Fourth Year: Navigating Change
Graduation is just around the corner for your senior. While moving beyond senior year can be a time of excitement and optimism, your student is also thinking about the next step. Whether planning to get a job or continuing on to graduate school, the uncertainty can be frustrating for your student, especially during the second semester.
Focusing on solutions can help your student create a more seamless transition, and thinking about goals — short-term, mid-range, and long-term — can make change feel less daunting.
Keep in mind that your student is leaving what is most familiar: the people and places he or she has known for several years. It’s a lot of change, and you can help ease the stress. Begin by reminding your student that he or she is not alone, that along with you, numerous campus resources, including advisors, faculty, mentors, and student life staff, are available to help.
Note, too, that your student has already navigated numerous changes throughout the college years and those experiences will make it easier to navigate changes on the horizon. In a sense, your student has been preparing for this transition since freshman year.
Listening to your student is an important step in helping develop solutions to whatever uncertainty he or she is feeling about the future. Sharing the transitions you’ve experienced in your own life and letting your student know that it’s normal to feel unsure can be very reassuring. Remind your student that how he or she feels today isn’t necessarily how he or she will feel tomorrow.
Your student is in a new phase of adulthood, which means that the relationship he or she has with you may also change. But you still have wisdom to share, ranging from information about budgeting, insurance, and savings, to ways to continue being an engaged citizen through volunteering. Encourage your student to think about what it means to be a lifelong learner: that learning doesn’t need to stop after college graduation.
Your student may also worry about leaving the friends he or she had in college. Remind your student that friends can stay connected through tools such as Facebook, and that there will be plenty of opportunities to make new friends in the next phase of life at work or in graduate school.
Senior year is a time to celebrate major life accomplishments, both academically and personally. It’s a time to look back at how far your student has come and look forward to what comes next. While every transition presents obstacles, each presents far more possibilities. And soon, your student can be proud to say that he or she is a graduate of UW–Madison.