THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012
ADVICE
PAGE 9
Mother-daughter team blogs college
KELSEA ECKENROTH
editor@kansan.com
Mother and daughter bloggers, Julie and Lindsey Mayfield probably have the answers to your questions about college finance, roommates, campus safety and the overall college experience.
Lindsey, a junior from Overland Park, and her mother began blogging for the "U.S. News and World Report" education blog, "Twice the College Advice", last summer. The Mayfields use their personal experience as a college student and parent of a college student to answer questions and give advice about college.
"It's really from the perspective of a parent sending her oldest to college and a student going to college" Julie said. "It's very much a 'this is what's worked for us' kind of blog."
Lindsey enjoys writing about how to acclimate yourself in college, such as first year things and how you can get involved and meet new people.
"My freshman year, I went through a lot of trial and error to kind of find my place at KU," she said. "I like being able to help students with that since I kind of struggled with it, and now I feel like I have it under control."
Julie writes a lot about being a parent of a college student and finding what's an appropriate place for parents to intervene and when to let their student figure out things on their own.
"College is a process of letting go
for parents," she said, "and it's kind of incremental."
The Mayfields write a lot of blog entries about college finance, such as advice about student loan debt. They said the financial posts generate the most views and reader comments.
"We are just kind of unique, and I am going to go through college without any debt and people really like to hear that perspective," Lindsev said.
Keeping up with the blog while
Lindsey is in Lawrence can be tricky, but Lindsey and Julie make sure to blog and maintain their relationship while she's away.
"As long as we know the topic, we can work independently," Julie said. "Sometimes just deciding what we are going to write about that week is the hardest part."
Lindsey said her and her mom's relationship is "all over the board."
Junior Julie Mayfield, left, from Overland Park and her mother Lindsey Mayfield used their collective student-parent wisdom to start a blog through U.S. News & World Report that answers question ranging from tuition issues to college life.
"When something happens to me and I think it's funny, I'll call." Lindsey said. "We have a lot in
common just together, so we are constantly talking."
The Mayfields said writing the blog together is a fun motherdaughter thing for them to do while they are apart to stay in contact with each other.
"It's really a blessing that we get to do it together and in a medium that people actually read," Lindsey said.
KELSEA ECKENROTH/KANSAN
—Edited by Megan Hinman
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