What Happens Next Adjusting to College

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What Happens Next? Adjusting to College

• Advice from Crosby, Stills, Nash sometimes Young

Linda Locher, Ph.D., Director, Psychological
Services 570-577-1604
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You, who are on the road

• Parents Students share the same road (college)
  but it looks very different from one generation
  to the next.
• Who are they who are on the road and what are
  they facing?

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Beloit Colleges Mindset List

• For the class of 2011
• What Berlin wall?
• Humvees have always been available to the public.
• They have grown up with bottled water.
• Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force
  in South Africa.
• Rap music has always been mainstream.
• The NBA season has always gone on and on and on
  and on.
• Classmates could include Bart Simpson.
• Eastern Airlines never earned their wings in
  their lifetime.
• Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than
  Sears.
• Stadiums and rock tours have always had corporate
  names.
• Fox has always been a network.
• MTV has never featured music videos.
• Avatars have nothing to do with Hindu deities.
• Chavez has nothing to do with iceberg lettuce and
  everything to do with oil.

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Beloit Colleges Mindset List

• For the class of 2012
• Harry Potter is old enough to be a classmate.
• GPS satellite navigation systems have always been
  available.
• Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic
  bottles.
• Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme
  Court.
• IBM has never made typewriters.
• There has always been Pearl Jam.
• The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay
  Leno.
• Lenins name has never been part of the name of a
  major city in Russia. The Soviet Union has never
  existed.
• Caller ID has always been available on phones.
• Club Med resorts have always been places to take
  the whole family.
• There have always been charter schools.
• They have really known only two Presidents of the
  United States.
• Iran Iraq have never been at war with each
  other.
• Whatever is not part of a question.

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The Generational differencesA Comparison of
Generations
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Generation Myths

• Baby boomers - Generation of protest, activism,
  liberalism!?
• 1969. Less than 1/3 of all undergraduates (28)
  had participated in a demonstration.
• 1970. During the week following the shooting of
  students at Kent and Jackson state universities,
  43 of the nations college and universities were
  entirely unaffected.
• 1969. Only 33 of undergraduates described
  themselves as liberal or left of center.
• 1969. Fifty-nine percent of students came to
  college to get training and skills for an
  occupation. Forty-nine percent saw the chief
  benefit of a college education as increasing
  their earning power.
• Levine Cureton1998

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You, who are on the road

• 1. Name one thing that you think is easier, and
  one thing that you think is harder, for college
  students today as compared with college students
  and the world a generation ago.

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Must have a code that you can live by

• Measure twice, cut once.
• You only live once.
• Golden rule.
• Platinum rule.
• Wisdom from both sides
• Despite whatever, they listen. (Values)
• Pencils erasers. (Perfection isnt enough)
• Dyslexic faculty (Failure is part of growing)

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Must have a code that you can live by

• 2. Identify one value, belief or principle that
  has guided you in times of difficulty or doubt.

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Become yourself

• Theory and Research regarding college student
  development.
• Challenges across the years.

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Social-Emotional Development
The Age of Identity Instability Self-focus Feeli
ng in between Possibilities
The Age of Letting go Defining and assessing
personal fulfillment in life Caring for
aging parents - role reversals Trusting,
Faith Hope
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Challenges
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Challenges across the years
Students Transition Doubt - Did I make the
right choice? Will I succeed? Separation
anxiety - homesickness, loss of childhood
security, not being part of the
family Excitement of freedom and
Experimentation Competence Confidence Negotiat
ing living with a stranger
Parents Transition Empty nest - Loss and
Freedom Letting go Loss of parental
identity Trust Loss of control

• First Year

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Change in First-Year Students Self-Concept
Hurtado, S., Sax, L.J., Saenz, V., Harper, C.E.,
Oseguera, L., Curley, J., Lopez, L.,
Wolf, D., Arellano. L. (2007). Findings from the
2005 administration of Your First
College Year (YFCY) National Aggregates. Los
Angeles Higher Education Research
Institute.
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Change in First-Year Students Self-Concept
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Change in Student Behaviors Over One Year
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Change in Student Behaviors Over One Year
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Challenges across the years
Students Allegiances Decisions Hall-mates new
and old Fraternity Sorority membership What
does Home mean? Decisions about majors Has
the relationship lasted?
Parents Allegiances Decisions How do I divide
time among other children, job, new interests
my college student? Rejection - Do I convert
his/her room? Why doesnt she/he want to
come? Elder parent care How much to I give
advice, money, problem-solve and how much do I
let my son/daughter take responsibility and
consequences?

• Sophomore

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Challenges across the years
Students Stretching Resilience In-depth
involvement in major and sport Assuming
leadership roles Decisions about studying abroad
Culture shock adjustments Relationships
intensifying - commitment questions
Parents Stretching Resilience How do I
parent an adult child? How do I welcome a
possible future son/daughter-in-law? What
expectations do I have for my son/daughter to
contribute to the family? How do I let my
son/daughter help me?

• Junior

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Challenges across the years
Students Transition Self-reliance
Intimacy Good-byes Excitement and anxiety about
possibilities Commitments - to job,
relationships, contributions to society, family
Parents Transition Pride Anxiety Good-byes N
ew life goals roles for personal
fulfillment Am I ready for becoming a
grandparent?

• Senior

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Become yourself

• 3. Name one thing that makes you different
• from your son or daughter (answered by
  parents)
• from your mother or father (answered by
  students)
• Name one thing that makes your similar...

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And you, of tender years, Cant know the fears
That your elders grew by

• Helicopter parents?
• Taking on the responsibilities as an adult child
  - son/daughter

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Helicopter Parents?Lafayette Colleges
First-year Parents Students Survey (1999)
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Helicopter Parents?Lafayette Colleges
First-year Parents Students Survey (1999)
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And you, of tender years, Cant know the fears
That your elders grew by

• 4. Identify one challenge you expect to face this
  year. How could your parents/son or daughter
  help you with this challenge?

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Feed them on your dreams

• Taking on the responsibilities as an adult
  son/daughter
• Dialogue - Initiative - nature abhors a vacuum
• Negotiate - Give and take
• Empathic perspective - Recognize flaws in parents
  self

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Talking about My Generations GoalsThe Pew
Research Center for The People The Press.
(2007). How young people view their lives,
futures and politics A portrait of Generation
Next, Washington Pew Research Center.
Source 2006 Gen Next Survey. Respondents were
asked to choose the most important and next most
important goals from these five options.
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2007 College Senior Survey Institutional Profile
17,156 respondents from Private 4yr. colleges

• Student objectives noted as essential or very
  important

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Feed them on your dreams

• 5. Identify one thing youd like your parents/son
  or daughter to appreciate about you.
• 6. Name one dream that you havent previously
  shared with your parents/son or daughter.

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And know they love you

• Poll Young people's heroes are parents
• By Alan Fram and Trevor Tompson, Associated Press
  Writers    August 20, 2007
• WASHINGTON --When it comes to those they most
  admire, young people do not look chiefly to the
  worlds of music, today's wars or history.
  Instead, they turn to their own families.
• Asked to name their heroes, young Americans
  surveyed by The Associated Press and MTV make
  their parents the collective top pick.
  Twenty-nine percent choose their mothers, 21
  percent name their fathers and 16 percent pick
  their parents without specifying which one.
  Allowed to choose as many heroes as they'd like,
  nearly half mention at least one of their folks.
• Jacquelynne Eccles, a University of Michigan
  psychology professor who has studied young
  people, says surveys she has helped conduct since
  1980 have consistently found that parents are
  youths' most oft-named heroes.
• The AP-MTV poll was conducted by Knowledge
  Networks Inc. from April 16 to 23, and involved
  online interviews with 1,280 people aged 13 to
  24. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or
  minus 3 percentage points.

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