Common Reactions When Students Enter College

• Sense of loneliness
• Independence
• Depression

Adjustments, Concerns, and Transitions

• Adjusting to fewer people at home
• Re-establishing your personal identity
• Having separation anxiety from your student
• Trying to fill a void
• Relinquishing control
• Being left out of your student’s daily activities
• Concerned with student’s new independence

Adjustment and Establishing New Relations

• Provide support and freedom to your student
• Develop new interests of your own
• Trust your student to be a young adult
• Guide rather than pressure your student
• Allow for mistakes
• Determine appropriate expectations
• Offer advice when asked and listen
• Support your student’s problem solving skills
• Realize your student’s life is his/her own
• Accept your student’s limits and strengths
• Expect change
• Stay connected to your student
• Be patient and give your student time to adjust