Young school children dream throughout their lives, of going to college in the hope that it is a dreamy world where they can they can do any thing they like. At that moment they tend to forget the fact college life. has its own difficulties. “When students begin their first year at university, they are required to reorganize the way they think about themselves, as learners, and as social beings.” (Huon & Sankey n.d., p.1). When the students arrive at college from their school culture, they face many problems. Some students will be able to acquire friends but a majority of them feel some kind of uneasiness to cope up with their new situations. The new culture which they confront may make them irritated and they feel hostility towards others. Home sickness one of the significant problems which the students face when they go to the colleges which may be far away from their hometown. For a long time they have lived with their parents and when suddenly they stay away from them they feel loneliness. There are students who come from different levels and who live in different life styles and hence they may have problem in freely interacting with one another. In case students who come from rural areas, they find difficult to adjust with others who lead a city life, who manifest modernity at all levels. The fact remains that students who just come to college are so young and will not be matured individuals who are experienced in all situations. One of the most shocking experience for most of the newly arrived children is that they are not able to find good friends. “Being good at something feeds back, makes it interesting and enjoyable to engage in, thereby producing and reproducing emotion.” (Ritchie 2008, p.2). If there is a good friend to support children, they one can be overcome every problem. While reaching college level there will be a lot to study and when they engage in their busy schedule they are not able to find friends. “To make friends you need time free of purpose. More bluntly, you need to find ways of just hanging out with other students.” (Game & Metcalfe 2003, p.81). This situation will make them feel that they were alone when something comes up in which they need someone’s support. If a student has a good relationship with classmates or room mates he or she will not feel loneliness and in every situation will get care from friends. The students find difficulty in their first 3-4 months with regard to their studies. They will not be able to understand lectures which the teachers give them. They can become scared when they suddenly need to cope up with new situations and they believe that they failed in choosing their course. But later, within a few months it will be easy for them if they work hard. The other thing which they find difficulty in is when they are away from their homes they need to wash their clothes, iron etc on their own and this makes it difficult for them to do their assignments. Another significant aspect to consider is that it is when students just enter into their college life, they get involves in bad activities like gambling in trips with the friends etc where they do alcohol or substance abuse. If one finds more time for these activities it will just affect studies.
College life or culture is totally different from the school time for students, so when a student entries into university for higher studies or walking out into the world of knowledge they are facing many problems. One of the main problem is that many students are not able to cope with higher studies as it need more skill and strain. Parents send their children for higher studies far away from them in favour of their children’s future benefit and well being, but the children in the adolescent stage finds it difficult to live without their parents, and this is making some students gloomy and they fear for everything. Even though the students are getting more freedom in college, those staying in hostel have to stay very strictly according to the rules and regulations of the hostel. They have to adjust the food and accommodation in hostel even if they did not like it. In the adolescent stage, students going into colleges becomes unable to overcome even small troubles like mild type of ragging, making fun of them etc which break down their self-confidence and also in this period most of the student cannot live far from their parents. There are students from different states, culture, religion, language etc in a college so it is difficult for one to cooperate with students of different society and behaviour. Since the students are getting more freedom in colleges many students are utilizing their freedom and going in the wrong way. The fresher to the campus face the problem of how to handle a situation when their seniors are around in the college grounds and hostels. “The students who are always rushing around are living in the future; they can never be there when others need them.” (Game & Metcalfe 2003, p.81). Every student rush to make their future safe and in between they will not build any friendship. Most of the students are very jealous and they will not help others and also they will do anything for their own benefit even it hurts others. If any one is keeping friendship with others it is just for a short period only while the students are going for any party or club on campus and then does not exists any long and strong relationship anywhere. The students feel very difficult to grasp their syllabus when they firstly start their higher studies. “University teachers regard teachers not as dependents but as people who share with them a passion for knowledge.” (Game & Metcalfe 2003, p.85). There is no good relationship between students and teachers and the students will not depend on teachers for their education, and the teachers also will not care any student and it is only the student’s responsibility to learn. So this makes the students learning difficult as there is no proper training is providing for them. “While the university might not offer as stable a hanging out environment as school, there are nonetheless opportunities available to students who aren’t always rushing around.” (Game & Metcalfe 2003, p.82). Most of the campuses are not conducting any extracurricular activities as in school so the students are not getting any chance to express their talents.
There are a lot of problems which the students face as they were just entering college life because of their immaturity and these results in their doing some foolish or mischievous things. The parents, teachers or the elder students have to give necessary guidance for them to overcome from their all problems.
Reference List
Game, A & Metcalfe, A 2003, The first year experience: to be most yourself, work openly and collaboratively: rushing around the hanging out. Leichhardt, The Fedesation Press.
Game, A & Metcalfe, A 2003, The first year experience: teachers. Leichhardt, The Fedesation Press.
Huon, G & Sankey, M n.d., The transition to university understanding difference in success: introduction.
Ritchie, SM 2008, Illuminating a dialectical transformative activist stance in education, Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol.3, no.2, pp. 517-519, Springer