Changes in people’s life occur so frequently that some of them are not noticed, but the biggest part of people cannot leave life changes without attention, especially when they are notable. Let us take the transition from school to college. Some people perceive such changes rather painfully as they have to get used to the new life in the strange community and sometimes people are antagonistically inclined towards newcomers at colleges, especially elder students. There are a lot of ways how to overcome the difficulties connected with the transition and how to survive in the hostile community with the result to be accepted there in future.
The first problem which appears at the beginning of college life is the new surrounding, which effects students’ emotional condition. The place is different, people are different and first year students begin to miss their homes, their parents and relatives, friends and people whom they love (boyfriend/girlfriend). The emotional condition is also rather tense as if the problems occur (and they frequently occur), students are unable to tell anybody about their problems: no close people and other students are not interested as they have their own problems.
Asking new college students about their emotional condition, the answers were as follows, ‘miss my boyfriend – tears, broken heart’, ‘worried about things not working out with boyfriend’, ‘miss my friends and their ability to know what I am thinking without me saying anything’ or ‘living away from my parents is extremely difficult. It I have a bad day I have no one to pick me up. No one that really knows me’ (Beard, Clegg, & Smith, 2005, p. 243). These thoughts bother all newcomers to the college and it makes people feel frustrated and annoying during there first days or even weeks.
One of the contestable reactions is the independence. On the one hand, students are far from their homes and they are not under the total control. They are eager to do what they want as their freedom and independence rises. The responses to the situation of some students are as follows, ‘like doing things I want to do’, ‘get to eat whatever dinners I want’, or ‘I feel like I am suddenly responsible for the rest of my life – GREAT’ (Beard, Clegg, & Smith, 2005, p. 243). On the other hand, freedom and independence bring a great responsibility, and students have to get used to it. College is like the corridor to the adult life and this corridor is the test, whether the person is able to cope with it or not. Students’ remarks about the responsibility are that they are ‘insure about making adult decisions’, ‘scared when problems arise’, ‘cannot cook’ (Beard, Clegg, & Smith, 2005, p. 243), and other problems.
The adaptation to the mentioned problems is rather long but everything comes with the experience. Money is one more problem which impossible to avoid (Beard, Clegg, & Smith, 2005). Having used to take money when they want from their parents, students have to get used to save or decide the problem in some other cases (part-time job). Being in the other city, new students should be responsible and make the self control what mush more difficult than they we controlled by their parents. The mistakes should be solved by themselves and there is no mother or father who will come and solve the problem instead.
Turning to the problem of friendship, it is obvious that school friends are far from and the new one should be found, but it is really difficult, from the psychological point of view. To find a real friend is a hard job to do, as the person should be checked by the time. Sharing her life experience, Anna told her story of friend searching:
I think my biggest shock on coming to uni was not the new lectures style and having to walk around a huge area and find things on my own, but rather the horrific fact that, somehow, I was not finding people whom I could imagine being good friends with. One moment I am sure I have made a good friend at uni. I think this is them. Then the next day it is changes and I have changed my mind (Game, & Metcalfe, 2003, p. 76).
The problems of the adaptation to the new surrounding are a problem as there are a lot of different buildings which should be attended. The advices of the specialists should not be skipped by newcomers. To visit the orientation week (O-week) is a good idea as the students are introduced to the ways and places where lectures may take place, to the bookshops, libraries, departmental offices student unions and services. This information is rather difficult to understand when the classes have already started. Moreover, during the O-week all people are at the same board, so it is easier to make friends (Williams & Germov, 2001).
A lot of problems can be created by the difference in teaching methods, which differ greatly from school’s one. The research works at college are deeper, with the details and other specifics. Inadequate study habit is the problem and as faster the students get used to the new structure and methodology of education, the better for them. One of the main consequences, which may follow the inability to adapt to the new methods, is leaving the college (Mintzes & Leonard, 2006).
The new life is always a stress and those students who are able to adapt to it faster will have more opportunities in future as the adaptation is the complicated process which influences the whole life processes, that is why students on the first year of their study are unable to show all their abilities. Shock, new place, and other reasons bother people, they are unable to think absolutely about their study as they have not used to the new surrounding, and the faster this process will finish, the faster education will be paid more attention.
In conclusion, the main problems, which fresheners face on their first year of study, are social (searching for new friends), educational (the attention is paid to the adaptation in the new surrounding and not to the studying process in itself), academic (new style of methods of education), financial (constant cut of money), psychological (the very attitude to the global life changes), and cultural (the culture of life in college is absolutely different than that of school). The quick adaptation is the guarantee of the success in all spheres of college life. Students’ slow adaptation will bring a lot of problems to their life, both personal and social. Close friends and relatives may help, even being far from, by means of warm words and confidence in the successful future.
Reference List
Beard, C., Clegg, S., & Smith, K 2005, ‘Acknowledging the effective in higher education.’, British Educational research Journal, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 235-252.
Game, A. & Metcalfe, A 2003, The first year experience, The Federation Press, Leichardt.
Mintzes, JJ. & Leonard, WH 2006, Handbook of college science teaching, NSTA Press, Arlington.
Williams, L. & Germov, J 2001, Surviving First Year Uni, Allen & Unwin, Melborn.