College lessons often personal
Hampden-Sydney College students gather in a room at Cushing Hall.
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BY JODY RATHGEB Special Correspondent
Published: October 8, 2008
Granted, this is college, not first grade. But somehow, all the rules and bits of advice seem to be the same:
The difference is that the stakes are higher for the college freshman. Adjusting to the academic, financial and personal freedom of that first year can make a big difference for the future. Fortunately, there’s help both in preventing missteps and in dealing with the problems.
Pay attention to the teacher. Academics are naturally a major concern during the first year. Nobody wants to be on double-secret probation. So nearly every school offers both prevention and a safety net.
At Hampden-Sydney College, it’s called the Office of Academic Success, and it offers one-on-one counseling in time management, setting priorities and building a balanced schedule.
“Most students essentially know what to do, but some are surprised by the jump in the kind of study needed and the volume,” said Christa Fye, associate dean for academic support.
Many are used to doing reading and summarizing but are flummoxed when asked to analyze their reading and develop an argument. Her office not only assists those who sense trouble, but also reaches out to the floundering through sports teams, fraternities, advisers and orientation programs.
Virginia Union University in Richmond has deemed the development of good study habits so important that its curriculum includes a 15-week college orientation course of one credit hour.
Linda Jackson, director of the school’s Center for Undergraduate Studies, said the course helps students learn to take notes, think critically and comprehend their reading. She said time management is the most critical lesson taught.
Some academic-help programs at other schools include the Academic Success Center at Marymount University in Arlington; study skills workshops and learning strategies instruction at James Madison University in Harrisonburg; and the Higgins Academic Center at Ashland’s Randolph-Macon College, which includes such support services as a writing center, speaking center and disability support.
In addition to the academic support programs of its First Year Involvement Center, James Madison University in Harrisonburg has a “Graduation Club” for freshmen. Kristin Sindt, coordinator of the center, says it offers study skills and test-taking tips that can give a student a solid start. “We try to prevent the problems by getting to them early,” she said.
Beyond such programs, Frank Rizzo, Marymount’s associate vice president and dean for student development, offers a more personal tip. “I tell students not to sit in the back of the classroom with the cool kids,” he said.
“Sit next to the person who’s getting the best grades – not to cheat off that person but to get to know that person. Find out how they do it, how they study. Create a friendship. They’re obviously getting something that you’re not. Find out what it is.”
He added, “I also tell them all to ask questions and participate in class. Get known by the professors.” Showing interest in class will pay off, and it may even make a difference when the professor is wavering between giving a B-minus or a C-plus.
Share the toys and don’t fight. One sign of change in our society is that most of today’s college freshmen have never had to share a bedroom, bathroom or such items as a computer or television.
Dr. Bill Ritchey, director of the counseling center at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, says his yearly question about sharing a room has shown that about 75 percent of students are new to the idea of having a roommate; Marymount’s Rizzo estimates it even higher, at 80 percent to 90 percent.
This means many must make a huge adjustment the moment they set foot on campus, and roommate problems show up early and often. “They’re just not used to sharing,” Rizzo said.
Roommate “contracts,” which spell out each student’s needs and offer a basis for negotiating on differences, help avoid problems, and many orientation and residence programs include mediation meetings. Compromises are suggested: using ear buds when listening to music, setting up schedules for personal housekeeping. A “Roommate Issues” brochure at Randolph-Macon College also lists fair-fight guidelines in addition to basic information and resources.
Stephanie Clark, a sophomore at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, attests that compromise and talking things out works. Her first dorm room was a triple, so she had to get used to two roommates after always having had her own room. She said the adjustment was difficult but not impossible. The roommate agreement helped, as did simple solutions. One roommate would stay up late to study, while she wanted to sleep. The answer was merely a light-blocking eye cover.
Another sophomore from the Richmond area, Alex Koren, agrees that issues about being on her own for the first time were the most challenging. She had chosen her roommate, a high school friend, before going to Longwood University in Farmville, but when they moved in they discovered they didn’t mesh well. “I should have just gone random,” she said. “We were meant to be just friends, not live together.” She said the situation deteriorated and “for the last few weeks of school we weren’t even talking to each other.” She changed roommate her second year.
Ritchey said that occasionally, roommate issues are severe enough to arise in the counseling center and are dealt with there; Rizzo said some cases offer “irreconcilable differences” and require a switch.
Don’t lose your lunch money. Like time management, learning to manage money is a life skill that will be tested by the first year of campus independence. Credit card companies will tempt students with the thought of ready money while debt lurks in the background; betting a few pennies in a friendly game can turn into a gambling problem; failure to budget, even for a night out, can strand a student far from cam- pus with no way home.
Such disasters won’t happen to everyone. Many students have held part-time jobs and managed their own money through high school or have had diligent parents insisting on the lessons of saving, avoiding debt and putting off gratification. Nevertheless, Frank Rizzo of Marymount is a staunch believer in holding a job while in school.
“I do recommend every student trying to get a job for 10 hours a week on campus,” he said. Many of Marymount’s students are in the Federal Work-Study Program; those who are not eligible for the federal funds, such as the school’s many international students, can be matched with a job through a campus employment program. “Even if you don’t need the money, it’s the work ethic,” he added, “getting a paycheck and learning to budget.”
Another benefit is that jobs connect students with the campus. “They meet staffers and learn to understand how the university works,” Rizzo continued. The 10 hours is a manageable number that helps students create a schedule for the whole week – a benefit that goes back to the time management issue. “Every student should have a job,” he stated.
The swipe cards offered by some schools to use at campus facilities such as laundries or snack shops help with money management, too. “The accounts have to be recharged after a student spends it all, so they learn pretty quickly,” said Ivo Gyurovski, a senior at Hampden-Sydney and a resident assistant there.
Admit it when you need help. Counseling programs at area schools deal with so many issues and offer so many resources that it’s hard to find a personal issue that isn’t covered, from coping with the stress of the new to serious problems with drugs, alcohol, eating or image disorders. Also, counseling centers go far beyond traditional one-on-one talk; they participate in a myriad of campus events and bring their programs and services to the students through orientation, classes, meetings and multimedia presentations.
CNU’s Ritchey said his counseling center staff has face time with every student on campus, and the center has collaborative relationships with Residence Life and other departments to take a preventive approach to the problems students encounter. “We go the extra mile to connect.”
He noted that the emotional adjustment to college is a primary concern. “It’s really a self-management concern,” he said. “It’s ‘Who am I?’ then ‘How do I fit in?’ It’s how to deal with being away from home – these are the core issues.”
When one-on-one counseling is sought, privacy is paramount and strictly kept. Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center, for example, even offers an anonymous online screening for depression, alcohol use, eating disorders and anxiety.
You’re a big boy (girl) now. Sometimes the biggest hurdles are the smallest things, like figuring out how to do the laundry or use a microwave for something other than popcorn. Generally, other students whose mothers didn’t do everything for them are the most convenient source of such information, but for the very shy the schools still offer help.
James Madison University, for example, has an online newsletter for first-year students that will take on such issues as doing laundry and conquering homesickness, and Randolph-Macon College has handouts that help students get the best value and nutrition when shopping and cooking for themselves.
Despite all the help available, the onus is still on the freshman to figure things out and take the first step. “Students who get connected in the first six weeks are more likely to be successful,” said Dr. Kevin Hughes, dean of students at Christopher Newport. “I tell students to figure out the system that the campus has, and that will help them navigate and identify assistance for just about any problem.”
The easiest and first line of connections, he continued, is the resident assistant or residence director, positions common to all campuses. “That person has a wealth of knowledge within the system. They will point to the writing lab, the math lab, information about drugs and alcohol. They are the conduit to all other resources.”
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