Category — Just for Fun

New Year is often the time for new beginnings.  Fortunately, for college students, the new year also often brings a new semester with its fresh start as well.  We offer here 10 New Year’s resolutions for college parents and 10 resolutions for you to pass on to your college student.  Enjoy your fresh start – and make this a great year for you and your college student!

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Many students have difficulty adjusting to college during those first few weeks of September.  This is especially true for college freshmen, but may be true for upperclassmen as well.  Those first few weeks back at school, away from home and family, require some shifting of thinking and habits.  Students miss home and family – and often the family pet as well.

 In September 2004, Kathy Bradley, Director of Health and Counseling Center and Associate Dean of College Life at Susquehanna University began a program called Dog Days which is now nationally recognized and duplicated at several colleges around the country.  Bradley’s program, which was designed to help freshmen with the adjustment to college by giving students an increased sense of familiarity and belonging, was modeled after programs using animal assisted group therapy.

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We know that most colleges work hard to make the admission experience a memorable one for both students and their parents.  Students very often make their decision about which college to attend based on their college visit.  There are many factors that go into a terrific admissions visit, and most of us haven’t considered some of the details that are important. A recent contest sponsored by a higher education marketing firm, TargetX, sought the best college bathrooms in the country.  The results are in.

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From time to time, an interesting idea or story may come along that gives us, as parents, insight into our students.  An interesting item in the Boston Globe recently reported on some college students’ approach to saving our environment.

 The University of Rhode Island recently hired an energy services company to conduct an experiment regarding students’ behavior around some wasteful energy habits.  The school chose three habits common on campus: leaving computers on when they weren’t being used, keeping heat or air conditioners on when no one was in the room, and taking excessively long showers. 

 The university then set out to conduct a semester long program to see if they could change student behavior in these areas. They asked students to pledge to reduce energy consumption and then they posted reminders in dorms. They concluded that, in the area of environmental conservation, college students may be teachable!

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