How parents can help
Helping your student meet the challenges of college
College represents a new stage of life for your student and you. But some things never change. Your active engagement can make a great difference in your young adult's adjustment to this new and exciting challenge. First and foremost, let your children know you believe in them and their ability to be successful. Here are more tips from the dean of students' office:
- Support your son's or daughter's assumption of responsibility for his or her academic and personal life. We expect, as you do, that they will learn to make their own choices and be responsible for the consequences of those choices.
- Encourage your student to begin or continue a language during the first year in order to maximize Junior Year Abroad options.
- Refer your student to the Filene Center for Work and Learning to explore internships, volunteer service and employment options that will enable your son or daughter explore life and career choices.
- Help your student view Wheaton as a place where he or she will be challenged--academically, socially and personally--and to accept these challenges, as difficult as they may be, as part of a great education. Your son or daughter will change--slowly in some ways, rapidly in others--but after four years he or she will be ready to take on responsible roles as a professional, a community member and a successful young adult.
- Encourage your son or daughter to approach difficult choices, such as the selection of a major, junior year options or senior theses, as problems to be solved with input from a number of people. A Wheaton education is training in problem solving.
- Support your student in dealing with the confusion that often arises from the exploration and questioning that is typical of the first two years of college. Exploring the breadth of the liberal arts is often the best introduction to later, specialized study in any major.
- Remind your son or daughter of the range of academic support services available through the college. If you are unsure, refer them to their faculty advisor or to the advising center for more information.
- Remind your student that, unlike a high school transcript, a college record follows one through life. Students are beginning the process of building their future.