Happy first Friday!
In this Issue:
- “Belonging uncertainty” and the start of college
- Voting info – coming soon!
- Former Wake pitching star to make MLB debut tonight?
- Labor Day clarification re: administrative closures but classes are in session
- Daily Deac will be dark Monday / Remind your Deacs to attend the Fall Involvement Fair on Tuesday (9/3)
Happy Friday, Deac families! Congrats to all our Deacs for making it through the first week of classes. I know they will be ready for the weekend! And we are basking in the glow of a first home football win last night. Go Deacs!
I have an assortment of tidbits for you today – take what you need and scroll past what doesn’t serve you.
“Belonging uncertainty” and the start of college
I was reading some articles* this morning about the theory of “Belonging Uncertainty” and thought this might be especially helpful for new families, but older families too. Here are some snippets:
“[Researchers] coined the term ‘belonging uncertainty’ to refer to the state of mind in which one suffers from doubts about whether one is fully accepted in a particular environment or ever could be.
We can experience it in the workplace, at school, at a snooty restaurant, or even in a brief social encounter. Belonging uncertainty has adverse effects. When we perceive threats to our sense of belonging, our horizon of possibility shrinks. We tend to interpret ourselves, other people, and the situation in a defensive and self-protective way. We more readily infer that we are incapable or that we aren’t meant to be there, that we will not understand or be understood. We’re less inclined to accept challenges that pose a risk of failure.”
This is very much what new students at college everywhere might be feeling at the start of the semester. The same researchers conducted an intervention that had some great outcomes:
“[We shared stories] with the first-year students [that] conveyed two messages. One was: If you’re feeling like you don’t belong here in your first semester or two of college, that’s normal. Everybody feels that way. The second was: It gets better. By putting yourself out there—by knocking on a professor’s door or joining a study group—things improve. And we accompanied those stories with real statistics from a group of seniors that conveyed the same messages.”
And they got some pretty impressive results:
“73 percent–86 percent of upperclassmen reported that, during their freshman year, they:
- “sometimes” or “frequently” worried whether other students would accept them in the context of classes and coursework.
- “sometimes” or “frequently” worried that other students at [school name] viewed their abilities negatively.
- “sometimes” or “frequently” felt intimidated by professors.
[First-year] Students who had these doubts could now see that such doubts were more common than not among those starting college….
We also used statistics to reinforce another message that had been embedded in our stories: with time and effort, most students come to feel they belong. For instance,
82 percent–97 percent of upperclassmen reported that, since their freshman year:
- their comfort in the academic environment at [school name] has improved “some” or “a lot.”
- they are “confident” or “certain” that most other students accept them in the context of classes and coursework.
- they are “confident” or “certain” that other students at [school name] view their abilities positively.
- they are “confident” or “certain” that professors at [school name] accept them.
All in all, participants got to see the hidden perspectives of a reference group: their fellow students. The stories and assurances didn’t come from professors or administrators, people outside their reference group. By learning these new perspectives, students might look at their adversities on campus a little differently, as a normal part of adjusting to college. Like encouragement we might get from a close friend at a time when we feel adrift, the message in our study sought to make people feel less like a ship lost at sea and more like co-travelers taking the first steps on a journey full of possibility. The stories turned uncertainty about belonging into a basis of connection rather than shame.”
So why am I sharing this? Because this is exactly what my excellent colleagues in the Office of Orientation, New Student and Transition Programs is doing with our Letters So Dear series that is sent to all new students each Monday! Those emails always contain a letter from an upperclass student (or young alumnus/a) that talks about what it was like when they were in their first year at Wake, and how their journey has evolved and improved over time.
So if you are a P’28, make sure your student reads those letters and pays attention to their peers’ testimonials. Over time, these letters might help them understand that the transition to college takes time, and they will be OK. They just have to work through it! (And if they need support, our 336-758-CARE line is there to help them!)
* read article 1 and 2 if you want to see more
Voting info – coming soon!
Several of you have asked me to include information about how students register to vote, where they can vote locally, etc. That info is coming soon! We have subject matter experts on campus who are preparing that information and I will share it as soon as I get it.
Rest assured, there will be a LOT of emphasis on voter registration and voting and we will be communicating voting info to students in multiple ways. It will be hard for students to miss.
Former Wake pitching star to make MLB debut tonight?
I think I read this in the Winston-Salem Journal and thought it might interest the baseball fans among us:
“Former Wake Forest baseball pitcher Rhett Lowder could make his MLB debut today, Aug. 30. According to reports, the 22-year-old will start for the Cincinnati Reds in their second game against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at 6:40 p.m.”
Labor Day clarification re: administrative closures but classes are in session
A family member asked me a very understandable question about our academic calendar and staff calendar: do students have class on Labor Day or not?
There is no Labor Day off for students, per the Academic Services Calendar. So your students are expected to be in class on Labor Day unless their individual class syllabus from each faculty member indicates otherwise.
Administrative offices are closed for Labor Day, so staff will be home. As such…
Daily Deac will be dark Monday / Remind your Deacs to attend the Fall Involvement Fair on Tuesday (9/3)
There will be no Daily Deac on Monday, as I am part of the administrative staff (i.e., those who are not teaching classes) who will be off for the Labor Day holiday.
But I wanted to make sure that before I leave for the Labor Day weekend that I reminded families to encourage their Deacs to go to the Fall Involvement Fair on Tuesday 9/3.
Because there are 200+ student organizations that your Deacs could join, encourage them not to sign up on 50 distro lists (because they might be overwhelmed with emails and not go to any of the student org events) but to sign up for a smaller number initially, and winnow that down to a manageable number this semester.
Getting involved in campus organizations is a key way for students to begin feeling that sense of belonging, so urge them to try some new things (whether they are a first-year or senior!)
Remember that Friday afternoons/early evenings are your best time to call your Deacs and remind them of home and to make good choices over the weekend 🙂
Wishing you and yours a happy long weekend!