Away from home, students typically set their own rules, explore their own interests, and may attend to their own reactions with less influence by others. Sophomores may question their choice of major. They may feel for the first time that their decisions are irreversible, beginning to connect their academic decisions to the careers available to them. Managing their feelings and translating them into productive decision-making can be an important learning process. Students need to be allowed free range to explore, which often means holding back some of those protective urges.
Mistakes are a necessary part of the developmental process.
Juniors, having successfully navigated some of these new options and decisions, may begin to identify internally more as adults. They may seek greater stability in their living arrangements and relationships, and have a clearer sense of who they are and what they desire from life. This sense of autonomy may extend to home, as they look less to family to provide that sense of stability. Some students may be less likely to come home for breaks, as they attempt to establish their own homes with friends. Seniors will face graduation, often with both excitement and uncertainty.