Category: Year in the Life of a Freshman

May

Transitional Issues

• Final exams
• Missing college friends over the summer
• Conversations about expectations during summer months
• Packing up to move out

Tips for Successful Parenting

Hang in there!  Finishing the first year in college is a big deal!  It’s a great opportunity to celebrate your student’s accomplishment.  Students with a year of college under their belt are not the same person you moved to campus just a short 10 months ago.

The freshman year in college is considered one of the most Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: May”

April

Transition Issues

• Registration for next Fall semester
• Finalize summer plans
• Final projects

Tips for Successful Parenting

Summer is just around the corner, and it’s time to finalize plans for the break.  Will he choose to be a camp counselor, take a summer internship, or come home to work &/or take classes at the local college?  These are all decisions that you’re encouraged to Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: April”

March

Transition Issues:

• Distracted by spring weather – focus, focus, focus
• Pending end of the year projects
• Considering Student Housing options for Fall

Tips for Successful Parenting

Spring is here!  Flowers are blooming and the weather is looking up – a real distraction from being cooped-up during the winter months.  There are Frisbees to be flown, naps to be taken on the lawn, and, oh yeah, and tests and papers and presentations to prepare for.  Understand your students’ desire to Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: March”

February

Transition Issues:

• Plans for Spring Break?
• Conversations about Alcohol & other drugs
• Begin thinking about summer employment &/or summer school
• Do I still want to major in this?

Tips for Successful Parenting

Spring Break is right around the corner.  Most students have been thinking about any number of options they might have: going home, staying on-campus to make extra money, or heading to the beach or mountains with friends.  This is a great opportunity to talk about his plans, as well as share your expectations about things like, who is financing a trip or what he might do if Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: February”

January

Transition Issues

• Readjusting to leaving home again
• Getting back into the swing of campus life
• Rethink her/his level of campus involvement and commitments
• Conversations about academic performance & life choices

Tips for Successful Parenting

Lead with questions.  Most students still want their parent(s) to express interest in what she is doing; she will most likely still seek your permission/blessing for what she wants to do.  Try using “open-ended questions” (questions that demand more than a “yes” or “no” response) that allow her to tell you details while Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: January”

December

Transition Issues:

• Concern about academic demands – finals & projects
• Talk about expectations for holiday break – s/he isn’t in high school anymore
• Anticipation of good food, lots of sleep and seeing old and new friends
• Re-evaluate finances

Tips for Successful Parenting

Expect change – plenty of it. The son you dropped off in August will not be the one who comes home for the winter holiday. Change is not only inevitable, it’s expected and necessary for healthy relationships.  Your student will experience new relationships, academic challenges and Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: December”

November

Transition Issues

• Excitement about Thanksgiving break
• Talk about your expectations around family traditions & rituals
• Registration for spring semester is coming up

Tips for Successful Parenting

Phone calls about low grades, difficult relationships or ruining a favorite t-shirt in the wash may be tough for you to hear, but none of them are the end of the world – yours or hers.  Be patient when you get those “nothing is going right and I Continue reading “Year in the Life of a Freshman: November”

October

Transition Issues

• Time management & setting priorities
• Mid-term projects and expectations of academic performance
• Missing home and old friends

Tips for Successful Parenting

Write often – postcards, letters, emails, it all matters!  Although your student is in the throws of new experiences they are still anxious to hear from home.  There isn’t a student alive who won’t get excited about a care package from home full of Continue reading “A Year in the Life of a Freshman: October”

September

Transition Issues

• New relationships
• Testing new freedom
• Money, Money, Money

Tips for Successful Parenting

Being homesick is often just as much of an issue for you as a parent as it is for your student.  The first few weeks of college are packed with events to help students become engaged in campus life.  The challenges of meeting new people and learning the campus culture take time and energy.  Even if they don’t Continue reading “A Year in the Life of a Freshman: September”

The following is a month-by-month walk through the major transitional issues in a fairly typical freshman year.  Certainly these will look a little different from student to student, but after many years of observation and experience, these major themes remain fairly consistent.

Following them to the letter won’t assure you and your student a trouble-free year, but, hopefully, knowing what to expect might minimize the anxiety just a little; for both of you.

August

Transition Issues

• Excitement & Anxiety about the unknown
• Making sure reminders of home are packed
• Celebrate the transition from High School to College
• Conversations about Alcohol & other drugs

Tips for Successful Parenting

This is the most significant transition in your student’s life to date.  It presents a great opportunity to Continue reading “A Year in the Life of a Freshman: August”