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Article: Did you lose an family member while at college?

I

iamskew

Senior member
Hey Anandtech,

I am a journalism student at Ohio State. I am working on an article for my magazine writing class (I do plan to pitch it to a magazine) about coping with the death of a parent or loved one while in college. My Dad died in October (the beginning of my junior year), which is why I want to write this article. College is stressful enough as it is, and that made things a million times worse.

That is the basic presmise for this article, focusing on how to cope with death while at college. I am looking for anyone out there who lost a parent or love one while they were in college and would be willing to talk to me about it. I will greatly appreciate it if anyone can help me with this. I realize it is a very sensitive subject and will be very respectful of everyone.

A few things though:

I would prefer to talk over the telephone, journalism frowns on e-mail interviews.
I have to use real names and real college names.


Thanks,
Josh Thompson
 
I had a parent die when i was in high school, but I guess that wont help you. Sorry to hear about your dad.
 
I was a non-traditional student. I got an AA from a local community college while working. After I got my AA, I went to a large state university. Six months after I get there, my father dies. No fun. And, I am sort of an introvert. It takes me a LOOOONG time to make friends. So, I am up ther with a dead dad, and no real friends to rely on, and 300 miles from home.

PM me if ya wants to.
 
Bchico, harrkev, sm8000....I'm sorry for all of you, I appreciate your replies. har and sm, I PMed both of you.

Anyone else willing to share their story?

Thanks,
Josh
 
What difference does it make if you're in college when they die?

Great new ideas for topics you can start:
Did you lose a family member while employed?
Did you lose a family member while on vacation?
Did you lose a family member during tax season?
Did your pet die while you were at a professional baseball game?
 
Originally posted by: notfred
What difference does it make if you're in college when they die?

Great new ideas for topics you can start:
Did you lose a family member while employed?
Did you lose a family member while on vacation?
Did you lose a family member during tax season?
Did your pet die while you were at a professional baseball game?
Click to expand...

The difference is that you are away from home (usually) and can't come home for a long time to grieve with your family. So you're away from home while you're grieving, and more than likely with people you don't know around you.

Please don't mock the topic, just don't post if you feel the need to mock.

 
I recently looked up my best friend from grade school and discovered that she went to the same college I did, at the same time I did, and that during college her entire family died in a car crash on the way home from visiting her in college. 🙁 I emailed her after I found out, but she never responded.
 
dude, I can't help you with your project, but I can suggest that you edit a {remove} in the middle of your email adress so the bots dont pick it up later and spam you to death.... ex: thom{remove}pson.1292@osu.edu
 
Sorry I haven't responded yet. HotChic, that's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. I appreciate that you tried to help me out.

acemcmac, I'm not sure if you are the person that e-mailed me or not, so I'm going to PM you. I really appreciate your help. I will also edit my e-mail addy, good call.

Josh
 
Just thought I'd bump this up one last time and see if anyone else is interested in helping me out. I hope that the two ATOTers who I've interviewed so far can attest to it being at least an OK experience.

Josh
 
All four of my grandparents died while I was in college. Three of them within the last year and a half.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to interview me.
 
My grandfather died on the day that I finished my first year in school. My dad went to borrow his truck and found him dead in the tub. Since it was a break, it wasn't as difficult, but it still caused confusion. Between that and other factors, I quit school 6 months later.

I did finally return, pulled my grades up and graduated (owing lots of loans).
 
I think its a great topic. One of my best friends lost her brother during her freshman year, in the early second semester. She managed to finish out the semester but had such a hard time, she often didn't leave bed for days at a time. I can't imagine a more trying situation, its a ton of heartbreak to deal with at once and there's almost no chance to get away from everything (the hectic schedule of college) so that you can truly grieve and get over it. Plus you are seperated from your family and your closest friends from home. She was lucky in that she only lived 45 mins or so from home and most of her best friend were willing to come home for a weekend whenever she felt lonely.
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
dude, I can't help you with your project, but I can suggest that you edit a {remove} in the middle of your email adress so the bots dont pick it up later and spam you to death.... ex: thom{remove}pson.1292@osu.edu
Click to expand...

yes, because the spambot programmers haven't figured out to ignore words like 'remove' when harvesting yet.
 
Hey, everyone...sorry I haven't responded yet...I've been very busy and also away from the internet for a few days now. I have to write the rough draft of the article tonight, but I think I might need an interview or two more, so I might be in touch with those of you that responded. I am very sorry for everyone who lost a family member. I've done several interviews at this point and I have to say that it is really making me feel better about life to talk with other people about their experiences and share mine with them.

Josh
 
My Ex-GF's mom committed suicide 2 months into her first year of university.

I probably shouldn't tell you about it though since it's not really my place to talk about it, and it didn't involve me (I met her 2 months after it happened).

I'm not sure why I even posted 😕
 
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