One of the goals at CampusTalkBlog is to provide you with information that is going to help, inspire and encourage you. There’s an addition to that goal in my little portion of the blog here at Parents' Perspective and that’s to give you bits and pieces of myself so you can learn from me and feel a certain kinship. Some of my experiences as a first-time college mom, and a parent in general, are rather personal. They are things that I don’t normally share with everyone especially my blogosphere friends (I blog at "It’s a Woman’s World" as well) because I’m either embarrassed, ashamed and, quite frankly, it just ain’t nobody’s … [Read more...]

This Christmas will only be the second one that I've spent without my oldest daughter Amber. I've known for about the past four months that she plans on going to Texas because her oldest sister is having a baby around Christmas Day. As the day approaches I feel more and more dread about her Christmas-time absence... Over the past 19 and a half years we've established traditions that have not only solidified our relationship but that we really look forward to each year. Honestly, the holiday season is not the same without my baby. Yes, I have other children who are ages 7, 5 and 3, but the traditions I've developed with them have always … [Read more...]

I am not one to always follow the statistics of one study or another, but there are often some findings, reports and articles that jump out from a page and entice me to read them. For instance, this is the Atlanta Journal Constitution headline that grabbed my attention today: “40% of Georgia college students don’t finish…” Of course this would interest me because I have a daughter who just completed her freshman year at Georgia College & State University and, to top it off, she is a chemistry major, which is a program that has a high drop-out rate. Amber says she knows a few people who have dropped that major since last … [Read more...]

This first-time college mom is learning something new almost every day about the ins and outs of having a kid in college. And, as you may well know, it isn’t all peaches and cream. When Amber told me she was going to take classes this past summer at a local college (see: Summer, Summer, Summer Time) here in Atlanta I supported her 100 percent. She had talked to her advisor and determined it would be the best course of action. She did everything necessary to get herself enrolled. In the midst of that and her finals she kept me informed; the first thing I learned was she would be a “transient student.” As soon as she got home for … [Read more...]

Ever since my oldest daughter was in middle school (and probably younger) she has wanted to be a pediatrician. I, of course, have been supportive of this career choice, but one thing I have also encouraged is a thought pattern toward being a business owner. For me, that means encouraging Amber to obtain her medical degree and also pursue opening her own practice. This isn’t a new “lecture” that I’ve given; I’ve been trying to get her to think more businesslike for as long as I can remember. For instance, almost every hobby or creative spurt she’s had I’ve suggested that she try selling the item/product and build a customer … [Read more...]

I don’t know about you, but being the parent of a college student and weeding through all of the information can be a little overwhelming. You’ve read a book about college scholarships, filled out the FAFSA and checked out a magazine article on the subject while perusing the web. Add to that all the documents and rules provided by your student’s chosen institution and you’re in definite information overload. And now here’s CampusTalkBlog CampusTalkBlog provides information for the campus activities crowd through our extracurricular “subject matter experts" that helps colleges and universities increase student involvement and … [Read more...]