Preparing Your Students for College Living
Phillip Wenturine, MFA, University Counselor and AP Coordinator at GEMS Dubai American Academy.
The core of college counseling tends to center on coaching students on how to successfully get into the college of their dreams. And, of course—that should be the main focus! Why wouldn’t it be? Now, more than ever, students and families are starting earlier in the process, sometimes even in grade 8 and grade 9: zooming in on the rigor of the various curriculum pathways, on the specific high school classes to enroll in and what scores to achieve, on what athletics, clubs, or extracurriculars students should juggle to be considered well-rounded.
But what about after they get accepted?
What about once they commit to a university, buy their plane tickets, and set foot on campus for the first time? Do they really have the well-rounded college preparatory skills needed in order to be truly successful outside of the classroom?
Sometimes, this aspect of college counseling gets overlooked, but it is equally as important and pivotal in the development of the student and in the holistic curriculum of a college counseling office. There are many social and life skills that can be taught in schools to help prepare students for their life beyond high school.
Photo by Abby Chung (Pexels)
Rather than just doing what we can as educators to push students across the high school finish line—grabbing their diploma, taking a picture and a bow for their parents, and walking across that grand stage—we can also equip them with the tools they need not only to be successful at university, but to truly feel confident in every step they take on their college campus.
Surviving post-high school life.
Think back to when you went off to college and/or moved out on your own for the first time. Is there anything you wished you had known? Schools are great at teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic; education is quite advanced these days, covering digital literacy, public speaking, and even business classes. But sometimes, valuable skills pertinent to a student’s social success and transition from high school student to university student and adult are often overlooked as it’s just simply not part of any one particular course they may be enrolled in.
This is where the college counseling office can come in. Not only do guidance counselors help students to hone in on how to shine in their college applications, counselors can also help students to prepare for what they can do once they arrive on their future campus.
Some of the first topics that may come to mind are social skills, such as how to build mature relationships with their peers, as they will be leaving many of their childhood friends behind and will need to foster new friendships. This could also dive a bit deeper into roommate etiquette, what to be aware of and weary of when it comes to university parties, Greek life if they choose to study in the USA, how to conduct themselves professionally as they begin their first part-time jobs, etc.
Other financial topics that could prove beneficial would be how to formulate a budget and how to navigate the tax process. It is also really helpful to remember that not every student has access to a culinary or home economics class; some may not know things like how to work a stove or cook a meal properly, sewing together a torn pair of pants, or even washing their laundry.
Students will always benefit from having the option to expose themselves to topics they otherwise may never have access to. You may be surprised who shows up! For students going abroad, it is also crucial to educate them on following the rules and laws of different countries, navigating different currencies, language barriers, etc.
Photo by Polina Tankilevitch (Pexels)
These are all skills that can help them transform into mature-minded, college-ready adults before even reaching their high school graduation.
Here is a table of topics to start with:
| Social Skills | Financial Skills | Lifestyle and Life Skills |
| Building New Friendships | Creating a Personal Budget | Culinary Skills |
| Roommate Etiquette | Navigating the Tax Process | Laundry & Hygiene |
| Social Safety | Investment | Living Abroad |
| Healthy Relationships | Checking versus Savings Accounts | Respecting Other Cultures |
| Cross-cultural Communication | Credit versus Debit Cards | Traveling during your studies |
Incorporating these life topics in the school’s curriculum
These social and life skills can be taught in a myriad of ways depending on how a school envisions such topics being embedded in with the curriculum, and depending on the capacity of their staffing. Some schools may operate an advisory program where once a week there is an embedded hour into their course schedule where they meet with their “cohort” or their “CREW” to already cover such lifestyle and social awareness topics. In this set up, meeting with the same group of peers regularly helps create a familial like bond of support during their high school years, and often enough there is usually a set curriculum to cover with specific topics for each grade level. Counselors can collaborate with the junior and/or senior teachers of these classes to either incorporate some topics they deem necessary or even conduct a counselor take-over once a month.
Other schools may only have a homeroom period for 15 minutes a day. Perhaps every Friday during the senior year, this is the time students spend these 15 minutes discussing these topics about life after high school. Or, perhaps a school decides that during the final semester of senior year, each week during this homeroom period teachers will cover a different theme; this way, students have a bit more time to devote to each topic, tackling various questions they have and engaging with new ideas on the weekly themes. In this type of schedule, it would be important for the counselors to meet regularly with the teachers to discuss topics and expectations so that this short time frame can be maximized. Oftentimes, if teachers and counselors meet to discuss the various themes that should be covered, it creates buy-in for the teachers to have a collaborative voice as everyone is truly coming together as a village, as a family, to help students get geared up for life on their university campus—their future home.
Photo by Kelly L (Pexels)
Some schools may not have any sort of time outside of class to devote to these topics; however, this is where it is important for counselors to meet with their administration to critically think of other methods to disseminate this valuable material to the students and to provide them opportunity for these conversations.
Whether it be working with content teachers to supplement in these topics (math teachers demonstrating a tax lesson; English teachers hosting a social etiquette workshop), or the counselors hosting an assembly with some guest speakers a few times a semester, there are ways to supplement these topics.
Perhaps counselors can offer some sessions after school, or even simply conduct a Zoom meeting during the evenings or weekends that can even be recorded and readily accessible in a Google classroom for ease of convenience for students and families who otherwise cannot attend (sure, Zoom fatigue is real, but it’s also one of the benefits to arise out of the pandemic that can be a good complement to a classroom and allows for ease of attendance for wider audiences). Where there is a will, there is a way!
Setting the students up for success
A college counseling office is no doubt a busy place, so it may be a challenge to find ways to cover all of these topics along with focusing on student academics and applications. However, the most important factor is to remember counselors are not in this alone and collaboration with other teachers and administration is key to have true success for the students. Just as we think of preparing students in grade 8 for high school, it is just as necessary to prepare our seniors for the road ahead of them at university that is adulthood. It is no doubt that students will be thankful when they go off to college as they will not only feel competent but truly confident in the life ahead of them for many years to come.
Author
Phillip Wenturine, a Fulbright Scholar, is a university counselor and AP coordinator at GEMS Dubai American Academy, the number-one-rated school in Dubai for 2021-2022. He has been working in education for a decade as a teacher, administrator, and university counselor across the USA, China, Portugal, and Vietnam, before moving to the UAE. When he is not working with students, he is traveling the globe, just visiting his 55th country. He hopes to keep traveling the world and supporting students along the way for many years to come.
