Problems May Include, But are Not Limited to:
- Disorganization/feeling overwhelmed
- Eating right and staying healthy
- Failing to manage money
- Failing to network
- Homesickness
- Not resolving relationship issues
- Poor grades/not studying or reading enough
- Poor sleep habits
- Skipping classes
- Wasting time/procrastinating
Interventions:
The following tips are for students to help themselves avoid some of the negative affects of these problems. While these issues are certainly not exhaustive, many college students will be affected by a number of them during their college experience.
- Reducing feelings of homesickness may be difficult for some but may be accomplished by remaining on campus during the week and on weekends. This may help students to get to know their campus and become more involved in athletic and social events. Students learn more about campus resources and make friends with other students, with whom they may find common ground. Stay in touch with those back home through phone, mail and email but force yourself to become part of the culture within your new academic world.
- Eating right and staying healthy will help you accomplish your academic goals and make your college experience much more fun. Get enough exercise and monitor the amount and quality of your food and drink consumption. This will increase the odds of staying physically and mentally healthy.
- Poor sleep habits will leave you ineffective in your work and play as a college student. Take this challenge and read a current study related to the need for sleep and the effects of sleep deprivation on our health, both our physical and mental health.
- Unresolved relationship problems commonly cause bitterness, resentment and anger. Any of these feelings can cause us to loose focus of the goals we are attempting to achieve. Even if we must move, separate or even just “agree to disagree,” successful attempts at relational conflict resolution are necessary in each of our lives.
- While the temptation to skip classes may be high at times, you are spending your money to gather information given during class times. When you are not there, you are not receiving the benefit of the instruction as well as information regarding grading, future assignments, and opportunities outside the classroom of which you may want to take advantage. You may also be failing to spend time with professors and classmates who may, upon graduation, become part of a valuable network for you. This takes us into problem six.
- When we do not get to know and spend time with classmates, professors and other academic advisors, we lack support and a place to go for ideas and answers when a problem does arise. Practical experience and internship opportunities should always be taken advantage of, in order to provide maximum networking opportunities for students.
- Know what your resources are and develop an appropriate spending plan. Seek the advice of a financial planner or counselor. Don’t spend money unnecessarily or borrow money that may be difficult or even impossible to repay. Only the federal government can do that. Be careful about being drawn into credit card opportunities offered to college students. “Easy cash” is never easy and may also come with high interest rates.
- Facing considerably more freedom than the high school years, coupled with a lack of accountability it becomes easy to fall short of completing the necessary reading and studying to increase your odds of academic success in college. Failure to dedicate the appropriate time to studying and reading is likely to have a negative impact on grades. Some ideas to increase your odds of success are to be in class, every class if possible, be accountable to others for you academic performance, know each course, the syllabi, the requirements and the professor along with his/her expectations.
- While college is a social as well as an academic experience, these must be balanced in order to maximize success in both areas.Procrastinating may have been an acceptable exercise in high school but will likely become problematic in college. While getting to know other students/faculty, establish deadlines for assignments that minimize your stress level.
- In as much as college is a time when many people feel overwhelmed with the requirements of life, don’t let this go on for long. Consider seeing a professional counselor to help you organize, prioritize and better manage the demands being placed upon you.