What Parents Can Expect:
The Rhythm of the Academic Year

September

• homesickness/loneliness
• excitement
• doubts about choice of school
• tendency to test new limits and boundaries
• frequent calls and/or visits home
• anxiety about roommates/peers
• anxiety about professors
• anxiety about intellectual competency
• first round of test/assignments at end of month
• anxiety/counscious about financial situation

October

• roommate problems begin to arise
• concerns about social climate ("Do I fit in here?")
• struggling with intellectual competency
• first marks may be returned
• midterm exams beginning
• relationships from home still going strong

November

• midterm grades returned
• roommate problems getting more serious, lots of papers due
• pressure building re: coursework
• feelings of incompetence set in/or a sense that things will be okay
• stress levels high

December

• anxiety about going home for holidays surface
• anxiety/sleeplessness regarding preparations for finals
• sadness about leaving new relationships
• feelings of missing out on holiday fun due to studying, exams; sense of being cheated

January

• homesickness
• loneliness for relationships back home
• disappointment/excitement over first term grades
• seeing this as a time to make a fresh start

February

• feelings of claustrophobia - campus is getting smallerl; weather is affecting moods
• tempers short, tension level high
• increase in alcohol substance abuse
• breakup of relationships back home

March

• anxiety begins over roommate selection for the next year
• disappointment on the part of those students who can't afford to travel over Spring Break
• anxiety over midterm exams

April

• excitement over arrival of fine weather and term ending
• anxiety over final exams
• apprehension about returning home for the summer
• sadness over losing touch with friends

Throughout the entire year:

• anxious about what they will do when they are done university
• anxious about finances
• anxious about intellectual ability
• missing specific family - specific traditions
• missing birthday celebrations at home (theirs and others)