Everyone is finally back in school. I’d say I gave a gigantic sigh of relief, but I haven’t had time to do that.
This year Hannah (H21) is a Senior in college at Maine Maritime Academy studying Marine Biology with a minor in Business. If you don’t know much about US geography (if you were educated outside the US or in Kansas) then I’ll refresh you. Maine is as far to the northeast in the US as you can go. And Maine Maritime Academy is almost as far northeast in Maine as you can travel. The drive is over 30 hours. The alternative is plane travel that requires stops in at least three airports, starting in Bangor, then routing through either New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, or Chicago, and then finally to Wichita. With that kind of travel, you can imagine she doesn’t get home much from August through May! Although she was the first to head back to school this year (leaving in early August), she just started classes last week. Prior to that she lived on campus, acting as a student ambassador to the incoming Freshman and transfer students. We’re hoping that she’ll be able to move into the house she’s sharing today…maybe tomorrow. Having to travel that far and move a couple times has put stress on her…and me, from afar. Hopefully things are a bit more settled and will go smoothly for a while.
Jared (H20) is starting his second year at Pittsburg State University (Go Gorillas!) in Pittsburg, KS. His summer was filled with learning construction trades, Army Reserve exercises, and generally working out like a maniac. He didn’t live at home this summer, so we cherished the few opportunities we had when he dropped in to visit. Considering that he’s nearly four hours away, “dropped in” is a bit of a chore, but he’s been good about it. He’s still on a career path to go into the Army, with the Army Rangers as a very serious option. He started classes three weeks ago, and things have been going well. He’s not a great “sit in the classroom” kind of student, so the mix of kinetic classes with sit-down classes has been a huge boon to him. He’s also practicing all the events for the decathlon, and will soon be competing indoors for the Gorilla Track Team. We’re hoping that we’ll get to see him compete this year more than the one time we saw him last year!
The University of Kansas Jayhawks welcomed our newest university entrant, Maddie (H19) a few weeks ago. She’s studying Education with a probably minor in Business. Her start has been fast and furious, but as is her nature, she’s taken everything in stride. She’s using Snapchat and our family group text to not only keep us updated, but to make us jealous of all the opportunities that she’s been able to take advantage of. She has a large pool of friends on campus from her high school days, and that’s helped make her transition easier. She’s also doing a great job making new friends and acquaintances, so she’s not lacking for social interaction.
We also have a High School Junior (3rd year of high school). Lance (H16) started out his year by overhauling his entire Junior and Senior schedule to incorporate the International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme with a focus on engineering. His eventual goal is to enter the field of aerospace engineering, so this seemed like a no-brainer. We had several meetings about it at the school, and fortunately were able to make dramatic and extensive changes to his schedule in a fairly short period of time. We’ve already started investigating colleges together, so it seems that I’ll continue on that road for another couple of years. He’s also running Cross Country and had his first meet this week. He did well, but also recognizes there is room for improvement. The Cross Country season starts out with temperatures in the upper 90’s (35+ C) but will end with temperatures below freezing. It makes for an interesting, but challenging, season. Despite having to travel over an hour to almost all the meets, I’m looking forward to watching him run. We’ve also had some really good conversations about computer networking, since he’s taking a CISCO class. Sometimes I think he’s stunned at how much I know!
Colleen (H12) has left her elementary school years behind with her entry into 7th grade, the first of two middle school years here in our school district. She successfully made the volleyball team…a huge achievement as over half those trying out were cut. She is currently playing outside hitter (OH) on the “A” team. Their first outing was a bit shaky, but they recovered well and had a great second match a few days later. She is also continuing her gymnastics on the local YMCA team. That means that her day starts at 6:45am and continues until 8PM four nights a week, including 5 hours of sports. To say that she’s worn out at the end of the day would be an understatement. Despite all that activity, she’s done a great job with her academics, including Honors Math and Honors ELA (English Language Arts). She’s successfully navigated the transition to middle school quite well.
Finally, Becca (H25) has begun her full online class schedule with her Master’s program through Gonzaga University. She’s studying Communications with a Focus in Teaching. It’s fascinating to observe her taking classes from a university located in Spokane, Washington. Her school is located almost as far to the Northwest as you can get in the Continental US. Figures that we’d have kids attending schools so far from home…and so far from each other. Of course, “attending” is a pretty loosely defined when you’re taking classes online.
Our other two, Laura (H23A) and Jenni (H23B) are going through work transitions in Rochester, MN and Boulder, CO respectively. Laura has been called to a Mormon Mission in the Dominican Republic starting in mid-November. To that end, we’re attempting to coordinate a ton of things prior to her departure. If you ever thought that your kids moving out of the house would require less work on your part…think again. It’s kind of exhilarating to be working on the plans for her trip…but it does take a lot of energy. She’ll be gone for 18 months, so there are a lot of items to consider (housing, car, possessions, cell phone contract, etc.) that I’d never really thought about before. It’s a good, if stressful, learning experience.
Jenni is currently deeply involved in a job search, attempting to find a career and company that better fit her. She loves the Boulder area, and has decided that the focus of her search will be location-based. That means that she’s looking for jobs in that area more than looking to move. Quite honestly, I’m not sure that she’d be able to handle another move. She’s had so much disruption in her living arrangements over the past six years that I’m not sure more would be a good thing. We were fortunate that she was able to spend about 10 days with us over the past two weeks. That gave us tons of time to catch up, plan for the future, and generally enjoy being together. I’m glad we had the opportunity to reconnect!
Of course, with family members spread out all over it makes communicating difficult. I’m very happy we have the modern conveniences of texting, FaceTime, SnapChat, and Skype…not to mention cell phones in general. I can’t imagine what life would be like if we didn’t have those tools! On the other hand, having instant availability to my kids has brought crises to me that would be handled by them much more frequently that I’d prefer. They are learning how to deal with crisis (and perceived crisis) situations, but they lean on me. In fact, they lean on me a lot. I don’t mind, in fact it actually validates me. It reminds me that I have something to offer to them still, even though they’re getting older. But the sheer number of crises that an 11 member immediate family can generate is overwhelming.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being there for my kids. I love helping them out. But the amount of emotional and psychic energy that it takes to keep up with the Hectic Family can sometimes drain me.
So here’s to another school year. Another year of successes and failures, calm and drama, excitement and frustration. We’re all in this for the long haul, so we might as well enjoy the journey, right?
