Advice for Rice Parents and Family
Your new student isn’t the only one whose life is changing this summer!
Your child is about to through an important transition in their life, and they probably have mixed feelings of excitement, anxiety, and maybe a fear of the unknown. What they may not realize is that the same thing is happening to you. Whether the student you’re sending to Rice is your first, youngest or only, whether you’d never heard of Rice until he or she applied or you’re a Rice legacy that lives in West University, this is a big deal. As a student that rarely called my parents, routinely lost my phone, and only came home for winter break (AKA every parent’s worst nightmare) here is what I think my parents would’ve liked to know before I went adventuring off to Texas.
Before O-Week
Communication
Figure out now what communication will look like during the year. It’s way easier to figure out how often you’ll call, whether you’ll Skype, what kind of information you’d like to hear about or know. My freshman year roommate had a standing Skype date with her family every Sunday night.
I had a weird set up with my mom where my computer logged onto Skype automatically so in the morning when I opened my computer to check the weather (because that’s really necessary in Houston) my mom would Skype call me from work while I was getting ready for the day, and scare my roommate when she got out of the shower and heard me talking to someone else in the room. Leading to an awkward “Hello, Becca’s mom,” “Good morning, Rachel!” while my roommate walked around in her towel.
The point here is that you should talk in advance so that everyone in the conversation knows everyone else’s expectation while your children are still a captive audience.
Laundry
If needed, I highly recommend giving your child a detailed tutorial on how to do laundry from the basics to special care and tricks. As an O-Week Advisor I taught some of my new students how to do laundry, and as a freshman I had a very good friend that would never do laundry alone because he didn’t know how. Here are the questions they had:
- Where does the detergent go?
- What is the difference between detergent, stain remover and bleach?
- Do I need to sort this pile of clothing in any way?
- Why does the machine have different water temperatures?
- Do I have to do anything special with my fancy clothes/underwear?
- If I throw my clothes in the dryer for a bit, does that do the same as ironing? What about hanging them near a steamy shower?
- How many times can I wear these jeans before they need to be washed?
8. Why are these white clothes suddenly pink?
And in case they don’t remember what you tell them….here are some TIPS.
Make Sure Your Student Packs…
A thermometer and basic medical supplies(bandages, aspirin, cold medicine, etc.): This is one of those things that no one thinks of until you need it, and by then it’s too late. A lot of students will get sick the first week of classes (it’s a natural product of being exposed to new germs and being in a new climate) and when you’re already feeling crummy you don’t want to deal with buying a thermometer.
Rainwear: When it rain in Houston, it pours. Like tropical storm pours. And while there are a lot of awesome things about Houston, fast drainage is not one of them. Rainboots will improve your quality of life astronomically, and especially if how your hair looks is important to you…an umbrella.
Easy to Transport Laundry Basket: Depending on what college your new student is in, the laundry room could be on a different floor, on a different hall, on a different quad, or all of those. That laundry basket can be cumbersome and hard to carry. If you don’t mind constantly being asked if you’re just getting back from a trip, you can always do what I did, which is use my rolly suitcase as a laundry basket. It cut down on storage space too!
Move-in Day
The most important things to know about Move-in Day for O-Week is first, it is actually possible to move all of your stuff into your room in less than 20 minutes because all of the advisors will be carrying it for you. Move-in Day is a well oiled machine. Second, once you’re on campus, it’s important that you stay there. There will be time during the week when new students will be taken to get everything they need or forgot at Target, but starting on Move-in Day, there is a very tight schedule for O-Week and it’s important that Advisors are aware of where their new students are at all times.
Getting to Houston Early
For a lot of people this won’t be possible because of work schedules, but if you can, I highly recommend this. If you’re flying in you won’t be able to bring pillows, bedding, shower caddies, etc. so it’s nice to have the time to pick up necessities at Target/CVS/Bed, Bath & Beyond.
And you can check out Houston! My dad and I came down to Houston early and got to poke around and explore. We went to the zoo (awesome) an Astros game (for only $9 a seat! I felt like we were stealing tickets) and got to sample the local cuisine. My brother and mom came down early two years later and met up with his roommate, went shopping with them, and got to know each other! That was three years ago and they’re still roommates!
Just please, please, please if you come to Houston early, do not go on campus, and refrain from visiting your college. Advisors and coordinators are setting up for O-Week and working hard to prepare for move-in day, and to allow them to do that effectively, campus is closed to non-personnel. Good thing there’s so much to see in Houston without having to come to Rice.
Timeliness on Move-in Day
I know the inclination is to arrive early, because it’s so unbelievable that moving an entire car full of stuff up to a 5th floor room in the Houston heat in 2 hours just can’t be possible. Not only is it possible, but you and your family won’t even have to carry anything.
The advisors, coordinators, and helpful members of the football team will carry everything for you. Seriously, under 30 minutes. The time set for your move-in is specifically designated for you, based on where in the building the room is, and to ensure that there is an even flow of cars coming in during move-in instead of everyone coming at the same time and it being a huge mess.
Saying Goodbye
Move-in day is a whirlwind. There’s lot of activity, lots of new people, lots of excitement. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and the next thing you know you’re off the new families orientation without having said goodbye. If it’s important to you to have a private goodbye (or to your child, who is easily embarrassed by parents when they’re trying to make new friends), you should take the time to do that before lunch.
After lunch new students immediately are whisked off to begin this new adventure we call O-Week, and you’ll be off to your own Orientation. During the week there won’t be an opportunity to come back to the college or campus to see anyone. That may sound abrupt, but it’ll be a much more comfortable transition if you have some time together to decompress and make sure you get some time to reconnect before lunch. And if you want them to call or text you during O-Week, make sure they promise to do that before lunch, or they’ll start getting so excited that everything besides Rice, O-Week, Advisors will go in one ear and out the other. And trust me, although they may not realize right away, they’re going to miss you.
Staying in Touch
Skype/FaceTime/Google Hangout/Video Chat
Not only do you get to hear someone’s voice, you get to see your student’s face and room and confirm that they are, as they say, healthy and happy, and no, they haven’t gotten the mohawk that you fear so much (or they have gotten a mohawk and that’s a different conversation you need to have). And if you’re like my mom, you can ambush them at random times! It’s great fun for everyone.
Skype is especially good if you’re out of the country, or if you have a limited texting plan, because it’s all free! Here’s the website: http://www.skype.com/en/
Texting
Texting is a great way to casually communicate. It’s the language that young adults communicate in, and an easy way to stay in touch regularly instead of depending on weekly or bi-weekly scheduled calls or video chats. Don’t feel like you need to try to learn the acronyms, but I’ll correct the major mistake that my mom made:
“LOL” means “laughing out loud,” not “lots of love”
To see the best and worst of parental texting, check out “Funniest Texts Between Parents and Their Children Ever Sent!”
Care Packages
First Year Programs works with a company to help families find great deals on convenient care packages for your student. You should receive more information about this in the mail very soon! Some O-Week Coordinators share some of what made their favorite care packages so special:
Josiah Grace (Duncan Coordinator)
“In my favorite care package my mom sent me a stuffed animal, candy, coffee and a soccer jersey. I also really like fast food, so during finals she sent me $10 giftcards to Whataburger, McDonalds, and Wendy’s.”
Natalie Gow (Duncan Coordinator)
“I liked getting holiday care packages; for Halloween I got fake black spiders and decorations. The Valentine’s Day one was nice too. Generally anything that you can’t get in Houston. Food or items that are specifically from where you’re from are great.”
Tyler Woods (McMurtry Coordinator)
“Finals are a great time to get care packages. Snacks like Oatmeal, hot chocolate and granola are good. Basically any snacks that won’t go bad.” If you want to send care packages around exams, you can see final exam and midterm grade timelines for fall semester HERE.
Alex Nunez-Thompson (Sid Rich Coordinator)
“My cousin sent me hot chocolate, a really soft t-shirt that said “Coffee,” easy mac, a Starbucks gift card and Keurig K-Cups.” (Alex loves coffee)
Muhammad Harirah (McMurtry Coordinator)
“My mom gave me a Ramadan care package with an Arab soda I really like from Egypt, dried fruit, and a really large picture frame with a Qur’anic verse on it that I didn't know where to hang so I put it in my window.”
