Counseling Center helps school to home transition

Any mention of the holidays to an an Obie at this time of the year will generate either excitement or extreme frustration. Unfortunately, it is also at this time of year that many presentations offered gradually slip further and further down students' to-do lists.

The "Dealing with the School-to-Home Transition" program held in Barrows Wednesday was no exception. Initiated by Diane Britt, a psychologist at the Counseling Center, and Ron Ringenbach, a graduate student of psychology at Cleveland State University, the program targeted first-year students in anticipation of difficulties which may arise with the first long visit home after having been away for the semester. Ringenbach first conceived of the idea based on a class he took dealing with first-year students' experiences, as well as his own experiences.

He said that only when his mother finally saw where he had been living during his undergraduate years at Baldwin Wallace did she realize what "home" was for him for the previous four years. It was then that Ringenbach saw the lapse of communication and connectivity that could exist between students at college and their families.

Britt, through her experiences as a psychologist at the Counseling Center, had many students visit the Center with problems adjusting to living at home after having been away longer than they were used to. She felt that although this would be an ongoing problem for many, it was important to focus on first years, whose visit home for Christmas could be an eye-opening experience.

Ringenbach and Britt addressed the problem many students are unaware of until they go back home; a change both in their identities and in their lifestyles. Although many don't recognize this as being a problem while still here, their visit home might hit them with the realization that they have changed. Anything from little things such as sleeping and eating habits to important issues such as coming out or religion could invoke negative reactions from family members. A reverse problem could consist of the home situation having changed, such as a death or divorce in the family. Any of these changes could alter the dynamics of relationships within the family a great deal.

Another concern Britt and Ringenbach touched on was that of "friends back home." Ringenbach spoke of the guilt that many might feel when returning to friends at home who haven't left or the alienation college experiences might cause among friends and significant others.

Although the turnout wasn't as strong as Ringenbach and Britt had hoped, Britt remarked that the school-to-home transition is indeed ongoing for many, and that the Counseling Center is open for those who need to talk about problems. She has helped many students by posing hypothetical scenarios and working out various ways of responding.