Second Semester Anxiety

gardenstategal
Sat, 05 Mar 2016 17:35:47 +0000

I like @Midwest67 's advice. I’d add that you can continue to listen and ask her questions that will help her find the balance. I’d try not to find too many answers for her (because she may feel like if she doesn’t take them, she’ll be disappointing you), and I’d emphasize that you aren’t going to judge her or love her less is she doesn’t get all As.

From a strategic point of view on the academic front, she might be well-advised to think about her schedule in terms of how important each class is to her and how much work each one will require so that there’s some balance there (as well as in the variety, if that’s important.) You may want to ask her what she wants to get out of the college experience and why, then help her think through whether there might be some trade-offs there. If friendships and having fun are important, she needs to consciously work that into her plans.

We often tell our kids that they should just do their best, so it’s not surprising that some of them really internalize this. The truth is that there are a lot of things that don’t need to be done to that standard.