Though the women empathize with baby's pleading, they cannot stop mid-Mason jar to read to him, so they plunge ahead, scalding jars, peeling tomatoes, and pouring sealing wax on top of jars of canned berries. The tired baby will have it all. It's a time of important intellectual discovery and social beginnings that often play a major role in shaping the remainder of young adult life. Life-long friendships are cemented and careers are launched. Each of us who is a faculty or staff member can help make the transition easier for students, most of whom are living away from home for the first time.
Every undergraduate student needs an understanding adult to talk with openly from time to time.
Some feel alone and need to share their vulnerability with a caring adult. Unfortunately, others may feel they don't fit in with their fellow students, and need a concerned adult to talk with about what they are experiencing. Still other students have academic concerns they don't know how to sort out. In their own convoluted way, they ask for your help in exploring the meaning of what they are thinking and feeling, most of all whether they are being true to themselves. But when it's past, put down your work and take time to listen, to express genuine concern for a young person who is struggling to navigate those tumultuous rapids that are the transition from adolescence to adulthood.