As freshmen come into the college scene, there are multiple things that happen during the process of orientation week. Students are taken to an entirely new place (one they have only visited once or twice), move in, say goodbye to their parents, then get grouped in with multiple new people to be shown the works and ways of the college. If someone really takes this into perspective, this is a lot for a young adult to go through in a span of possibly one day to a whole week. Then, students begin to add more stress as they continue on with their first semester. They get their first graded assignments, meet new people, they might lose some old friendships, and everything kind of takes a 180-spin. Taking all of this into account, the emotional toll the first semester takes on new college students is crazy. This is why it would be important for colleges to have a one day seminar on emotions and how to deal with them during this crazy time. Having an emotional seminar is crucial because it would help students figure out where their anxiety or depression comes from, the students' parents would be able to not worry about their child as much, and it has been proven that a student’s emotional stability is correlated to learning, health, and more.
This time in college students lives is kinda a roller coaster of emotions. Some of those emotions that may come up would be anxiety and depression. In fact, Diana Divecha, a developmental psychologist at Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence makes the statement that, “A 2013 survey of 380 college counseling departments across the country shows that anxiety is the most common presenting problem in their offices, followed by depression and relationship problems." Anxiety and depression are scientifically shown to be one of the most usual things to deal with as a new college freshman. Personally, I know I felt the effects of this during orientation week at Bridgewater College. The reason I felt this way had nothing to do with the school in general, it was just that I was just emotionally drained because I was in a new place, with barely anyone I knew, and I had to say goodbye to my parents whom I really love and missed. I don’t remember much of orientation week other than crying a lot and just wishing the semester was already over. Thankfully, during the orientation week, Bridgewater had a session we could go to that was meant to explain our emotions and let the new students know that what they were going through wasn’t unnatural. This session helped me so much, especially knowing that I wasn’t the only one going through it. I was able to pinpoint where my emotions were then. I was also able to see where my emotions might be in the future and what to look out for as signs of depression and anxiety. This is one of the biggest reasons I believe that a full one day seminar on emotions would help students, because if this small thirty minute one helped me so much, imagine what a whole day could accomplish for so many students.
During the time I was feeling blue about being at college by myself, I also saw my parents take an emotional toll. They were unhappy that I was unhappy. My mom even gave the account that my dad couldn’t get out of bed without crying over the fact I was miserable. I wouldn’t want them ever going through that emotional turmoil ever again. This would be another reason that one day emotional seminars would be good for colleges. Parents would be able to identify what might happen to their kids in the stages of college and be prepared for it. Divecha proves this by saying, “Parents can listen carefully for the cues that a student may be struggling. Then parents can set the stage for a successful conversation by ‘putting their own oxygen mask first” - that is, pausing, checking in with themselves, and regulating their own - possibly intense - emotions." College is an crazy time for not only students, but parents too. With one day emotional seminars, parents would be at the ready to help their children’s emotions while being able to control their own.
Emotions have the possibility of seeping into other parts of students lives. In fact, as stated before; emotion, health, learning, and more are all correlated. Divecha states that, “...people with more developed emotional skills do better." Do better in what exactly? Well almost everything. “...They are rated to as having a greater range of skills: they have better relationships and social skills and are more connected to each other and their teachers; they are better at managing conflict; they are more autonomous and show leadership skills and they perform better in academic subjects,” (Divecha). So, if students we’re more aware of their emotions and they weren't afraid of what was happening, schools would likely see a positive correlation in test scores, relationships between students, and leadership qualities. All of which, the job market loves to see in possible college students to hire after they graduate.
College is definitely a huge change for students who come from being the “top dog” seniors in high school to the “newly found” freshmen in college. Life in college can be an up and down roller coaster for some, if not all students. With emotions like anxiety and depression popping up more regularly in schools, colleges have to make the decision whether to do something about it or not. Some colleges, such as Pace University and McCaulay Honors College in New York City, have started to see the importance of one day emotional seminars (Divecha). Colleges like these have realized the benefits that come out of students recognizing their emotions and having the tools to face these emotions. This is why one day emotional seminars are crucial for colleges. It would be a positive change for any college that deems it a necessity for student’s emotional skills to increase.
