Commuting or living on campus?

On: August 31, 2018

My daughter is a smart, capable, competent, sharp, resourceful young woman. She’s also an only child and a homebody. I specifically wanted her to live on campus (even though it’s only 25 minutes from home and she could easily commute) because I knew that if she commuted, she would go to class, then get in her car and come home. I wanted her to experience college in the way I did. Late night gab sessions with girlfriends, late night makeovers (I nails were never lacking polish my freshman year of college), late night runs to Wal-Mart/Target (because isn’t that the perfect time to get shampoo and Twizzlers?), time to make friends who also live on campus, opportunities to study with friends and classmates because she doesn’t need to hurry home, and heaven help me, the opportunity to attend parties.

I raised my daughter to be a smart, strong, and independent young woman, and now it was time for her to really flex those muscles (little birdies all leave the nest at some point). Imagine my glee when she texted me just last night saying she was finishing up some notecards for class and then going to a girl’s house with a few others for girls spa night?! Then, she texted me a picture of her in a mud mask and her nails freshly painted! She’s also already been to a party. It was at a house close to campus and there were SO many people there (she showed me a video of the dancing). This party was a dry party mostly attended by other 18yo kids new to college. Will all the parties be dry? Probably not. Do I trust her to make good choices? Yes. Will she always? Probably not; I was a college freshman once upon a time, as well. But I’ve left the communication doors wide open and she knows she can count on me, no matter what situation she finds herself in, to rescue her, if needed.

She interested in joining an Honors fraternity and she found a job on campus. So far, so good. Parents, I know it’s hard to decide how to support your child(ren). We are all just doing the best we can with the information we have at the time. Let me know in the comments if you have struggled with this or other things.

We’re in this together. 🙂
-LouAnna