新界:第一年

最初的几个星期和几个月

The first few days, weeks, and even months of your son or daughter's college experience are likely to evoke a mix of anticipation, excitement, uncertainty, and anxiety–for 他们和你. Some students will be experiencing their first separation from 首页 在很长一段时间内. For others, it will be another in a series of relocations. Either way, they will be starting in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar peers, having to make new connections and "learn the ropes" while grappling with how to balance friendships and other relationships from 首页.

All of these separations and dislocations are occurring at the same time that students are adjusting to a new and challenging set of academic demands. 大一的时候， many students learn that study habits that worked in the past may not be effective anymore, since many of the goals of learning have shifted substantially to emphasize independent and critical thinking more than reporting information. 同样的,个人 commitments and interests may be re-evaluated in light of additional information and new ways of reflecting upon their own experiences and the experiences of others.
For many students, struggling in the first year of college is not what they expected. It is often a real shock to find themselves no longer at the top of their class or getting the same grades as they did in high school. 有些问题学生可能会 大一的困难包括:

学业和职业挑战

• An increase in freedom at school and greater responsibility for their own education
• 对行政程序的不满
• Differences in course scheduling (not being in class all day or every day)
• Changes in classroom, testing, and grading expectations and procedures
• The need to actively manage study time to achieve the same grade
• Anxiety and stress over midterms, finals, papers
• The desire to try something new or radically different from previous interests
• Significant differences in relationships with instructors and instructor expectations
• New anxieties about their abilities or future plans
• Doubts about the reasons for being in college

关系的担忧

• Homesickness and/or difficulties with separation and being on their own
• Loneliness for, or challenges in, friendships, romantic, or family relationships back 首页
• Peer group acceptance and questions about whether they fit in at Skidmore
• Concern about current roommate(s) and/or room selection for next year
• 应对父母的期望
• New experiences with dating and sexual relationships

个人和其他问题

• Finding their way around campus and learning about their new environment
• 关注对系统的理解
• 文化冲击
• 资金管理
• Exposure to and/or pressure to use alcohol or other substances
• 时间和睡眠计划管理

第一次回家

Many students quickly adjust to more independent living in the college setting. 因为 of this adjustment, the first visit 首页 (especially for an extended stay, such as winter break) can be a stressful time for everyone. 虽然它可能会提供 much needed refueling time, during breaks from college your first-year son or daughter may feel sadness about leaving new friendships and love relationships. 此外, being together again as a family stirs up new struggles over separation, independence, 决策和价值体系. As they decide who they are and how they want to live their lives, students make choices about majors and careers, about religion and values, about sexual identity, and significant others. 当他们回家时， these loaded issues surface and parents come face-to-face with the essence of letting go.

父母 may also find it tricky to strike a balance between respecting their son or daughter's emerging independence and wanting to run their household with some degree 的订单. Your student may expect that they will enjoy the same freedoms at 首页 that they've become accustomed to at college, while you might feel that the rules and expectations 从他们的高中时代仍然适用(i.e. 宵禁、旅行、家规等等.). It can be helpful to anticipate this situation ahead of time and have a conversation to negotiate some new rules and expectations that reflect their growing independence and sense of self-responsibility, while also respecting the wishes and needs of the 其他家庭成员.