I’m a father of two boys. Maybe it’s not this way with young women, but it can be tough to get them to open up and share their new lives now that they are away from home. They can seem stuck in monosyllables. “How’s it going?” never works; it gets “OK … fine … yeah, fine” as a response.  

So here are some ways to get things going in that phone call/Zoom call/online exchange:

• What is your favorite class so far? Why?

• Who is your hardest professor? What makes her/him that way?

• Who has the best dorm room on your floor? What did they do to make it that way? The messiest? The neatest?  

• What is your favorite spot to hang out on campus? To study?  

• What’s been the toughest thing so far about UD? What have you enjoyed the most?

• How much are you sleeping — really? What sort of exercise are you getting?

• Have you met with a professor? Which one? What was that like?

• Who is the quirkiest new friend you’ve made since coming to UD?