Gelisim News

Nervous waiting of thousands of future university students has ended with the announcement of the YKS results. Saying that a new rush waits for the students who newly enrolled in the universities after the stressful period of exam, Clinical Psychologist Yağmur Callak stated that youngsters confront new conflicts that they have never experienced before.

Saying that entering a university is generally the first and most important step that an individual takes her/his own, Callak stated: “Factors such as gender, number of siblings, upbringing, and in which socio-cultural environment the individual grows are also important in the process of the adaptation to the university. For instance, students from little towns face more adaptation problems when they move to the metropolitan cities. Young people with many siblings are better than others at making friends and socializing.”

Expressing that the need of belonging and sociability is the priority in the age of 18 – 25, Clinical Psychologist Yağmur Callak from Istanbul Gelisim University gave some suggestions to the youngsters as follows:

“Young people who leave their family for the first time and experience uncertainty and anxiety about what to do alone should not forget that: This feeling is experienced by every young person stepping into university for the first time. Evaluating the first months of the university in the most efficient way is important in terms of belonging and adaptation. First, young people need to get out of the dorm rooms and get to know the university campus and the neighborhood to learn how and where they can meet their needs. Learning how and where to meet their needs hinders negative emotions such as a sense of inadequacy. Universities organize orientation programs to promote the university in the first weeks. Participation in orientation is important for students in terms of recognizing the university and learning from which units s/he can meet her/his academic needs.”

Stating also the importance of socializing for students, Callak said: “Promotions about the student clubs are presented to the students in the first weeks of the semester. Participation in student clubs according to their interests will reduce the sense of unfamiliarity to the university and will increase the sense of belonging as it brings together young people who are interested in similar fields. Regular participation in the classes from the first week is also important. In this way, s/he will be able to know her/his classmates and lecturers at the same time, which will reduce the unfamiliarity to the department, classes and lecturers s/he studies. So basically, one should not ignore or postpone the adaptation process; should act as soon as possible.”

Stating that both students herself/himself and her/his parents have responsibilities to do especially in the first year, Callak said: “Students who academically, financially and emotionally challenged need to know how to ask for necessary support. Unlike high schools, universities are not educational institutions where academic personnel can fully control the student's life. Thousands of students enroll in universities every year. Therefore, the student should first consult the related academic personnel or the psychological counseling centers of the universities. Families should take care of their children's lives and get information about them. I do not mean to question or judge the child's life. To observe whether their children can cope with the new issues they academically, socially and emotionally face as an individual and to provide support.”

Callak said that families experience anxiety and fear when their children start to study in the university.

Stating that the parentage type which we call anxious attachment is often seen in the Turkish family system, Callak continued her speech as follows:

“Such parents are almost certain that something will happen to their children, that they cannot sustain their lives on their own, that the child will always need her/his parents. They drive the child in this direction. They perceive enrollment of the university as a crisis and a break. This is one of the only parental obstacles that new university students encounter in the way becoming an independent individual. Parents need to understand that their concerns are not their children's concerns. At this point, it is important that parents express their feelings appropriately. It is important to explain to children that it is a new and complex that the child leaves family’s house for both sides, and they need to adapt this period together. Then they should follow the process from the outside as much as possible, suppress control impulses and they should be with her/him when the child needs.”

Stating that it is not possible to dominate every student’s life for an academic personnel, Callak said: “It is important for academic staff to recognize class dynamics. It is seen that the academic success of the students is more related to the communication with the lecturers and classmates than the contents of the classes themselves. To spare the first week of the education period to acquaintance, to listen to the general concerns of the students, to ensure the students to mingle with each other and to give information about what will happen during the university period are more important than to enter the classes.”