School counseling
College Transition Scenarios and Resources Map
Student is apprehensive about college and has vague fears but no concrete plan for the specific scenarios they are most worried about.
Transition anxiety is often about not knowing what to do when something difficult happens. The student imagines worst-case scenarios but does not have a plan. This leaves them feeling helpless. Mapping specific scenarios and the resources available makes the transition feel more manageable.
Knowing what to do calms the nervous system.
College Transition Scenarios and Resources Map
Write down three to five scenarios that worry you:
Scenario 1: (I do not understand the material and I am failing.) Scenario 2: (I feel lonely or like I do not fit in.) Scenario 3: (I have a mental health crisis.) Scenario 4: (I do not know how to manage my time.)
For each scenario, write: what would I do?
For scenario 1: What resources exist? (Go to office hours. Use tutoring. Join a study group. Talk to the professor. Assess whether this class is a fit.)
For scenario 2: What resources exist? (Clubs. Support groups. Counseling center. Talk to RA. Reach out to old friends. Take a class I am interested in.)
For scenario 3: What resources exist? (Campus counseling. Crisis hotline. My therapist. Hospital. My parents. RA. Friends.)
For scenario 4: What resources exist? (Planner. Time management workshop. Academic coach. Study groups. Office hours.)
Now write the most important numbers and contacts:
Campus counseling: [number] Crisis hotline: [number] RA contact: [contact info] Your therapist or home contact: [contact] Academic support: [contact]
Keep this list in your phone. Know it.
Before you go to college, visit campus. Go to the counseling center. Meet your RA if possible. Know where things are.
Knowing your resources does not prevent hard things. But it means you are not figuring out what to do while you are in crisis.
You have a plan. You are ready.
Generated with Rapport7 — rapport7.com