Moving Off To College

Moving Off To College

By Dennis House

When Kara and I first became parents, everyone told us to enjoy it because kids grow up so quickly and the time will fly by. It is so true.

The rites of passage of childhood seem like yesterday: the loss of the first tooth, the dance recitals, the games, learning to ride a bike, drive a car, the teen dramas and so on. We are now the parents of a college student. This latest chapter of school drop off triggered all sorts of emotions.

That girl I read books to, chaperoned on field trips and coached in T-ball is now an adult and a college freshman. It is bittersweet for sure. I am so happy and proud but I miss those mornings sending her off to school.

The college process began a few years ago with SATs and college visits. She was a junior in high school and seemed so young as we toured campuses near and far. I went to college before the internet so we didn’t know as much about schools as kids nowadays who follow instagram and Tik Tok accounts of colleges and universities. They see everything from what kids wear to football games to frat parties to meals in the dining hall. High school students in 2025 apply to colleges online and then learn of acceptances, rejections and waitlists in an online portal. In my day, we checked the mailbox every day for the letter that came via snail mail.

The preparation for moving to college is different than when I went away as well. My daughter and her future roommate chatted online and met in person early in the summer. Together they chose bedding and decor for their room, and Amazon shipped directly to school to coordinate with the move in date and time. Kara ordered the rest of the stuff delivered to our house. My primary job was to be a mule, load and pack the car, and serve as the driver to the destination of my daughter’s big adventure.

My son was at football camp so the offspring said their goodbyes a few days before our departure. Good thing because there was no room for him. Our Buick Enclave seats seven but we had so much stuff we barely had room for the three of us for the journey. Helena wanted to bring the dog for the trip, but the seating was sold out.

The move-in went super smoothly. I carried the bags and boxes to the second floor of the dormitory and moved beds and assembled a shelf while the House girls turned the room into something out of a college version of Architectural Digest. We had dinner in the dining hall and then hugged our first born and left her to begin to make her way in the world.

I teared up a few times during the week before the move, but Kara and I were stoic and didn’t cry as we drove away. We knew she was happy and in a good place…and parents’ weekend is in the near future. A week later was our first test of our emotions.
“Dad, I have a medical emergency,” Helena joked a bit when she called to tell us she had a ring stuck on her finger. She tried out some cheap ring on her index finger and could not get it off. Kara and I suggested soap, olive oil and even cold water to get her finger to contract but no luck. A few hours passed and she still couldn’t loosen this stubborn jewelry; at 4 p.m., we suggested going to the college infirmary. Infirmary is an old fashioned word; the correct term today is the university health center. She and her roommate trekked across campus. After a few “college tries” from the staff there, they determined the ring had to be cut off with a tool they didn’t have. So they sent her off to urgent care.

After checking in and registering and waiting, Helena was brought in where they used a ring cutter and a saw. After a few hours of chipping away at the bogus bling, they made some progress but not enough. The doctor called in the fire department. It was now 10 p.m. They tried unsuccessfully after they arrived so they told her to go by ambulance to the ER. Kara and I were now a little concerned.

Being five hours away, we thought about driving but figured we’d be in the Lincoln Tunnel when they would get the ring off. Helena was in good spirits accompanied by her loyal and wonderful roommate Tatum. When she was sent to the ER, we called a family friend who lives not far away from campus who, in a flash, went to the hospital for moral support.

They tried for a while and finally, at 12:15 a.m., a doctor with a pair of pliers managed to snap the ring. It flew into the air onto the hospital floor. Helena burst into tears out of relief. She was tired and hungry and now had one zany college story to tell.
For Kara and me, it was a test. We could have rushed there, but we trusted our girl was in good hands and made smart adult decisions (well, except for putting a $10 ring on a finger that was too big).

Dennis House has been covering the news in Connecticut for over 30 years. He can be seen weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m. on WTNH and at 10 p.m. on WCTX. He also hosts This Week in Connecticut Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.