Adjusting
to College Life
For
many first-year students, the University may be their first experience
living away from home for an
extended period of time. The student's usual sources of support
are no longer present to ease adjustment to an unfamiliar environment.
The first few weeks on campus can be a lonely period. There may
be concerns about forming friendships. When new students look
around, it may seem that everyone else is self-confident and socially
successful. The reality is that everyone is having the same concerns.
Here are tips for students to help ease the adjustment to EMU:
• If they allow sufficient time, students usually find peers
in the university to provide structure and a valuable support
system in the new environment. The important thing for the student
to remember in meeting new people is to be oneself.
•
Meaningful, new relationships should not be expected to develop
overnight. It took a great deal of time to develop intimacy in
high school friendships; the same will be true of intimacy in
university friendships.
•
Increased personal freedom can feel both wonderful and frightening.
Students can come and go as they choose with no one to "hassle"
them. At the same time, things are no longer predictable. The
strange environment with new kinds of procedures and new people
can create the sense of being on an emotional roller-coaster.
This is normal and to be expected.
•
Living with roommates can present special, sometimes intense,
problems. Negotiating respect of personal property, personal space,
sleep, and relaxation needs can be a complex task. The complexity
increases when roommates come from different backgrounds with
very different values. Communicating one's legitimate needs calmly,
listening with respect to a roommate's concerns, and being willing
to compromise can promote resolution of issues.
•
It is unrealistic to expect that roommates will be best friends.
Roommates may work out mutually satisfying living arrangements,
but the reality is that each may tend to have his or her own circle
of friends.
•
University classes are more difficult than high school classes.
There are more reading assignments, and the exams and papers cover
a greater amount of material. Instructors expect students to do
more work outside the classroom.
•
In order to be successful, the student must take responsibility
for his or her actions. This means the student needs to follow
the course outlines and keep up with the readings. If a class
is missed, it is up to the student to borrow lecture notes from
someone who was present. If the student is having difficulty with
course work, he or she needs to ask for help--request an appointment
with the professor, or sign up for tutoring or other academic-skills
training at the Holman Learning
Center.
