Month: August 2015

Wow, where did the summer go? I can’t believe that we just dropped off our daughter, Julia, last weekend! Julia is an equestrian, and equestrian team members were the first to arrive back to school so they could start getting the horses and equipment ready for the new season. So we packed up our cars and her horse, and down the road we went to Sweet Briar! We live in Northern Virginia, so the majority of our route is down U.S. 29, and what a beautiful drive it is. We had a nice sunny day for the trip. A stop at Effie’s along the way for a peach ice cream sundae for me and real milkshakes for Dennis and Julia (if you’ve never been and you like ice cream, Effie’s is a “must stop”!), and several hours later, we could all feel the excitement start mounting as first we saw mountains, then the sign for Amherst County — by the way, strictly adhere to the speed limit in Amherst County and be sure your daughter knows too — and then the sign for Sweet Briar.

Julia was bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement when we were still minutes away, with a smile so broad and full of joy it made my heart burst with happiness. She took pictures of the Sweet Briar College exit sign and video of the scenery. She could barely contain her excitement and joy as we came up the drive onto campus. Dennis and I, too, felt especially grateful. Our hearts swelled as we slowly rolled up the driveway, past the security gate and up to the equestrian center.

We were almost in tears because we thought when we left last semester that, although we would fight the school’s closure to the very end, it may have been our last drive down that beautiful entry road, our last visit to that impressive equestrian facility, and our last time seeing our daughter with her Sweet Briar sisters. But instead, here we were. Dennis and I both breathed a sigh of joy and relief and amazement that, yes, we were really bringing our daughter back to her (and our) beloved Sweet Briar! We were all impressed at how much work had been put into spiffing up the campus in such a short period of time – fresh paint on the entrance road (including the dip!), crisply mown expanses of lawn, a bubbling fountain, colorful tended gardens, and lots of fresh paint. You couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces if you tried. 🙂

It felt a little weird driving through campus because almost no one else had arrived yet. We had never seen the campus and parking lots so empty! First, we drove to the equestrian facility, found Lizzie Fisch (the IHSA team coach) and exchanged warm hugs and happy greetings that we were all back. Quest’s stall was ready and waiting for him, and he happily walked right in and made himself at home.

After tending to Quest’s needs and unloading horse stuff and trailer, it was on to the dorm. While we could only deposit Julia’s stuff in her room (equestrians are temporarily staying in another dorm for a few days while the main dorms are finished), it still gave us chills of happiness to carry those boxes to her room, and a sense of satisfaction after we finished that, yes, it was real, she was REALLY going back to Sweet Briar! And of course you always expect that when you pack you forget some things. So we all had a good laugh when Julia realized that, in addition to a few minor things, she had forgotten her pillows! No worries, we expected that we would be bringing down a few things next weekend, so I just added pillows to the list.

But if you live further away and have to mail a care package (of all the things your daughter forgot but you don’t want to re-purchase), no worries! The post office is still open and able to handle all of your packages. Returning students keep their previous P.O. Box; new students will get an email that includes their P.O. Box before arrival at school. For important tips on sending packages and luggage, click here.

If this is your daughter’s first time at Sweet Briar and if she won’t have a car on campus, you might plan on a visit to Lynchburg after your daughter moves in. Inevitably there will be items she forgot, or didn’t realize that she needed until move-in day, that make more sense to buy locally than to ship from home. We found Walmart and Target in Lynchburg (about 20 minutes away) to be very useful stores. 🙂

New students should have received an email this week that has their dorm room and roommate assignment and their P.O. Box number. If your daughter has not received hers yet, please contact Kerri Bond at (434) 381-6346 or kbond@sbc.edu. By now I’m sure you know that move-in day is Monday, Aug. 24 for returning students. Other useful dates (for new and returning students) can be found on the Sweet Briar academic calendar (the “New Students Arrive” date is Aug. 23, but all of the other dates are correct).

Speaking of move-in day, I will be on campus on Monday to greet all of you parents! I will be walking around the dorms to greet people while they move in, and help you get answers to your questions. However, if I don’t happen to see you, just email me when you are on campus and have time to meet for a few minutes (if you include your phone number, that would be most helpful). I have my phone setup so that when I get an email in my SBCParentToParent@gmail.com inbox, I get a special sound, and if I’m on campus then we can coordinate where to meet. I’ll keep a close eye on my phone on Monday!

I look forward to meeting y’all, and if I can do anything to help you get answers to your questions while on campus, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Finally, in case you didn’t see it already, here is the latest message from President Stone:

“Making history at Sweet Briar! The entire nation has learned about Sweet Briar during the past months. At first it was for sad reasons — a decision to close. The tone of the stories then turned to what was thought to be a futile, even desperate, attempt by the alumnae, faculty, parents, students and others to prevent the closing. Then about the excitement of success, transition and rebirth! The stories are now more about the special qualities of Sweet Briar and how we are making history. We are leading the fight to reaffirm the value of small, independent liberal arts colleges and we are especially leading the charge for women’s education. All of you are part of this history-making experience. The whole nation is watching. Together we will be successful! I look forward to seeing all of you on campus soon.”

I’m so thrilled that you and we are part of making history at Sweet Briar, aren’t you?! How exciting it will be to see the campus full of life again! I hope that your daughter’s move-in goes smoothly; please let me know how it goes and any suggestions for improvement. And please don’t hesitate to ask questions if you need help. 🙂

That’s all for today. 🙂 What are YOUR concerns? Send them to me at SBCParentToParent@gmail.com, and I’ll address them in upcoming posts, or sooner if needed. Until then, talk to you soon!

Hi everyone,

As you probably know, returning students have now passed several important milestones — Alumnae Angels have paid their deposit; students had a counseling session with their academic advisor, registered for fall classes, and requested and received their room assignments. Whew! If you’re like me, it really starts to feel real now that the activities needed to start school in the fall have occurred. (New incoming students, don’t worry, all of this will happen for you soon!)

Plus, since my daughter Julia is an equestrian and goes back to school Sunday evening or Monday (after going to a show), we are now doing the myriad tasks necessary for her to return. It will be an even more bittersweet moment this year when she leaves: a huge sigh of relief that she is returning to Sweet Briar along with the sadness that goes with knowing we will see her even less. I know that it is part of our daughter growing up, and I want her to be the strong, independent, amazing woman that Sweet Briar is helping her to become — but my heart still misses seeing my girl every day.

Speaking of classes, are you comfortable with your daughter’s academic plan? Did she get all the classes she needs this semester? One of the many things that attracted our family to Sweet Briar was the school’s willingness to customize each girl’s education experience to help her best meet her goals. This remains so true now more than ever! My daughter is a rising sophomore and, of course, was worried that she wouldn’t get in all of the classes she needs (and as a pre-vet student, she has a very tight four-year plan to complete all of her required classes to graduate on time). But no problem — she got all the classes she needs!

From what I’ve been hearing so far, this seems to be the case for everyone. I know that the new leadership team is doing whatever it takes to ensure every student gets what she needs. If you have concerns about your daughter’s classes, please be sure she reaches out to her academic advisor first. Then you can reach out as well if you still have questions or concerns. If I can do anything to help facilitate or find someone for you, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Talking about classes makes me also remember another reason we love Sweet Briar — it is such a hands-on, experiential learning environment. You probably know from experience that you learn more and remember more from doing something than from just hearing about it. Plus, what really matters after all of this education is whether they can apply what they learn to the real world. So what do I mean by experiential learning? Just a couple of examples:

• Last year, first-year engineering students used a 3-D printer for class projects; at most other schools, you don’t get that experience until junior or senior year.
• My daughter, a biology and chemistry double major, used a scanning electron microscope multiple times for her experiments last year as a first-year. Many schools don’t even have one.

I could go on with more examples, but you get the point: Sweet Briar provides a personal, hands-on learning environment that you find at very few schools in this country.

A few other random things I wanted to be sure you have heard about:

• How wonderful that our new president and board of directors are “walking the walk” of transparency by providing updates from their meetings? You can find these either in the Vixen Watch (see below) or at the board of directors website. For more information on what’s been accomplished see this story on the College’s news page.
• Did you see how many alums have been coming to Sweet Briar these past three weeks to help get the school ready to open?! Wow, I am so impressed and grateful!
• Do you purchase from Amazon.com? There is a very easy way to contribute to Saving Sweet Briar — sign up with Amazon Smiles (www.smile.amazon.com) and 0.5 percent of your purchases will go to Saving Sweet Briar!
• How exciting to be recognized recently as the small college winner in Forbes #MyTopCollege contest!
• Did you know that you can subscribe to something called Vixen Watch that provides updates about topics of interest to Sweet Briar students, parents and alums? You can follow it on Facebook, or go to vixenwatach.wordpress.com and click on the “Follow” link in the lower right corner to enter your email address for updates.
• Did you know that professor Claudia Chang is conducting a newspaper contest for students called “Why I Chose Sweet Briar”? You can find out more information from Claudia at cchang@sbc.edu. Deadline for submission is Aug. 15. Please encourage your daughter to write a submission!

That’s all for today. 🙂 Next week I’ll let you know how we can meet when you bring your daughter to school.

What are YOUR concerns? Send them to me at SBCParentToParent@gmail.com, and I’ll address them in upcoming posts, or sooner if needed. Until then, talk to you soon!