Parents at Lake State

Letting Go

Consider this experience as one in a long list of letting-go experiences you’ve had with your child. Such as kindergarten, sleep-overs, solo drive, first boyfriend/girlfriend,--with all of these experiences leading you to the time you knew your son/daughter would be leaving home. University is a terrific time for both you and your student to grow and mature. For most students they go to school and come home on the semester breaks. This is a good way to ease the transition between living at home all of the time, and not living at home at all.

LSSU understands that change is stressful and that this affects both students and their parents. Your student may be leaving behind more than just childhood friends they are leaving their long-time comfort zones and creating new experiences for themselves when they go to University. Roles change and so do living habits for both parents and students. These changes can be very difficult to cope with, so here are a few ways that parents can help theirs students when dealing with this transitional period.

Encourage your student to try new things, and maybe they will encourage you to do the same. Be careful not to be too pushy when suggesting. Let your child know that while doing new and different things they will be gaining experience and making connections with ideas and people that may help them not only through their college years, but also long after graduation.

Reassure your student that you will always be there for them. Also let them know that life does get easier and to not worry about “back home.” Help your child focus on their new task at hand, that of going to school and growing both academically and socially.

Support, Support, Support -- There are many ways to show support, and they can range from a weekly phone call to a monthly care package. With supporting your student comes letting them tackle their own problems with sitting back and “supporting” decisions that they make, but advising them with your own knowledge and experiences. Your support will mean so much to your student, especially when they make mistakes (which they will), or feel frustrated, sad, excited or home-sick (which they always do at some time or another).

Empower your student by trusting them with making their own decisions. Let your student decide the classes that would be right for them, and to ultimately be an adult independent of you. Empower your student to succeed at all aspects of life. Empower your child to believe in themselves the way that you believe in them.