First-Week Jitters Aren’t Just For Students
The College Parenting Journey Series
Is it really August already? Wow, the summer of 2024 flew by super-fast!
Depending on when you are reading this post may depend on what emotions you are currently feeling.
Are you in the process of traveling to Liberty University for Welcome Week 2024 excited for your student, but also feeling anxious about leaving them with us? Or at the time of this reading, you are traveling back home after spending a day or two in Lynchburg and you are not only exhausted, but you are also sad by leaving a piece of your heart within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. For others, you are now back home, it has been a week or so since move-in and the house is just a little too quiet with one less person.
You may be the parent of an upperclassmen and if you are being honest, the summer months were an adjustment to having an adult who has been on their own this past school year, and if you are really being honest, you are not so sad that you have returned them to us. Lastly, you may be the parent of a student that did not come home at all this summer, and you are wishing or regretting not being able to spend just a little bit of time with them.
The college journey comes with a mix of strong emotions. The team at Parent and Family Connections relates to the journey! We have been there and done that.
As parents we often receive questions like, “How was move-in? Is she all settled in?” or “Is your son enjoying college? I think I saw him on a Facebook post at a football game, and he looks like he is having so much fun.”
It is fantastic that our friends and family are checking in to see if our student has adjusted to their new life, but Mom and Dad, how are you doing? In most cases, our students did not just appear at Liberty magically. They had guidance and support the last 18 years from mom, dad, step-parent, grandparents, and others significant in their life to put them on this path of success.
Most students had to rely on parents, friends, or someone in the family to arrive at their academic and extra-curricular events. Someone orchestrated the signups, paid the fee, cleaned the uniform, and attended events as often as they could. Someone stayed up late nights helping their student study or just stay up with a cup of coffee for moral support. Parents of music students endured endless hours of music as their students practiced. Theater parents recited lines for the spring program.
Parents and family, you have been the provider, protector, and teacher, and now in a blink of an eye eighteen years have passed and you are sending your precious child out into the world. At Liberty, your child will put into practice everything you have been teaching them. You should be immensely proud of them and proud of yourself. As they learn their newer role of advocating for themselves, your role as a parent will look different, too.
Parents and families of Liberty, we hear you, and we want to assist, advise, and give you resourceful tools along the way. We love connecting parents and families to various resources and departments so they can continue to be the best partner to their student’s success at Liberty University and for life.
If you have not already, please check out our webpage at Liberty.edu/Family. Our College Parenting page has monthly news, a timeline for this month and next, prayer points, and articles from departments on campus. The Parent and Family Connections blogs have three series, and our Frequently Asked Questions page serves as a launching point into many of the essential departments in a student’s life at Liberty.
It is here that you will find our social media link to follow us on Facebook at /LibertyUFamily for encouragement, prayer, college parenting tips, links to convocation, and more. We cannot wait to see you soon at Family Weekend, Sept. 20-22!
Please know that we pray for you and your student every day!
Meet the Author
Veronica Fath
Coordinator
