DS is currently a 1st semester college junior. He does much better with in-person classes, so it is a challenge for him to get through the change to online, especially because his professors are also challenged in making the same transition! He will take the summer classes online, too. They have 3 intense, 1-month summer terms, one class per term, and this summer the college is offering one of them tuition-free :) So he will be busy!

I’m so sad that there are no internships right now, and I don’t know if he will be able to get one before graduating next spring. I would be happy to delay his graduation by a semester or two, to allow for an internship. It’s more valuable than a class!

I've got one leaving in 2 weeks for an outdoor summer job halfway across the country. Our govt has said they will pay students that can't find work, but she is very excited about her job. I could try to convince her to stay, but won't. She is adventurous (same DD that bought a motorcycle and rode across SE Asia) and this is what she needs to do.

My other DD is still planning on doing summer camp 4 week canoe trip in July. I'm not completely convinced it's going to happen but we are planning as if it is just to give her something to think about.

bpath, my oldest DD is seriously considering not returning to school next term just because she hates the online learning. Most of her classes are small tutorials where discussion is key and she says it is not the same online. She loves school so it's not an easy decision.

I heard the PM talk about that student plan! I think as time goes on, we will develop a CCC program like we did in the '30s.

A 4-week canoe trip sounds perfect!

Sue are there any volunteer opportunities available?

Our end of college (Freshman) year granddaughter finishes exams this week.

She has all the paperwork in to be an Instacart shopper. My DH, her grandfather, has told her that he will pay her however much she might make from Instacart for her to NOT be an Instacart shopper.

She is now thinking about other employment. It’s going to be a long, sad summer.

Well, I was going to suggest more online classes since every school is offering online in the summer. Get ahead in her degree. Like bpath said, tuition is discounted. Some of our students will be doing virtual internships in strength and conditioning with athletes and even a summer camp.

ETA I’ll be teaching online because the extra money is good, but our summer classes have always been pretty well enrolled.

IDK what will be open this summer. I would not willingly put myself in contact with the public. There are not going to be concerts of any outdoor large gatherings.

Ugh.

What glorious and wonderful things *were* they going to do and what *are* they going to do?

We still don't know.

But a few rants.

Tuition for online summer classes is not any lower than last year at my son's uni.

DD1 is still up in the air about her DNC job; who knows what that will look like.

My DD2 volunteered last summer and much of the school year that a local H; that is cancelled indefinitely.

As for summer jobs, the grocery stores are all hiring... and not much else. But how would it make sense to have them take a job like that after all the pains we take to go to the store as little as possible?

Daisy, one of mine is proposing a sabbatical next semester, too. He's on scholarship so we would have to research whether he could defer. But this whole situation has him questioning everything... He's really discouraged.

Another of mine needs to commit by May 1, but without knowing what's ahead, it's a very difficult decision when universities themselves are unsure. He, though, has productive employment this summer.

As a whole, I'm disappointed in how many colleges and universities in the U.S. have reacted during this pandemic. It's as if they hadn't caught on that the younger generations were questioning their price tags *before* this all happened.

Ds is a college sophomore...he was going to take an online class this summer before anyway, and he was planning to return to the camp counselor job he held (and excelled at, lol, he was a camper favorite bc he is basically just a big kid himself) at the local sailing/waterskiing camp. We won’t know for a couple of weeks if camp will be held. There will be heartbroken kids and counselors if they don’t...this camp is ridiculous fun and the highlight of the summer for lots if kids. Plus..for many parents it’s a big part of their summer child care plan.

Dd was supposed to get a job and write her college essays. She can still write her essays, not sure about the job. Also, we had planned her college tours during April, and those were cancelled, so we will need to try to do those if campuses are open. Otherwise, she’ll be at the lake or pool all summer. 🙄

I am in the process of cleaning out my dad‘s house...my stepmother was just this side of a hoarder. I found a gazillion “Heritage Valley“ Christmas collectibles. All new in boxes. Not sure what her plan was (she died 10 years ago). I suggested to DD that her summer job could be trying to sell them on eBay! But we’ve never done anything like that. Seems to me that the process of finding boxes and packing the stuff could be really annoying.

Volunteering is nice but DD needs to make some money. I would guess that there will be a lot of parents desperate for babysitters but not sure how that will even work if we’re still “distancing”. TBH we can give her spending money but it‘s obviously preferable for her to actually earn some money of her own.

She doesn’t love being a student enough to take classes over the summer, but maybe she could explore that idea.

My rising-junior son had a great internship lined up in the field of his choice. They also provided housing and $17.50/hour with 40 hour weeks. But now it is almost certainly cancelled. I'll be heading to my summer house in a few weeks to stay indefinitely. The plan is for him to join me there. I am not sure who will be hiring though. I'll stay at my cottage unless summoned back, but I highly doubt Longwood is opening anytime soon (I wish!) and I think tours would be shunned. I've been known to say "Bring it in, we're family here." Hard to social distance and be heard at the same time.

My heart goes out to all these college kids. Just one more thing this damned thief has taken.

I think entrepreneurship sounds like a good option. Develop an app, start an Etsy store, start a blog or a YouTube channel. There might not be much money in it, but at least they'd be doing something an getting some experience.

My daughter had been looking forward to her second year of being a camp counselor. I don't know yet what she will be doing this summer.

zalco is looking for someone to organize photos...she could ship them to your kid, it would be a win-win situation.

I think having her sell the contents of your dad’s house on ebay is an excellent idea. Not only would it keep her busy but she would learn in the process—-setting up the account, taking pictures of the items, figuring out what to charge in order to make even a small profit, managing the sales, etc. She could order supplies from Staples for curbside pickup and figure out postage online and print. There have to be tutorials on youtube on how to sell on ebay and all the aspects involved. Maybe start there to see if she thinks it’s do-able.

Since we won't be having an estate sale for my parents' house any time soon, I could do our own on eBay or local special-interest fb markets. DS could help me if he’s not too swamped with summer classes. Next week is exams, and summer starts the week after I think! But I have no idea how to price Danish Modern and Knoll tulips that have been actually used for 60 years, and show it!

Our oldest grandson, a rising mechanical engineering senior, had an internship at college lined up. It may still work out. Fingers crossed.

DGD1, a rising junior marketing/business major, will for sure be working at Lululemon again when they reopen. Last summer she had a great 6-week business internship in Kansas City at her half-brother’s company and was able to stay with him and his wife. Don’t know if she can do that again this year.

DGD#2 is in pre-med and has no plans to work. She would just as soon loaf. In fairness, there aren’t too many good opportunities for jobs where they live other than fast food or grocery stores.

The internship/student teaching kids are the ones I feel the most for. This will hinder their future employment more than anything else. I sooo agree those experiences are where the REAL learning happens--so much more important than jobs. I really do not know how people thrive doing on line learning..I hear the ads for the on line colleges and I groan. They can't possibly be great educations and they have to be sooo DULL!!

SueB-Maybe you could pay your DD to help you clean out your dad's house? Win-win.

Too late for that, Texan. I’ve gotta finish it within the next two weeks and she’ll still be “in school.” Plus...um, going there (2 hours from my home) is my only alone time these days. 😉

I miss alone time.

DD #2 is graduating and was planning a gap year before PT school. Jobs in her field are nonexistent right now. She's planning on a few extra classes to boost her application. So sad for these kids right now.

As I'm grading students' personal websites they had to make for an assignment, this is another skill college students have that can translate into money. They really do a great job here. Also social media managers. They could also try learning a new language through something like Rosetta Stone or Babble.

My oldest is finishing up her junior year of college. She goes to school in southern CA and had just moved into her first off campus apartment in January after spending her fall semester abroad. We had signed a 6 month lease through the end of June. She had just started working part time at a cake bakery in February when a few weeks later her campus closed and went online. Since we were stuck paying for her apartment and because she was working, we decided to let her stay in her off campus apartment. Not knowing just how crazy it would get, the plan was for her to come home at the end of May. She had applied for a bunch of summer internships in DC and would live at home if she got one of the internships. Well, with COVID, none of the internships have panned out.

In the meantime, the bakery is swamped with business (it’s crazy as all they make is cake!). Several workers have chosen not to work, so they are very short staffed - my poor daughter worked 13 out of 14 days straight, including Easter. On top of her regular course schedule! She finally had to talk to her manager and tell him she had to cut back a bit on her hours for the next couple of weeks until school ends.

So now plans have completely changed but still somewhat up in the air. Since she has a job that is decent paying, albeit not something exactly resume worthy, we decided it makes sense for her to just stay there now for the summer. The only problem is her housing situation. Her plan all along was to move to a beach house senior year (it gets passed down from the graduating seniors to the rising seniors) but as of now, with uncertainty about whether school will resume on campus or online in the fall, she’s not sure who she might be living with. Nor does she know when that lease starts. She can go month to month on her current place but only if her roommates also stay for the summer (one has plans to move in with other friends somewhere else for fall semester; not sure yet what her other roommate intends). So while she has a job and can keep working, she has to figure out what the heck her housing situation will be. Ideally she could move to her new place in July but so much up in the air at the moment. She could always take time off from work and come home for a while if she is homeless b/w the end of June and end of August, but would prefer to stay and earn money. She definitely plans to return for fall semester, even if school is online and we are okay with that since it’s going to be her senior year.

Meanwhile, my 19 y/o is home from college. He was planning to work at the restaurant he worked at last summer. Fortunately it has a very loyal following and they have managed to stay open doing carry out business, but unless they reopen for sit down business this summer, I doubt they will be rehiring. But he will go out of his mind with boredom if he doesn’t have a job so hopefully he could find something. Same goes for my 17 y/o. I know some places are hiring but mostly places where I wouldn’t be crazy about them working until the virus has slowed its spread (we haven’t peaked in MD yet). However, if people start going back to work yet summer camps don’t open, I’m sure there will be great need for babysitters (right up my 15 y/o daughter’s alley, but not sure my boys would be interested).

Wow. I was just texting with my brother. He teaches at an international high school abroad, so of course last month it all went online. Most of the boarding students who could, went home. (That, of course, leads to its own set of issues for online teaching and learning.)

Well, he says most of the parents are refusing to pay for the final term which just started. It seems the school must not have much reserve because he is concerned the school will close, and he will be out of a job. He has been at this school for a few years and had already committed to next year, so he hasn’t been to one of the international teaching job fairs in a few years. He has contacts of course, but who can interview, and who can even commit if they don’t know what their school will be like come fall?

I can’t imagine being a high school/college kid right now. One of my former colleagues sent me a text to let him know if I had any ideas for an internship for his son. I think it will be very tough for him to find anything.

Like all of us, these kids’ lives will be forever changed by this experience. Hard as it is I think some good will come of it.

The road crews and grounds crews are working hard and I know many are looking for workers!! Most of the stores that are open are looking for workers--gloved and masked a young healthy person will be fine!! As always in America work is there--it just may not be up to the standard one hoped for. Bottom line when we make the switch from WANT to NEED opportunities will avail themselves!!!

I also see a lot on Nextdoor for people needing help with yardwork, gardening, dog-walking, etc. So, this is something that a college student could do that could be done solo or with appropriate distancing.

My kiddos are at lose ends. The two eldest had amazing internships lined up. The youngest has created his own internship which can easily move online, but will not be nearly as rich an experience. DS3 was looking forward to a gap year abroad starting in June, which is off the table for now.

Online learning is nobody's idea of fun. And honestly, I have no idea of what the next few months hold.

Yes, but what do they NEED!!? They have bread and water, yes? A lean-to for shelter? Internships are nothing, when they can work on a grounds crew! Kids are so soft today.

BAER

My youngest is graduating with his B.S. next month. He is a very smart kid but some of his decisions leave me scratching my head. Instead of looking for an internship his junior year he worked for the IT Department at his school in a position that is limited to current students. We suggested he consider an internship, he said not necessary. I think that after the fact he wished that he had gone the internship route, when he saw friends getting hired at the companies where the interned.

He just started looking for a job last month. Earlier he was involved in a huge project, then he took forever to get his resume together. Now with Covid-19 very few people are hiring. Not sure what he is going to do when he comes home.

He is still at school for 3 more weeks. Maybe the right opportunity will present itself, his degree is for Data Analytics and that can be done from home, but there needs to be data to analyze.

Our youngest son will be graduating (but no ceremony) with a degree in data analytics and just got a job offer yesterday! So grateful that he got hired in this economy. He's still waiting to hear from a county maybe this week. I told him "A bird in the hand..." I feel bad for his friends whose summer internship jobs got rescinded.

I think persons in data analytics will probably be OK.

I have several students who are starting graduate programs in May for physical and occupational therapy that will be online for the summer.

I do have to wonder if more students will be interested in epidemiology and public health now.

Gscience, we’ve been talking (around the dinner table) about students changing majors too. DD is finishing her freshman year, originally enrolled as a Health Science major (many of those students go on to PA program) but she’s thinking she may change to Public Health with a minor in nutrition. (She would major in nutrition but her school doesn’t offer a major, only a minor.)

That's great, Sueb20. With nutrition, going forward to take the RD exam, a Masters degree will be required, so many schools have changed their undergraduate programs to minors of some sort of nutrition hybrid. The DPD internship is still required to take the RD exam, but that is separate from the degree. Same thing with Athletic training that it will be a Masters only. We are offering a 3+2 program where someone gets a B.S. in Exercise Science and M.S. Athletic Training if they want to go that route.

But public health is a great major! I have more and more students interested in MPH and we have some good schools around here with programs even though we do not.