[Theme music begins]<\/p>\n
Nick Foti:<\/strong> You are now listening to the QuadCast, the University of Rochester\u2019s official podcast.<\/p>\n [More music]<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Starting college is an exciting time for students, and a proud one for parents, loved ones, and family members. But dropping off your college students for the first time can come with its fair share of questions.\u00a0 We asked parents, students and University staff for their advice on making the transition easier.<\/p>\n Patty Chess:<\/strong> Pride and sadness, all wrapped up.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Patty Chess knows what she\u2019s talking about. She\u2019s the mother of three University of Rochester alumni, with a fourth set to graduate next year.<\/p>\n Patty Chess:<\/strong> It\u2019s a day that from your child is handed to you, you hope happens. And when it does it\u2019s really, really exciting, but it\u2019s really sad. So you have to remember that\u2019s the beginning of great new things, not the end of your baby\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Chess is the Vice Chair of Pediatrics and her husband, Mitchell, is a pediatric radiologist, both at Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital. They\u2019re also experts when it comes to sending kids off to college. Their advice? Relax.<\/p>\n Mitchell Chess:<\/strong> Don\u2019t worry, the University has done this before. They have things well covered. From an academic standpoint, every freshman floor has a freshman fellow to help with academics. From a social standpoint, every floor has a D\u2019Lion, which is basically a social director. And then you have the RA\u2026 who is there for the housing as well as any kind of guidance the student may need.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Move In Day is a milestone parents and children will never forget. Laura Gavigan is \u00a0associate director at the College Center for Advising Services. She says parents need to have faith.<\/p>\n Laura Gavigan:<\/strong> Parents, this is a big deal. This is a really big deal. It\u2019s a huge transition, you\u2019ve raised this kid to have the skills and everything that got them into the U of R. Trust in that.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> As a new class of students heads to the University, Orientation Director Eleanor Oi says parents and children can expect mixed emotions.<\/p>\n Eleanor Oi:<\/strong> It\u2019s a tough time for everybody. They\u2019re starting out and excited on their next academic journey, and you\u2019re going home, and it\u2019s a new place for everybody where they don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Katie Emmons, who graduated this spring from the University, says parents may have unrealistic expectations after dropping their children off at school.<\/p>\n Katie Emmons:<\/strong> Don\u2019t be offended if your kids only call you for help with laundry or to ask how often they need to change their sheets and things like that, because that probably just means they\u2019re having a great time and are making friends and making connections and are busy living college life.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Beth Olivares is the director of the Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity. She says failure is part of the college journey.<\/p>\n Beth Olivares:<\/strong> Don\u2019t freak out when your son or daughter has a hard experience or doesn\u2019t do well on a first quiz or first exam. That is not the point at which to tell them to change their major or to drop a class.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> This is the time to show parental restraint. College is a place to grow.<\/p>\n Beth Olivares:<\/strong> Let your child figure out how it is to be an adult in these situations, because otherwise they\u2019re not going to learn.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Don\u2019t panic, there are parent resources available. Dawn Bruner is the director of Parent and Family Relations.<\/p>\n Dawn Bruner:<\/strong> So as you come up with questions or concerns or you even have some anxieties as you go through this experience of dropping your student off to college, please feel free to use us as a resource.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Bruner tells parents to keep the lines of communication open with their children. While staying involved, know when to pull back.<\/p>\n Dawn Bruner:<\/strong> Be patient with the questions that you ask students so that you\u2019re not overwhelming them with all of your questions at one time, but you\u2019re allowing their experience, their fears, their excitement, to unfold over a period of time.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Remember Mitchell Chess, who sent his four children to the University of Rochester? He says one way to stay involved is joining the Parents\u2019 Council.<\/p>\n Mitchell Chess:<\/strong> They have activities for the parents as far as meetings with the deans. The deans will take your input as well as tell you what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n Nick:<\/strong> Anne-Marie Algier will try to practice what she preaches this fall. The director of student activities is also the mother of an incoming freshman. And while she admits to being nervous, she believes she has prepared her son for college.<\/p>\n Anne-Marie Algier:<\/strong> Trust the values that you gave them, trust the upbringing you gave them, and know they\u2019re going to make good decisions. It\u2019s time to let them fly.<\/p>\n [Music begins]<\/p>\n Nick: For the University\u2019s Quadcast, I\u2019m Nick Foti, Class of 2019.<\/p>\n [end]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A transcript of the July 17, 2017 episode of the University’s Quadcast podcast. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quadcast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n