The more students and parents prepare for and understand the first-time college environment, the better they will be able to cope with major life changes.
The college environment can generate a great deal of stress for students. It is not uncommon for depression, anxiety and other mental health issues to profoundly affect students’ academic performance during their years away at school.
While many students experience symptoms of depression and anxiety upon entering college, Madison Lavallee dealt with mental illness even before she left for school. Following the death of two of her grandparents within two weeks of each her junior year of high school, and later a sexual assault at the hands of her childhood friend, Lavallee felt the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
A former student at George Mason University in Virginia, Lavallee is now a junior sociology major at the University of Rhode Island. She still remembers how entering a new school in an unfamiliar setting intensified her feelings of depression and anxiety.
“Freshman year was fun, but stressful. I was in a completely new environment,” Lavallee said. Read the rest of Madison’s story here.
