What Type of Experience Can My Son or Daughter Expect from their First Semester at Ferris State University?
When your first-year student arrives at Ferris State University they can expect to experience different reactions and thoughts. Your son or daughter may adjust to being a student at FSU with little difficulty, or they may find the transition into higher education stretches beyond the first year, just like any other FSU student. As a parent you can help by understanding the developmental process your student will journey through as they enter Ferris State University.
Initially, many students enjoy a period where the newness and excitement about being away at college leads to strong positive feelings about life at FSU. They are delighted about being on their own, though some may be dealing with feelings of homesickness that comes with the territory of being a student living on campus.
As the semester progresses, students begin to realize higher education isn't all fun and games, that it is quite a bit different than high school. They will discover there are expectations for a lot of hard work, and there may be frustration and disappointment as well, especially when they don't perform as well as they did in high school. They may reel when they receive their first low grades of their academic career. They may need to refine their study skills or writing skills and develop a clear sense of how to learn differently than they had learned before.
About mid-semester, students may begin wondering if they would have been better off at another school. They might believe that transferring to another institution will solve problems they are experiencing. Or they may wonder if they would be better off out in the work world. They also begin to question their major as they really start to learn what the subject matter really entails.
Your son or daughter will also begin to learn things at home have changed. Life has gone on without them. They also will begin to redefine themselves especially when they see how much they have changed. As a result, their relationships with family and high school friends may be different from what they remember. Home will suddenly feel like a new and changing place.
As students progress through the semester they refine their academic and study skills, engage in conversations with classmates about the concepts they are studying in class and continue to expand their circle of friends.
Often at this time academic accomplishment begins and meaningful relationships with classmates and faculty develop.
Towards the end of the semester, your son or daughter will face large amounts of work. No matter how well students have been doing academically and socially, they may have anxiety about whether they will survive the all of the requirements, all the papers and all the exams. They will question whether or not they will actually make it to the second semester. They may also question again whether they really belong in college or whether they are pursuing the right major. Many students will approach the counselors at the Educational and Career Counseling Center to help identify a different path to study.
About the second semester, your son or daughter will begin to view higher education with familiarity. They will come to see their classes, informal discussions with new friends, parties, and other elements of their life are related and all a part of something bigger. They will come to understand the choices and commitment they make now have a tremendous impact on the shape of their higher education experience and their future career.
