Many first year college students are sharing a room with another person for the first time, as well as deliberately establishing their own living space. While intellectually, many understand that they’ll need to find common ground with their new roommates, many are underprepared for the work of negotiating ground rules. One, now second year college student, Colin, who chose to…
Parents of college students experience the bittersweet rewards of a job well-done, their “babies” are capable of caring for themselves, but doing so without seemingly “needing” a parent. So, a Kindergarten’s teacher’s advice can be helpful: ….they [one’s kid] will probably have a hard time separating from you. It’s normal, and it may last a few days, but it gets…
The late summer for a first year college student is often a frenzy of purchasing all the trendiest dorm accessories, while trying to soak in every last minute with friends who will soon walk their own path. Parents trade insider tips about medical/first aid kits and all the legal documents, like health care directives, for their newly christened adult children. …
A college acceptance isn’t a cure-all, get-out-of-jail-free card, where untold riches and lifelong prosperity are as plentiful and readily flowing as red cups filled from a college party keg. Instead: FACT: 37% of all students transfer colleges at least once in a six year period. FACT: 33% of first year students don’t re-enroll for the second year at the same…
Congratulations on being accepted to college! But, now the work begins. During college, each student still needs to seek understanding of their aptitude, collaborating with mentors, to unleash joy and thus more likely realize a lasting economic vitality. However, many students expect colleges and universities to act in loco parentis, in the place of a parent, guiding them into adulthood…
In response to Art’s recent post, To Choose or Have Others Choose for You, a Reed College student who’s finishing her first year, shared the following in a recent text conversation. Since many other students are likely in a similar predicament, I’m passing her message forward: I’m so glad other students have the opportunity to read this article. I definitely…
Three tasks not likely a part of a standard College Move-In Checklist, yet are on every first year college student’s mind: Establish new community (i.e. make new friends), and how do I make new friends in COVID-related restrictions? Adjust to new, constantly evolving academic expectations “What am I going to be when I grow up?” existential questions Second year students…
COVID fatigue: borne of that daily reminder of our own mortality and the mortality of those we care about, of the suffering of illness, the suffering of trying to stave off illness only to fail. We’re a global society trying to out-think, out-science a sequence of RNA which is out-mutating our collective human intellect. In the midst of such an…
Soon-to-be first year college students all over the world are separating from their childhoods—saying, “Goodbye” to friends, leaving their childhood bedrooms, and now emerging as an adult, learning to partner with their parents. They’re establishing their first households outside their family homes, a complicated endeavor often involving new responsibilities. In readying to move, students are combing through a childhood’s worth…
While many may, as a child, dream of being a doctor when they grow up, few actually do. While many high school students intend to study “pre-med” once enrolled in college, few stay the course. While many college students intend to apply to medical school, only some do. And, of those select few, on average nationwide, only 7% are admitted…
