Tips for Helping Students Go Home

As students prepare to go home for winter break, for some of our students, there will be tension. They may have a less stable home life. Others may have asserted a new adulthood over the past several months and are returning to their homes as adults for the first time. Others will find their friends, significant others, or siblings have changed and will start to feel as though no place at home. And, then, of course, we have a number of students who will go home and have a wonderful experience. You can help them to anticipate some changes in their relationships by encouraging students to consider the following questions:

• What do you have planned for winter break?
• What concerns you about going there?
• Are you happy with your grades this semester?  Have you shared how the semester has gone with family?
• Who are you excited to see over break?
• What has been the high point of the past 4 blocks? When is a time when you felt most alive and most happy? A time when you felt you were making a difference and doing creative, useful, meaningful work?
• What brings life to your Cornell experience?
• What do you want to bring to Blocks 5-8?
• How can I help support you in accomplishing that goal?