Mixed Emotions

This time of year always seems to have a variety of emotions for me. I am grateful to start another year and see all of you again. I am happy hearing about your summers and what has been happening in your lives. I dread all of the schedule changes. I strongly dislike (well, actually, hate would be more accurate) getting up early in the mornings. I am proud of and excited for the students who are heading off to college and I am also (selfishly) a little bit sad to say good-bye as they head on to the new chapters in their lives.

Don't get me wrong, I really am glad that they are moving on to the next phase of their lives, but once college starts, they no longer need their high school counselor. Again, a good thing, but selfishly I miss that connection with the students that I had grown to care about so much. It is always nice to think about the new students starting high school and to wonder about how much they will grow and change over the coming four years. If I am lucky, I will get to enjoy the journey with them... and then in 2015 as they head off to college I will still have these same emotions. It's a cycle that repeats itself every year and so I would think that by now (my 5th year of saying goodbye to former students) I'd be used to it, but I'm not.

Many of you - students and parents - are facing the same variety of emotions. I know that a lot of the parents who read this blog are sad that their kids are (or will soon be) out of the house and yet also thankful that there will be more food left in the house and less laundry to do each week. :-) For students, some of you are also struggling to deal with the separation from the person you are dating which adds a whole different level of stress to the circumstance.

And, of course, there is the range of emotions that the "now college" students have for themselves - excitement, nervousness, uncertainty, and perhaps even some sadness as they begin this new chapter of their lives and the independence that comes along with it.

There are a lot of wonderful websites that are out there with information and tips for students about being successful in college. Below are a few that I thought might interest you:
Seize the Opportunity to Try New Things

Freshman Year Bucket List

Now that you’ve gotten in