1. Moving through autonomy to interdependence
   
   • Learn to separate from parents and learn physical and emotional independence/ interdependence.
   • Life transition phase can be difficult and can lead to homesickness.
   • Conflict = parent need to be needed and struggle with letting go = Students don’t want to need parents.
     
     
2. Managing Emotions
   
   • Learn to identify, express, and/ or control your intense emotions and learn appropriate responses.
     
     
3. Developing and Clarifying Purpose
   
   • Learning to prepare for a vocation, avocation, or a life style.
   • Developing a career path by exploring interests, choosing a major, learning job skills, and gaining job experience.
     
     
4. Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships
   
   • Learn to develop permanent and significant intimate relationships with friends or with an intimate partner.
   • Learning tolerance, understanding, empathy and intimacy skills.
     
     
5. Developing Competence in:
   
   • Intellectual and academic competence.
   • Critical thinking skills.
   • Physical or manual skills.
   • Emotional and social effectiveness.
   • Living a Wellness lifestyle by learning to balance social, physical, emotional, intellectual, occupational and spiritual needs.
     
     
6. Developing Integrity
   
   • Acquiring and clarifying a value system which includes: morals, beliefs, ethics about life and personal right and wrongs.
   • Develop ones own spirituality beliefs.
   • Become congruent with values and acts.
   • Develop cultural awareness.
   • Develop responsible behavior
     
     
7. Developing Self-Identity
   
   • Explore who you are and what kind of person you want to be.
   • Develop ones own gender role identity or sexual preference.
   • Decide on one’s beliefs and feelings about personal gender roles, body, appearance, self-esteem

• The overall goal in these four years is to find out who you are as a unique individual. and the challenge is to accept yourself, no matter how similar to or different from your parents and friends you may become.
  
• The struggle for both student and parents is to come to a place of acceptance with each others individuality and differences.
  
• It is not an easy task to master everything you need to before you move on to the next stage of your life? Each person will struggle with different things.
  
• This time in your life will bring new experiences, and experiments to try new things. Some things in your life will come into question or will be challenged. College provides the environment to be exposed to different ideas, people, and experiences.
  
• Anytime you struggle with new information, it can cause stress. A person can feel anxiety, fear, confusion, imbalance, and insecurity. Anytime a person is struggling, it is an opportunity for positive growth to occur.
  
  
• These struggles can be from:
  
  1. Internal forces- dealing with thoughts and feelings that lead to behavior.
  2. External forces- things that happen to you from outside (Events).
  3. Past experiences- in childhood or growing up that are still with you.
  4. Present experience- happening right now or while in college.

  Examples:

  Past External Events 1. Family Conflict 2. Divorce 3. Death 4. Parent’s Alcoholism 5. Eating Disorder 6. Rape 7. Sexual or Physical Abuse 8. Drug/ alcohol Abuse	Past Internal Feelings Feeling of Inferiority Angry Hurt Fears Depressed Anxiety / Perfectionism Obsessive / Compulsive Disorder
  Present External Events 1. Pregnancy/Abortion 2. Date Rape 3. Eating Disorder 4. Family Conflict 5. Death 6. Academic Problems 7. Feeling Homesick 8. Rejection from Peers 9. Confused about Career 10. Identity Exploration 11. Relationship Break-up 12. School 13. Over Achiever/ perfectionist 14. Divorce 15. Drug/ Alcohol Abuse	Present Internal Feelings Anxiety Poor Concentration Insomnia / Sleep toomuch Depressed OCD Behavior Angry Loss of Apetite Insecurity Inadequate / Fear of Failure Stress / Tension Fears

• The best way to deal with a struggle and master the developmental task at hand is to seek the appropriate university resources.



• The Counseling Center can help with many of the issue or challenges that you will face during your years here at UCF.
  

The Journey from Freshmen to Graduation

If you would like more information on the things that are typical struggles for each year and what to do, click on the link of your year.

• Freshmen: I’m Free! Now where do I go?
• Sophomores: “Do I stay or should I go?
• Juniors: I’m here and I’m confident!
• Seniors: “What’s next after college?

*Information based on Chickering 's Seven Vectors (Student Development Model)