Oh damn, the summer is coming to an end (booo!). While many people are returning from their vacation, there are thousands of 18 yrs old entering college for the first time. Entering college can be exciting (Shout out to the students at my alma mater SUNY Old Westbury) but it can be stressful experience.
When I mean by stressful is a lot of young adults are entering a major change in their life that often times parents and other people don’t realize. Let’s face, it going to a college is a major transition in your life. When you were younger, you attended to going to the same school district from the time you were kindergarten all the way till your senior in high school. College is a new school with new people, new professors,, and a new way of living (i.e. doing your own laundry, buying meals, etc) . What about the other issues that is going through your head as you are sitting in your college classroom listening to your professor’s lecture? Do you ask yourself “Is this is something that I want to do? or “Do I really want to study teaching, engineer, law, etc?”. This is something to think about.
In May 2016, 19-year-old Nayla Kidd experienced that dilemma herself. She she was an engineering student at Columbia University in New York City and was finishing up her sophomore year in college when she realize that this is something that she does not want to do anymore. She took all her money, shut down her Facebook profile, changed her phone number and decided to move to Williamsburg section of Brooklyn because she wanted to re-discover what she want to do with her life. Luckily for her when the police found her and contacted her mother, who was more than understanding about her situation. Nayla decided to not return to Columbia University and choose to focus on a career in the arts.
Often times people choose a career or the school based on what they think their family wants them to do or they may have receive the pressure from others expectations. But this creates a problem for the college freshman who may not want to take the career path. They often feel that they are not able to speak to their family, friends, or professors and feel unworthiness and withdrawn. Unfortunately, this issue has serious consequences such as substance abuse, severe depression (uh oh that D word), or suicide.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with rediscovering who you are and what you want to do with your life. Maybe college isn’t for you and that’s OK. Maybe going to a technical school is the right choice and that’s OK. Becoming a freelance writer and focus on the arts might be for you but that OK. If you’re stuck in school and you’re not sure if this is the right path for you there are counselors on campus you can speak to. You have the option to speak to a therapist in the community who can help you get through this dilema. At the end of the day you have to be OK with the decisions that you’re going to make that’s going to help you transition into the adulthood.
Wendy Williams LCSW Counseling 