Students Mental Challenges

This article is going to discuss about the college students’ mental challenges throughout his/her course completion from the first year to final year.  All the students are not in same mentality to handle his/her surroundings / situations.  Lot of psychological based approaches will happen by the students and that should require more supports from the parents and teachers.  Please proceed to read the following contents to remind some common student’s mentality.

Year wise students feel, questions, situations are highlighted with this article.

AS A FIRST YEAR STUDENT (immature stage):

If a student joined in the first year, he/she may experience/feel a lot.

• Hosteller
  • Felt more loss of his/her blood relations. Sometimes parents may also have more affection with his son/daughter.
  • He/she may think that the food is not satisfactory like his/her home food due to the scheduled menus.
  • He/she was already studied his/her schooling from his/her home only. He/she is getting hostel experience as a new one.
  • He/she may get difficulty to manage their little bit / regular health issues like headache, fever, body pain, etc. They may expect their parent’s presence in these type of occasions.
  • He/she felt loss of his/her school friends. He/she felt the same up to the college friend circle making.
  • His/her roommates may not be satisfied persons as he/she like.
  • Nearby classmates / batch mates of his/her room may not satisfy like his/her home nearby friends.
  • Hostel staying environment is completely differing from his/her home town environment.
  • He/she may felt difficulty to wash/manage his/her cloth by own.
  • He/she may get more stress to maintain/safeguard his/her own things.
  • He/she may felt guilty because of his/her low cut-off marks, medium of study or may come from village.
  • By birth itself he/she may wants to be stay alone. Because of his/her family situation, he/she may join to the college as a hosteller.
  • Unable to participate/celebrate more personal events/functions happening in their home.
  • Waiting for holidays to go to home.
• Day scholar (consideration of following points under the student’s situation like comes through college bus & long time travel)
  • Daily travel is difficult and fatigue.
  • Unable / difficult to do any academic work like assignments preparation, study material, etc.
  • To avoid taking proper quantity of food due to hurry to catch the bus.
  • Unable to play any physical fit games.
  • Unable to participate/celebrate any events (academic/non-academic) happening in the college.
  • Sometimes, he/she may also need to take travel while little bit / regular health issues like headache, fever, body pain, etc.

Common points

• May complete changes in his/her medium/approach of study like explanations by the faculty members, taking notes, understanding of the topics, submission of assignments, asking clarifications in the class itself, etc. He/she may always compare these things with his/her schooling. It may be entirely different.
• May get guilty during the cut-off marks comparison with the classmates/roommates/batch mates.
• Comparison with admission type (quota) of students.
• Get difficulty to identify good/opt friends towards his frequency matching. This may not within his/her branch.
• Is there any problems raised while contact senior students?
• Is there any problems raised while discussing with opposite gender person?
• How the friends taken this (contact senior students / discussing with opposite gender person)?
• May get difficulty cum follow the understanding of college objective, common rules & regulations and hostel rules and regulations.
• Fear to meet and ask queries with the Professors.
• Shocking about the portions understanding / completion (6 or 7 subjects per semester) within 3 to 4 months (when comparing with school subjects/portions).
• Difficulty to get continuous assessment and end semester marks.
• Opposite gender affection: Due to his/her immaturity and because of his/her age factor, release from the harassment environment of his/her schooling and wants to get relax, he/she may misunderstood the college freedom.

AS A SECOND YEAR STUDENT (pre-matured stage):

• The student may ask a question like ‘Am I chosen the correct course?’
• May get difficulty to understand the department objective.
• May get fear the about their core subjects.
• First year marks/percentage comparison with the classmates.
• Contact with senior students.
• Get complexity to choose faculty members for the respective subjects. Senior students may guide wrongly.
• Difficulty felt during the identification of good/opt friends within their class.
• Finding the enjoyment ways inside the department/college.
• Sometimes his/her mind expecting to avoid classes and trying to go/stay outside the class.
• He/she wants to participate more number of events and trying to show their performance.

AS A THIRD YEAR/PRE-FINAL YEAR STUDENT (matured stage):

• Fear to find the seniors strategy regarding placement.
• Complete of the internship on their interested field.
• Planning to do an efficient/effective social related project/product.
• Identification of faculty members suitable with his/her interest.

AS A FINAL YEAR STUDENT (post-matured stage):

• Fear to get a good job.
• Fear to get good marks/percentage.
• Making of effective cum social related project/product.
• Wants to be a highlighted person inside the department/college.
• Fear to go with the real life along with hard work.
• Thinking about the future in personal and professional life.
• Unhappy to loss their college friends.
• Depressing about the end of college life.

TEACHER/MENTOR/PARENTS ROLE

Due to the actions/reactions/feel of the students at every stages, the teacher/mentor/parents should follow their ward and give proper guidance to motivate/lift them. Because of their change in approach (contact) at every stage with their family members / friends / faculty, students may divert from his/her personal objective or sometimes divert from their parents objective.

The following are the few links related with the college students’ mental challenges and its effect.

Courtesy: http://omanessay.com/mental-health-challenges-of-college-students/

Courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/Educure.in/photos/importance-of-psychological-assessment-and-life-skill-development-in-schools-how/1689141714522925/

Courtesy: https://twitter.com/nafsa/status/958419989261938693

It is our duty to generate/guide healthy youngsters (both physically cum mentally) for the family/college/industry/society.

VELMURUGAN .S

Assistant Professor – Level II

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Bannari Amman Institute of Technology

Sathyamangalam – 638 401

Erode District

Tamil Nadu