Key discussions to help your student navigate their first year

It’s almost here! Your student is looking forward to leaving your home soon for their first year of college. They are excited about meeting new friends, ordering late night pizza, and stepping out on their own. Which are all great, but let’s also be practical. To reduce misunderstandings or conflict, here are some essential talking points you should discuss together before they leave for college.

When your teen reaches the age of 18, even though you may still think of them as children, under the law they have now achieved adult status. That status allows them to vote, serve in the military, serve on a jury, sign a contract, and get married without your consent. Although they still can’t do certain things, like drink alcohol or rent cars, their legal status is decidedly different than it was at 17. 

Share these 10 tips with your student to help organize their ending semester, get ready for their next semester, and evaluate their status to ensure they are headed in the right direction.

Testing time is usually stressful for students, from elementary school through the college years. But if your student is in their first year of college, end-of-semester finals can be a big adjustment. While it ultimately is up to your adult child to manage their time and handle their stress, you can be supportive while they […]

They did it — your student landed a summer internship or co-op experience!

Now the school year’s winding down and they’re getting excited about the upcoming adventure. For you, though, this may be a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, you’re happy and proud; on the other, this might be the first summer they won’t spend at home.

For college parents, finding that balance between supporting your student and tending to your own emotions is an ongoing process and this is no exception. There are ways to do both this summer.

The end of the semester is almost here, and your college student may be feeling stressed. You wish you could help. Or perhaps your college student is just a bit too relaxed about the urgency of the work that still needs to be done, and you wish you could light a little fire under them.

“Our conversations.” That was my answer when someone asked me what I missed most about my daughter moving away to attend her freshman year at college. Conversations had shifted from regularly “picking up where we left off” to “keeping up or getting left in the dust of her moving-at-the-speed-of-freshman-life.”

Mid-semester grades are coming. Perhaps your student has talked with their professors and has been warned that things aren’t going well. Or perhaps your student simply knows that they haven’t done what they needed to do so far this semester, and things look bleak. Your student may be wondering whether it is too late to turn things around.

Talking about drinking need not be taboo. “Detoxify” the topic. You can assume that your child has experience with high-risk drinking situations. Even if your child doesn’t drink, they most likely know people who do and/or they have been offered alcohol. Here are ideas on “starting points” for conversations, but it is OK to be more direct and ask about opportunities they might have had to drink or situations where drinking occurred.