Yesterday was the
last day that students could add or drop courses for the fall semester. From my perspective, I always feel that we
are now entering a “settling in” stage:
student schedules are pretty much established; they’ve attended each
class at least once by now, and have met their instructors, classmates,
roommates, etc…; final details about work schedules or club involvement are
being put into place.
Now that the
initial anxiety of transitioning to college (for new students) or transitioning
back after the summer break (for returners) has ended for most students, there
is still important work to be done. I
think of this as a “settling in” period because it is at this time that we all
begin to settle in to a regular routine.
This can be a critical time for students because behaviors they engage
in now may become regular habits for the semester. Do they use the time between classes to study,
to work a couple of hours at a job, or to go back to their rooms and take a
nap? Do they come up with a plan for
approaching class assignments or decide to worry about them when the time
comes? Are they checking out the club
they’ve been talking about joining or are they still in “thinking about it”
mode? Are they being conscious about
food choices and exercise habits or enjoying the “all you can eat” offerings,
including daily ice cream?
There are so many possible ways to settle into a
semester and the best approach is unique to each student. As a parent, this can be a good time to check
in with your son or daughter about how things are going and to try and get a
sense of how your student is “settling in” and how those soon-to-become habits
are developing. Some resources that you might find helpful at
this time include: Academic Support in
CASA (tutoring, accommodation requests), the Counseling Center in Foster Hall,
and the Office of Student Involvement in the McCarthy Center (clubs, service
opportunities). Let us know how those
conversations go!
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