College Freshman Blues (First Week/Month/Year)

[Anonymous]

Our oldest struggled severely from day 1, and year 1 was the most miserable my wife and I were in a long time due to our kid's misery. It was brutal. Tears on a weekly basis, calls almost nightly, and lots of therapy. We both wondered where we went wrong. However, we stayed the course, stayed on the same page with our kid, and insisted they stick it out. We entertained their ideas to transfer, but we knew transferring would be its own disaster (you are basically starting all over again, and there are no guarantees it would be the right move). Fast forward to the middle of year two, and our kid joined many groups on campus, expanded their friend group and really settled into a groove. Fast forward to junior year, and study abroad was life changing. Now a senior, our DC is actually sad again...but this time it's because our kid knows senior year is the end of the road for undergrad and they don't want it to end. No guarantees it will end up the same way for your kid, but there is hope - take it from two parents who got put through the ringer!

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP, for sharing your experience. Glad it worked out for your kid.