To commute or tough it out

DreamSchlDropout
Tue, 14 Oct 2014 20:39:29 +0000

If you can, start with small solutions and work your way slowly up to the big ones.

Since you enjoy having a schedule, and the closeness of your family, and since your dad works on campus, why not see if you can schedule a daily breakfast/lunch/coffee with him every day? Something to add a little touch of home and a comforting routine to your day.

In addition, it can help to join an extracurricular club or two. Anything that adds something enjoyable to your schedule, something that isn’t class.

When I first went to college, I saw a lot of people go through what you are going through, including myself. Some take the adjustment to being away from home much harder than others. For most, it’s uncomfortable but manageable, which I have always believed is the state in which you are most primed to learn and grow. But for some, the discomfort becomes overwhelming.

And I know that overwhelming feeling makes it awfully tempting to flee right back into the nest, but I encourage you to try some little adjustments like “Coffee With Dad” and clubs first. When you look back on your life in the future, you’re going to see those times when you were kind of uncomfortable but getting along anyway as some of the richest and most influential times of your life.

College is your time to expand and stretch more fully into yourself. If you’re stretching so much it’s painful, just ease up a bit until you’re only feeling “the burn”, not the pain. You’ll find that sweet spot.