A colleague of mine sent a very interesting article from the New York Times entitled “The Return of the Natives,” which talks about how students (particularly first year students) and parents have to readjust over Winter Break. It covers the holiday transition from a number of perspectives. Here’s a taste of the article:
“If you attended college decades ago, much has changed about winter break. Gone are the two-week breathers, followed by exams. Your student, who will arrive home a wrung-out, post-finals mess, will be sleep-deprived, laundry-laden and with four to six weeks to drive everyone, themselves included, crazy.
Another change: a cottage industry of hand-holders has sprung up, including parent associations, blogs and books. Many colleges offer parent services. As the holidays approach, schools send e-newsletters about managing expectations for that first protracted reunion.” Read the full article here.
(Editor’s note: I am not sure if I should be offended or pleased that we are part of a ‘cottage industry of hand holders’ by providing parents with resources and information we think might be helpful).
It would be interesting to hear our Daily Deac readers’ comments on the article and how it has compared with your experience. If you’d like to share your thoughts, email them to parents@wfu.edu. If we receive enough comments to warrant a post of its own, we’ll add it later this week. We won’t use anyone’s names – so if you want to identify yourself as parent of a first year, sophomore, etc. that will suffice.
