want to make up for socially missing out for years by being social and not really focusing on school.

Socially awkward DD is ecstatically happy at college (freshman). She is making friends very easily for the first time in her life, having fun, loving her classes. Is this a honeymoon period or can we believe she's found her place?

I don't want to identify the school but its an arty SLAC.