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The
First Few Days on Campus
- Making friends
- Issue of identity
- Interacting with a roommate(s)
- Many frantic phone calls home
- Countless triumphs and defeats
- Lots of ups and downs
The First Few Weeks
- Classes begin
- Professors are sized up
- Class work on syllabi approached with good intentions
- Add/drop classes
- Learn about many out-of-class activities
- Everything is new--intense--exciting and frightening;
overwhelming and stimulating.
Three - Four Weeks Into Semester
- Routine in place
- Still may feel homesick
- Phone/e-mail home
- Try to find the right group of friends
- Learn you have freedom to complete or not complete assignments
- College seems deceptively easy
- What to do with free time?
The Second Month of School
- Social life may quiet down
- Roommate complaints may surface
- Still wondering--where do I fit in?
Half Way Point of First Semester
- First major papers/midterms due
- Pressure/tension/stress--to meet your own and/or parent
expectations
- May get sick
- Time management becomes a reality
- Procrastination/lack of motivation is common
Second Half of Semester
- Doubt sets in--is success possible?
- Differences between demands of high school
and academic challenges of college become more clear
- Begin making Thanksgiving plans
- Next year's housing plans are made
After
Thanksgiving
- Prepare for finals
- Planning for holiday break begins
Winter Break
- Much needed refueling time
- Being together stirs up for parents and students new
struggles over separation, letting go, decision-making and
new value system
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After Winter Break
- Excited to get back to school--your new home
- Feel a sense of belonging on campus
Beginning of Second Semester
- Feeling more comfortable and confident
- Know the difference between required and recommended
class work
- Dreary weather surfaces; moods can plunge
- Perhaps join a student group
- Maybe rethink major
Spring
- Weather gets better, allowing for more outdoor activities
- Social activities increase
- Romances develop for some
- Plan your schedule for next year
End of Second Semester
- Stress increases
- Projects, papers, etc. seem to be due all at once
- Study for exams
- Many decisions to make about summer plans i.e., summer
classes, housing, jobs, etc
Going Home
- Issues of independence surface i.e., curfews, trips,
home rules, is permission necessary?
- May decide not to go home
- Parents are challenged to let go all over again
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