Laptop? Check. Extra-long twin size bedding? Check. iPod charger? Check. Favorite sweatshirt? Check. Dramatic issues from childhood/junior high/high school and other emotional baggage? Definite check.
Students are arriving at colleges today with more emotional baggage and on more mood enhancing (legal) medications than ever before. This is stemming from their over-scheduled childhoods that contained everything from ballet and tennis lessons to SAT prep-courses after baseball practice (and homework and play dates too!) I also blame the rising divorce rate and crumbling family structure. When did parents stop teaching coping skills? Probably soon after they turned to anti-depressants themselves.
I'll stop my cynicism because I believe you can't change the past, but you can change the way you respond to it.
College is a fresh start, a whole new world with a blank slate. Favorite childhood comforts are left behind so why can’t negative history be too? It's easy to hit the reset button on our Wiis and ctrl+alt+delete when our computers freeze, so why can't today's college students do the same with their lives when they come to campus?
Maybe it's because college is a time of soul-searching. I'm not saying don't acknowledge the past and never deal with it. I am saying don't let that knock-off Louis Vuitton duffel be filled with tears and negative experiences when you travel up the the Turnpike to your new home.
Colleges have everything you need to deal with life. Counselors are easy to talk to and offer the support anyone needs. I encourage students to utilize their services since, for the most part, these services are offered at no or minimal cost. But don't pile up that baggage in front of your door and keep you locked away from the exciting events happening on campus.
College is a chance to define yourself all over again, instead of letting yourself be defined by your past. Seek the help you need, but allow yourself to enjoy the ride. You've got four years (unless you want even more student loans to pay back) - don't let anything get in the way of making the experience great and soaking up every morsel of college life!
