Transitioning to College

When your student graduates from high school and prepares for their first year at college, it’s a transition filled with excitement and promise. New friends, experiences and challenges await your emerging adult as their education journey continues to the next level. They may be living in a new environment on campus and being asked to make adult decisions for the first time. And that can mean stress. It’s not uncommon for college students to experience a wide variety of stressors, especially in the first year. That’s why it’s important for family members to support students through that stress as they navigate this completely new environment at college.

What is the best way to support them? Arizona State University’s Family Connection explores this topic through a series of video chats on stress management (https://eoss.asu.edu/family/resources-services/family-connection/stress-management).

The five-part series features university experts, family members and students offering advice and strategies on a number of topics — from the science behind stress to the parent’s role and more.

Parenting Through Stress (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhrHTSdFWE8) Two faculty members from the ASU Psychology Department discuss how parents and family members support their college students through stressful times. As the panelists point out in the video, students often face a large number of small stressors that can add up to larger issues during the transition to campus life. The faculty members offer ideas for family members to offer support, ranging from talking to the student about possible solutions to the problems causing the stress, to modeling resilient behavior as a parent or caregiver.

Stress Continuum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8ccl_1BIRo) In this video chat, two staff members from ASU Counseling Services take a deeper dive into the science behind college stress. The panelists look at the bell curve of the stress continuum and how good or manageable stressors can sometimes escalate to “distress” for young emerging adults. The video offers strategies for family members on helping their students to effectively manage stress. Emerging Adults and Stress (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddn1DHVMU2A) What does it mean to be an emerging adult? How do emerging adults respond to the stress that is common to college life? A pair of ASU experts answer these questions and more as they explore brain development in young adults during this Family Connection chat. First Generation Students and Stress (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNIKaHlzSPg)

Even though first-generation college students have the required grades and the ability to do the coursework, they can face unique stressors when making the transition to higher education. Two ASU experts explore the types of stressors first-generation students face along with the many resources available to support them. During the video, the panelists discuss the remarkable resilience of first-gen students as they overcome stress-causing obstacles such as imposter syndrome. They also offer advice for first-generation families on the ways they can support their students at the college level.

Visit the ASU Family Connection online archive (https://eoss.asu.edu/family/resources-services/family-connection) to explore a wide range of topics related to supporting your college student. Videos with captioning in Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin are also available.

family.asu.edu